Can Litecoin Reenergize Users With New MimbleWimble Upgrade? (Opinion)

Litecoin

Litecoin has launched the new privacy-focused MimbleWimble upgrade. The changes have proliferated across the network for use by LTC wallets and nodes. Will it bring new enthusiasm to the flagging PoW coin?

Released earlier this month after a majority of nodes approved the MimbleWimble Update (MWEB), the upgraded implementation will be able to transact with new MWEB privacy features.

The upgrade was completed at Litecoin block height of 2 million.

Reduced fees, more privacy, throughput and scalability for LTC

Following the release of MimbleWimble, lead developer of the update David Burkett made an urgent announcement for Litecoin node operators:

“Anyone interested in using the MWEB, and especially those who installed one of the earlier release candidates, should upgrade to the official v0.21.2 before MWEB activates. If you wait until after MWEB activation to upgrade, you’ll unfortunately be required to resync the blockchain from scratch.”

The MimbleWimble Litecoin update has been the cryptocurrency’s most anticipated update. MWEB not only introduces new privacy features for LTC users, but also delivers key blockchain performance upgrades.

In addition to enabling confidential transactions on the Litecoin blockchain, MWEB removes unnecessary transaction data from the blocks through compression.

This reduces block size for greater speed and scalability with more transaction bandwidth per block. It also allows new nodes to join Litecoin’s proof-of-work consensus network with lower initial computational costs.

Reducing the cost to join the network as a node is a tradeoff.

Security proponents, for example, would say it decreases the security of the blockchain to a 51% attack. But MimbleWimble and other scalability proponents would say it increases useability, cuts costs, and reduces centralization of mining.

Will MimbleWimble Save Litecoin Price Drop?

The locked and propagated LTC upgrade is another good news this month for crypto. Gucci announced in early May that it would be accept litecoin for payment later this month. Last month, LTC and Antpool Laboratories has teamed up for a foray into crypto-anonymity and Dapps.

Will the MimbleWimble upgrade be enough to bolster Litecoin’s fortunes after a year of sliding LTC prices on crypto exchanges? In the short term, that’s unlikely. Crypto exchange markets have hardly reacted to the upgrade news, as LTC slid further along with BTC and ETH in a bear of a crypto market headwind.

But in the long run, the Litecoin network and developers are laying the groundwork to remain relevant, disruptive, and deliver value to users. Part of LTC’s barrier to wider adoption in the crypto world is that many crypto enthusiasts and investors would simply prefer to have BTC.

So Litecoin is onto the right idea with crypto-anonymity and blockchain DeFi research and development. Rather than resting on its laurels with the marketing gimmick “we’re silver to bitcoin’s gold,” this older cryptocurrency is moving to specialize in the blockchain ecosystem by adding more unique value propositions to its underlying tech.

admin

Read Previous

Ethereum Hashrate Taps an All-Time High Amid This Week’s Crypto Market Meltdown

Read Next

Onchain Analysis Report Says Terra’s Bitcoin Reserves Were Sent to Binance and Gemini

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Right Menu Icon