[2019-07-09] Bitstamp introduces a Lightning Network node on their exchange

[bbc.reporter]

I reckon this might be a first for exchanges? In any case, how many people in the forum have already tried the Lightning Network? I reckon not that many yet.



Bitstamp, which is one of the oldest cryptocurrency exchange, recently announced that the institution had set up their own individual Lightning Network node for its customers.

Following the announcement, Bitstamp stated,

“We believe the Lightning Network has the potential to unlock a whole new level of utility for Bitcoin. We’ve set up our own LN  node to help grow the network and encourage other companies to get on board.”

Read in full https://ambcrypto.com/bitstamp-introduces-a-lightning-network-node-on-their-exchange/

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[Kakmakr]

This is where the centralization of the Lightning Network would come into play, because strong nodes like this will crush the competition. Some people predict that the LN will be dominated by a small percentage of so-called super nodes and the smaller nodes that are not well funded would not survive. 

I do not agree with that, because a node is a node and people will use whatever node is available to get their transactions done. There should always be competition in the market, no matter if you are big or strong or well funded. 

Kudos to Bitstamp for taking this risky step with a highly experimental technology in it's early stages. 

[stompix]

Link to the bitstamp page as the date in the article is already obsolete:

According to the website, Bitstamp currently boasted 146 active channels from a total of 38565 on the parent network. There were 150 connected nodes out of a possible 5599 and the node capacity was recorded to be 7.283 BTC out the total 949.89 BTC which exists on the Lightning Network.

https://www.bitstamp.net/lightning-network-node/

Channel count: 188 / 38642
Connected nodes: 194 / 5631
Node capacity: 9.18165649 BTC / 953.51147280 BTC

Would be nice to see more exchanges doing this as they might stop with the ridiculous tx avalanche that clogs the main chain whenever there is a price movement. Coinbase would better do the same soon, but they are always lagging behind when it comes to these things, even batching transactions took them a while.

[gentlemand]

Would be nice to see more exchanges doing this as they might stop with the ridiculous tx avalanche that clogs the main chain whenever there is a price movement. Coinbase would better do the same soon, but they are always lagging behind when it comes to these things, even batching transactions took them a while.

I wonder what Coinbase's awareness levels are like surrounding this. Do they want to become a direct network participant? That might open up a whole new bunch of head aches. I wonder what users would feel if a Coinbase channel was launched. It would be a mighty thing indeed.

[stomachgrowls]

I reckon this might be a first for exchanges? In any case, how many people in the forum have already tried the Lightning Network? I reckon not that many yet.

First time LN integration into an exchange i believe.(Correct me if im wrong).This is a risky step yet it still on experimental but they do consider it out.

Talking about Coinbase which been discussed above,they might be lagging behind anytime but they wont make themselves to be last in the line.

[veleten]

I reckon this might be a first for exchanges? In any case, how many people in the forum have already tried the Lightning Network? I reckon not that many yet.

First time LN integration into an exchange i believe.(Correct me if im wrong).This is a risky step yet it still on experimental but they do consider it out.

Talking about Coinbase which been discussed above,they might be lagging behind anytime but they wont make themselves to be last in the line.

definitely the first that I heard of , this is a risky step indeed
but Bitstamp deserves praise for being the pioneer among the exchanges to support LN
it should alleviate the clogging problems when the price jumps and there are , suddenly , tens of thousands of unconfirmed transactions
if all of the exchanges set their LN node , the price jumps would not affect the state of the network so much and the fees should be less on an average

[o_e_l_e_o]

The article makes no mention of customers being able to deposit or withdraw from Bitstamp via Lightning yet, just that they have started running a node. Can anyone with a Bitstamp account confirm or deny that?

Edit: Just found this on their Twitter page: https://twitter.com/BitstampSupport/status/1148237263190528001

Unfortunately, we're not enabling LN deposits/withdrawals just yet. LN is still experimental and we'll have to wait until it’s stable enough before we offer Lightning services to our clients.

Props to Bitstamp for doing this, and a big exchange like them getting involved in Lightning can only be a good thing. It is a little bit disappointing though that they aren't offering it to customers yet, and also a little bit disappointing they would spend the time setting this up when they still don't support native SegWit addresses yet.

[stomachgrowls]

Props to Bitstamp for doing this, and a big exchange like them getting involved in Lightning can only be a good thing. It is a little bit disappointing though that they aren't offering it to customers yet, and also a little bit disappointing they would spend the time setting this up when they still don't support native SegWit addresses yet.

Just as i thought earlier and i was tending to search up for that info for verification but you already posted it out.LN isnt yet integrated or can be used by

its customers and they are pretty aware that it is still on experimental but at least they already have future plans on it which is indeed a good news for everyone.

the price jumps would not affect the state of the network so much and the fees should be less on an average

Primary thing that would be solved out by LN but for now we dont have any dates on when it would be fully operational(withdraw&deposit) on bitstamp.

