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One of the biggest issues facing Bitcoin is scalability and speed. Bitcoin's underlying technology isn't particularly fast and cannot process many transactions simultaneously. That's a problem for the world's most popular cryptocurrency.

One solution is Layer-2 blockchain protocols, which effectively add another processing layer to the original blockchain to increase capacity. The Bitcoin Liquid sidechain is a Layer-2 protocol that aims to solve Bitcoin's scalability and speed issues, but how does it work, and how can you use it?

A sidechain is a type of Layer-2 blockchain linked to the main blockchain to help process some of the data in the main blockchain. It enables the mainnet to grow its ecosystem by processing some transactions securely and faster. In this case, the Bitcoin blockchain is Layer-1, and the Bitcoin Liquid sidechain is Layer-2. There are other differences between Layer-1 and Layer-2 blockchains, too.

It makes it safe to move digital assets like tokens between blockchains, and it improves the privacy and security of the main blockchain by reducing the trust needed to keep a network running.

Sidechains are more centralized than mainnets and are responsible for their security, a trade-off for the speeds they achieve. They also need their own validators or miners but can adopt any consensus mechanism, whether proof-of-work, proof-of-stake, or even proof-of-space-time. Sidechains don't need to use the same consensus mechanism as the main blockchain, which can help speed up processing.

In order for sidechains to operate effectively, i.e., to transfer and receive digital assets from the mainnet without allowing any duplication, two things are required: a two-way peg and smart contracts.

A two-way peg is a mechanism that enables the transfer of digital assets between two separate blockchains. It involves a two-way, counter-directional process: locking up mainnet assets to the sidechains and releasing sidechain assets to the mainnet. So how does the two-way peg work?

The Liquid Sidechain two-way peg allows you to lock an asset on the mainnet and then mint an equivalent amount of that asset in the sidechain. When the assets need to be transferred from the sidechain back to the mainchain, they're destroyed, and the equivalent amount of assets is minted in the main chain.

This creates a direct bridge between the two, allowing for interoperability. Essentially, no "transfer" actually happens. This means the "validators" involved in the operation are assumed to be acting honestly.

The whole idea behind blockchain technology is to make it trustless. The validators in a two-way peg transaction process can't be humans, which is where smart contracts come in.

Smart contracts validate that the digital assets locked in and released on either blockchain correspond to each other in value. They do this by enforcing validators on the sidechain, and the mainnet acts honestly when verifying the cross-chain transactions.

Essentially, when a transaction occurs on the sidechain, a smart contract notifies the mainnet about the event. The transaction information is then sent to another smart contract on the sidechain to verify the transaction.

Upon verification, the representative digital assets in the sidechain are destroyed, and the equivalent digital assets in the main chain are released to you. This process can take place in both directions.

Bitcoin Liquid, also known as the Liquid Network, is a sidechain designed to offer solutions to the privacy and scalability limitations of the Bitcoin blockchain.

Unlike in Bitcoin, where blocks are mined with the proof-of-work mechanism, Bitcoin Liquid assigns each block to specialized hardware units known as "functionary nodes," which sign transactions, generate new blocks, and secure the bitcoins linked into the mainnet.

To achieve better privacy, the Liquid Network uses tokens with transaction amounts, and asset types obscured using cryptographic techniques. These assets allow the network to support Confidential Transactions, resulting in more privacy.

Meanwhile, the Liquid Network achieves scalability through its support for two-minute block times, significantly faster than Bitcoin's ten-minute block time. This allows for faster trading and settlement of assets on the network.

Bitcoin Liquid was created by Blockstream, a company founded in 2014 by Adam Black, to develop products and services for the storage of digital assets.

Currently, it is managed by a federation of 63 trusted entities known as "Liquid Functionaries," which comprises financial institutions, cryptocurrency exchanges, and other bitcoin-based businesses. These functionaries provide the validation and management infrastructure for the network.

