Mobile Wallet for Lighting Network Available
A mobile wallet that would let users transmit Bitcoin (BTC) through the superfast Lightning Network is now available on Google Play.
The Éclair Wallet is described as the first Lightning-ready Bitcoin wallet. It is not clear if the wallet can connect to the Lightning Network right now but is described as the first wallet to use the Lightning protocol. The Éclair Wallet is designed to work with Android devices using 5.0 or higher.
Lighting is a sidechain designed to greatly increase the speed and volume at which Bitcoin can be transmitted. Like the Raiden Network for Ethereum (ETH), Lighting uses a sidechain to bypass the blockchain.
A good way to think of Lightning is as a superhighway for Bitcoin, coins on lighting move faster because they have more room to move in. The current Bitcoin architecture can be thought of as a dirt road on which only a few coins can move at a time.
A number of Lightning Nodes, the infrastructure that makes Lightning possible are already up and running, and they have been subjected to a denial of service attack by a cybercrook called bitPico, CCN reported.
Indian Central Bank bans Cryptocurrency Processing
Indian banks can longer process cryptocurrency, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has banned cryptocurrency processing through bank accounts on the subcontinent.
That means Indian traders will no longer be able to deposit or withdraw fiat currency from bank accounts at cryptocurrency exchanges, CCN reported. Instead, they will have to use other methods such as peer to peer trading platforms or Bitcoin to purchase crypto.
Not coincidently Bitcoin’s Coin Prices fell to a new low of $6,592 on 5 April 2018, Coinbase reported. BTC climbed back to $6,786.901 later in the day. Ethereum’s (ETH) Coin Price fell to $380.44 on the same day.
No reason for the RBI’s action was given, but the central bank is trying to overcome widespread distrust of fiat currency in India fueled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2016 decision to declare most rupee notes worthless. One way to overcome that is to limit alternatives to the rupee such as cryptocurrency
Telegram Token Sale Coming
The Telegram initial cryptocurrency offering (ICO) is still a work in process, although Telegram reported it had received $1.7 billion in investments as of 5 April 2018.
The Telegram (TON) token will have its own wallet and a ticker symbol GRAM. One Gram is supposed to be worth 10¢ in U.S. Dollars. Around 850 million GRAMs have been sold in a presale to 81 selected investors.
The rest will be sold to the public in an ICO. The date of the ICO has not been revealed but it is doubtful that it would be legal for Americans or Chinese to participate in that event. Around 44% of the Total of five billion TON or GRAM will be sold to the public during the sale.
Many details of the Telegram cryptocurrency are unknown including the scaling problem. Nobody knows if Telegram will be able to handle the volume of transactions users of the platform might generate. Since there were 100 million Telegram users in January according to Statisa; it’s possible they would crash the cryptocurrency system if all tried to use TON.
Iran’s government is considering banning Telegram because of the ICO plans, Forbes reported. It is not clear if the ban is designed to stop the ICO or simply to keep opponents of the nation’s rulers from using it to bypass censorship.
Telegram is allowed in Iran but it has been blocked in the Islamic Republic during times of civil unrest. One possibility that Iran’s leaders might fear is that their foreign foes (such as the CIA) will use Telegram to send money to opponents in the country. Around 40 million Iranians use Telegram, so blocking it might be political suicide for Iranian politicians that tried it.
