sludgefeed.com
Recently launched privacy coin Beam (BEAM) revealed on Tuesday that it is planning to develop and launch the very first Mimblewimble-compatible Lightning Network, a second-layer scaling solution for fast and cheap transfers of value off-chain.
Discover how we're planning to develop and launch a Mimblewimble compatible Lightning Network https://t.co/2bCa4409nt #mimblewimble #SovereigntyByDesign
— @Beamprivacy (@beamprivacy) February 12, 2019
According to a recently published document, Beam wants to add a Lightning Network despite its 1-minute block time to enhance the altcoin’s viability in commercial settings that require quick payment confirmations.
“While in Bitcoin it is generally advised to wait for 6 confirmations (6 blocks mined on top of the transaction) for a serious transaction to be considered fully settled, users of Beam may rather want to wait for a period in the realm of up to 60 confirmations to get the same level of confidence in the received payment, especially while the network is still young and hashpower is comparably low,” reads the document.
Beam notes that its transaction capacity per second is currently about 3x that of
Bitcoin, which is a notable bump but still not on par with major payment processors. Therefore, a Lightning Network is a much-needed addition with the current technology’s capacity.
While there is no timeline for the release of its Mimblewimble Lightning Network, Beam has been actively researching the subject and hopes to contribute to the larger Lightning Network community through its efforts.
Beam has made a number of major advancements since launching last month and recently announced that it is cooperating with Litecoin (LTC) to help the project implement Mimblewimble. According to the announcement, the Litecoin Foundation approached Beam about implementing the privacy protocol using extension blocks on Litecoin, and Beam was happy to share their expertise.
BEAM is currently trading for $1.29, giving the privacy coin a market cap of $7.15 million.