Bitcoin Liquid works through a federated peg mechanism that allows bitcoins to be locked up in the mainnet and an equivalent value of the asset released in the side chain in a 1:1 ratio.

Here's how the Liquid Network works:

This system allows you to make faster and more private Bitcoin transactions without compromising the security and reliability of the Bitcoin blockchain.

There are several benefits that the Bitcoin Liquid sidechain offers to both the Bitcoin blockchain and its users. They include

Overall, Bitcoin Liquid functions well as a load-reliever for the Bitcoin blockchain. Nevertheless, despite its effectiveness, it also has a number of disadvantages.

The structural design of the Bitcoin liquid sidechain presents several issues.

Notably, the Liquid Network's design creates the same challenges blockchain technology was designed to solve: centralization risks.

If we're to have a Bitcoin ecosystem that billions of people can use, the idea of using sidechains to expand its scope, scale, and dynamic is great. It means more people can make transactions without having to suffer slow speeds.

However, the sidechains built to support the mainnet, whether they'll have different consensus mechanisms and governance rules or the same, will need to have a common vision while remaining independent.

Sidechains have a big role to play in improving cryptocurrency usage and adoption.

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What Is the Bitcoin Liquid Sidechain and How Does It Work? - MUO - MakeUseOf

Vechain is dedicated to building the optimal real-world-ready blockchain environment and enabling full-scale adoption of web3 technologies. Our imminent web3-as-a-service platform, VORJ, offers builders one of the most versatile blockchain tool suites on the market, and caters for users with little-to-no experience building blockchain solutions.

To ensure the greatest level of interoperability, weve been adapting popular tools to align with standards published by the worlds biggest public blockchain, Ethereum. In September 2022, vechain and Electi Consulting entered into a strategic partnership to advance this goal.

Electi Consulting is a leading technology consultant consisting of a motivated team of professionals with deep cryptography and blockchain experience. With them, were deploying some of Ethereums most powerful tools as well as revamping vechains developer documentation.

The first result of our collaboration went live on Friday 24 March in the form of a Hardhat plugin and library.

Hardhat is an Ethereum development environment that helps coders and developers test, compile, deploy and debug DApps. Its launch marks an important step towards increasing the ease of building on the worlds leading enterprise-grade public blockchain. Whether for enterprise users moving off Ethereum-based private chains, or for supporting hobby developers migrating from other EVM networks, these tools provide a seamless transition.

Interoperability is essential for our future plans aligning with Ethereums technical standards is an important step for ensuring the greatest level of cross-chain compatibility and offers a familiar environment for blockchain developers looking to build on VechainThor.

Resources, information and libraries for Hardhat can be found below:

Documentation:

Packages:

Public Repository:

The launch of the Hardhat plugin marks the first of multiple releases designed to bolster vechains developer environment and provide greater alignment with popular Ethereum tooling.

Other upcoming releases include an Open Zeppelin smart contract compatibility report, the Truffle tool suite for injecting smart contracts into web apps and front-end applications as well as the Remix Integrated Development Environment (IDE), allowing builders to edit, compile, test and deploy ERC-compatible smart contracts to VechainThor, all fully compatible with VeWorld, vechains new official Web Wallet.

As always, we welcome the builders of our community and beyond to test these new tools and share feedback or recommendations. Vechain is committed to building the optimal building environment for its users.

You can find more of our updated developer documentation, alongside other resources on our vechain documentation page.

Go forth, and buidl!

Vechain, headquartered in San Marino, Europe, is the curator of VechainThor, a world leading smart contract platform spearheading the real world adoption of blockchain technology.

Through leveraging the capabilities of trustless data (information without intermediaries), smart contracts and IoT technologies, VechainThor has enabled solutions across a wide array of fields. Vechain now turns its attention to the greatest challenge of all building digital ecosystems to drive sustainability and digital transformation at global scale.

Visit https://www.vechain.org to learn more.