[BitHodler]

I wonder what Coinbase's awareness levels are like surrounding this. Do they want to become a direct network participant? That might open up a whole new bunch of head aches. I wonder what users would feel if a Coinbase channel was launched. It would be a mighty thing indeed.

Brian Armstrong in a Q&A said that Coinbase is observing the developments around LN, but don't have any immediate plans to do anything with it. I guess that means they value adding shitcoins more for the time being.

Overall, LN is still experimental despite the growth it has gone through in the last 12 months. An exchange needs to be certain that it works and is safe enough to be deployed on a large scale.

The main thing here is that it would require exchanges to tap into their cold wallets and transfer a chunk of that to fund their channels, which means more risk because the private keys are exposed to the internet all the time.

[Carlton Banks]

This is the beginning of the end of any pretense of meaningful AML controls at centralized Bitcoin exchanges. When using a more complete version of Lightning, there's not going to be a way of knowing exactly how the money is routed. Sure, exchanges could ask to be provided with information about the channel a client funds their exchange account with, and there will be no way of proving that a client used a given channel to make their deposit.

BTC in payment channels will be fungible as a side effect of routing efficiency. And yet another 20th century gangster-ism will be rendered an anachronism.

[bbc.reporter]

@Carlton Banks. It reckon the regulators must be beginning to plan regulating Github uploads and downloads now hehehe.

However, it might push cryptocoin developers to use decentralized networks similar to IPFS or the darknet. They cannot win hehe.

[stompix]

Talking about Coinbase which been discussed above,they might be lagging behind anytime but they wont make themselves to be last in the line.

Coinbase has a habit of aiming for being the last no matter the competition.

Despite reassuring the community that Coinbase was working on transaction batching back in January 2018 and even thanking it for “bearing with us,” almost a year and a half later, the seven-year-old exchange has still failed to do so.

https://bitcoinist.com/coinbase-ceo-confirm-bitcoin-batched-transactions/

It's a year and a half and they still haven't managed to implemen transaction batching to reduce the burden on the chain, how long it will take for LN, a century and a half?

Brian Armstrong in a Q&A said that Coinbase is observing the developments around LN, but don't have any immediate plans to do anything with it. I guess that means they value adding shitcoins more for the time being.

As I said above, they don't have plans to do anything soon but they are observing ....

[buwaytress]

Would be nice to see more exchanges doing this as they might stop with the ridiculous tx avalanche that clogs the main chain whenever there is a price movement. Coinbase would better do the same soon, but they are always lagging behind when it comes to these things, even batching transactions took them a while.

Haha yeah, was about to say hoping exchanges hop on board with upgrade adoptions is pretty optimistic. It's been well over a year for most normal people now using Segwit, exchanges used all sorts of excuses with that and until today I can count only 2 services (1 is an exchange but not for trading strictly) using native Segwit.

I say good for Bitstamp. Sure, people talk about centralisation issues but Bitcoin nodes had that at the beginning too. Takes time.

[1Referee]

I say good for Bitstamp. Sure, people talk about centralisation issues but Bitcoin nodes had that at the beginning too. Takes time.

People have been using centralized services for nearly a decade to use and trade Bitcoin and now Lightning being "centralized" is a problem? People complaining are a joke.

Every participant in the network will become equal to the other in terms of being a hop. Sure, liquidity per channel might differ, but your transaction will not suffer from anything because it will follow the path where the probability of being settled is the highest. As time goes by, people using Lightning won't even be knowing that they are using it, they just use Bitcoin.

I like Bitstamp not just because I have been using it since 2013, but they are one of the very few out there that actually want to see Bitcoin do well. They could have listed a shitton of altcoins but they didn't. Respect to them for following the right path.

[o_e_l_e_o]

but they are one of the very few out there that actually want to see Bitcoin do well. They could have listed a shitton of altcoins but they didn't.

Agreed. I don't have an account at any exchange requiring KYC, but Bitstamp seem like one of the best to me as an outsider. As you say, they genuinely want to promote and support bitcoin, as is evidenced by them running a Lightning node at no profit to themselves. Compare this to Coinbase, who do completely shady things like listing trash coins that their shareholders tell them to so they can pump and dump their bags. Even the CEO of Coinbase has admitted it's "embarassing" that they still don't batch transactions: https://twitter.com/brian_armstrong/status/1136467397240430592?s=20

[1Referee]

Even the CEO of Coinbase has admitted it's "embarassing" that they still don't batch transactions: https://twitter.com/brian_armstrong/status/1136467397240430592?s=20

His Tweet;

Batched transactions should be coming out in a few months. Embarrassing how long it has taken, turns out there is a lot of stuff to build in a growing company

Stuff like spending money by giving away shitcoins and whatnot, while they could save money by simply batching transactions.

It's quite hilarious. He is the one responsible for ordering the coders what to do, yet he didn't find it necessary to do so. It's not even that hard to do. It would take minimal configuration to accomplish. It literally saves them and their users millions every year. How can this not have any priority? 

Bittrex did it like two years ago and that in their glory time as top exchange. If you look at Brian's Twitter you can see how he almost never even mentions Bitcoin. This guy has messed up priorities.