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Vechain Dev Tool Update Electi Consulting and Vechain Deploy ... - Medium

Source: Wit Olszweski

Ripples native cryptocurrency XRP made solid gains earlier this week gaining more than 20% in the last 24 hours and is currently trading at $0.4581 with a market cap of $23.3 billion. As per the latest development, the XRP Ledger is currently on the cusp of a major paradigm shift related to smart contracts.

Currently, the XRPL development team is working on a smart contracts feature dubbed Hooks and will integrate it into XRPL transactions. This is currently in development by the XRPL Labs and shall provide additional basic functionality on the base layer.

Furthermore, Peersyst is working on an EVM sidechain that would change the ecosystems course and shall go live in 2023. As a result, the XRP EVM sidechain will be able to do computing at par with other chains like Solana and Ethereum that support smart contracts.

Last year in June 2022, Ripple developers also proposed the XLS-30d standard for a native automated market maker (AMM). The devNet AMM is already operational and the proposal is in the draft. This particular AMM standard emphasizes on DeFi and expands the financial options available to liquidity providers.

Even though XRPL is open source, the XRPL Foundation and XRPL Labs have been the major contributors to the platforms development. Furthermore, Ripple also supports the growth of ecosystem services either through its own initiatives or by offering grants to other ecosystem-related companies.

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As we know, the XRP Ledger uses the Proof-of-Association (PoA) consensus model also dubbed Federated Byzantine Consensus Protocol. Each node within the PoA network has to create a list of trusted nodes to consult while seeking consensus.

Ripple calls this list of trusted nodes a Unique Node List (UNL). Thus, to take part in the consensus, a validator first needs to earn the trust of other nodes and it cannot rely alone on financial resources. A node not having the trust of the other nodes wont be a part of the UNL and thus, wont have any influence over the system. Also, the PoA system wont require a lot of hardware thus bringing down the operations and electricity costs.

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However, the downside to PoA is that it cannot punish the bad actors. This is because PoA isnt constrained by large capital or large outside costs. Also, the nodes can be moved out of the UNL in retribution and the validator links could be broken.

In other news, the latest developments in the Ripple vs SEC case shows that the case is coming to a conclusion with chances of Ripple winning. This was precisely the reason that the XRP price shot up by more than 20% in the last 24 hours.

Crypto News Flash does not endorse and is not responsible for or liable for any content, accuracy, quality, advertising, products, or other materials on this page. Readers should do their own research before taking any actions related to cryptocurrencies. Crypto News Flash is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods, or services mentioned.

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Ripple's XRP Ledger on the cusp of major upgrade that could propel ... - Crypto News Flash

The Arbitrum token (ARB), which has gained popularity among investors, is now available on Bybit. On March 23, the Bybit exchange initiated a set of promotional initiatives that provide ARB traders an opportunity to win a portion of a $400,000 prize pool. Users who deposit 250 ARB are eligible to receive 25 USDT, and those who are new to the Arbitrum-native trading platform GMX and deposit 500 ARB can obtain 0.5 GMX.

In addition, Bybits official Twitter account is also offering GMX and USDT to 400 users who engage with their account by liking, retweeting, or following it.

At Bybit, we recognize our responsibility to provide forward-thinking opportunities for our users and lead the way in supporting the proliferation of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, said Ben Zhou, co-founder and CEO of Bybit.

I am delighted to see that we are offering an ARB token listing, which promises unique rewards for those who make use of it. We are eager to see how our users leverage this powerful new asset and await their feedback with enthusiasm.

An airdrop is a marketing tactic blockchain-based companies use to create awareness and encourage token adoption. During an airdrop, tokens are distributed for free to eligible individuals or groups who meet certain criteria.

The opportunity to receive tokens for free has generated enthusiasm among users who seek to participate in airdrop events. This practice of airdrop farming is also advantageous to blockchain protocols because it results in increased liquidity and usage on the platform. As such, this strategy is a mutually beneficial arrangement for both protocol developers and users alike.

Arbitrum is a prominent player in the Ethereum (ETH-USD) layer-two scaling arena, aimed at enhancing the networks velocity and scalability while incorporating further privacy functionalities. The anticipated Arbitrum token (ARB) made its debut on March 23 and initially witnessed a price surge.

Arbitrum provides developers with the capability to create smart contracts using code that defines the virtual machines (VM) actions that implement the contracts functionality. Furthermore, developers can use Arbitrum to advance their scalability and privacy capabilities.

Arbitrum aims to be a one-stop-shop for Ethereum layer-two solutions, offering a wide range of services. The platform uses a rollup design that allows developers to create smart contracts in any language, not just Solidity, which is the core language currently supported by Ethereum.

The Arbitrum token (ARB) is an ERC-20 governance token that plays a vital role in the governance and operation of the platform. ARB holders can vote on proposals to upgrade the protocol, change transaction fees, and make other decisions that impact the platforms future. In addition, holders can stake ARB to earn rewards and use it to pay for transaction fees and other services on the platform.

As the platform grows and more developers and users adopt it, ARBs demand could increase, leading to potential price appreciation.

Another benefit of the Arbitrum platform and ARB token is that they offer a viable alternative to Ethereums current scaling limitations. The increasing demand for decentralized applications has put a strain on Ethereum, resulting in slow transaction times and high gas fees. This could result in more widespread adoption and growth of the Arbitrum platform and token.At the time of writing, the total value locked (TVL) on Arbitrum is around the $2.2 billion mark, more than double that of rival layer-two chain Optimism.

As the crypto market continues to grow, the demand for scalability solutions has also increased. With its unique features, Arbitrum can play a crucial role in the growth and development of the industry.

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Arbitrum Token (ARB) is Now Available on Bybit - TipRanks

Smart contract wallets with greater flexibility could be coming to Cardano.

dcSpark a crypto ecosystem builder focusing on Cardano, Algorand and Mina is working to bring account abstraction to the Cardano ecosystem, per a tweet from the company on Monday.

Exciting news for Cardano! dcSparks tweet read.

dcSpark is working on account abstraction, which aims to treat smart contracts the same as regular user wallets.

To this end, the company has submitted a Cardano Improvement Proposal (CIP) dubbed CIP-0038. As explained by dcSparks Chief Technology Officer Sebastien Guillemot, account abstraction promises to simplify coding on the blockchain and allow for the creation of smart contract wallets.

The idea of account abstraction is popular because it addresses one of the pain points of crypto self-custody wallet recovery. Traditionally, to recover a crypto wallet, users have to securely store a 12 or 24-word recovery phrase, as in the case of Cardano. However, this is easier said than done, as online storage can be prone to hacks, and physical storage can be lost or damaged. Consequently, this challenge has pushed many to hold crypto on central exchanges for easy account recovery.

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With smart contract wallets, users would have more flexibility in managing their private keys and transactions. One of the possibilities includes creating multiple wallet recovery options aside from storing a seed phrase.

Meanwhile, the benefits of account abstraction do not end there. It can also allow users to place desired security restrictions on wallet spending, including requesting special verification before certain transactions can be processed.

Consequently, dcSparks proposal has received significant support.

It is worth noting that the concept has dominated discussions in the Ethereum community in recent weeks with the introduction of the ERC-4337 standard at ETHDenver. The standard first proposed by leading Ethereum researchers, including Vitalik Buterin, in September 2021 introduces the concept as a smart contract for Ethereum and all Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatible chains.

The Cardano network is at a significant stage of its development as it enters a new era of governance the Age of Voltaire. It is the final stage in Input Outputs Cardano roadmap and promises to revolutionize decentralized governance.

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dcSpark Introduces Proposal To Bring Account Abstraction to Cardano - The Crypto Basic