Bitcoin Magazine's Week in Review
This week saw another twist in the Craig Wright saga, LocalBitcoins move away from anonymous trading with its new KYC/AML requirements, Shopify welcome the Lightning Network and Chainalysis assert that not as many bitcoin as some people think are connected to illicit services.
Craig Wright Suffers Loss
Craig Wright, one of the most infamous names in crypto, has been embroiled in a high-profile legal case for the last 30 months with the estate of his deceased business partner David Kleiman.
In the wake of several court filings, things took a rather dicey turn for the self-proclaimed Satoshi Nakamoto. Wright was ordered by a federal judge to turn over half of the bitcoin he held prior to 2014 to the plaintiff, Ira Kleiman, the brother of David Kleiman. If Wright actually holds the BTC he says he does, this would reportedly be worth around $10 billion.
Chainalysis Decodes the Difference Between Crypto Mixers and Criminals
There has been some controversy about the role of cryptocurrency mixing services over the years, with many believing that they serve as a tool for criminals that want to evade authorities.
However, blockchain startup Chainalysis has brought some clarity to that question. In a report titled “Cryptocurrency Typologies: What You Should Know About Who’s Who on the Blockchains,” Chainalysis found that about 8 percent of the mixed coins are actually stolen, while only 3 percent have been used on the dark web. It added that almost half of all mixed coins are sent from exchanges — 40 percent from traditional exchanges, and 7.7 percent from peer-to-peer exchanges.
Shopify Merchants Can Now Offer Lightning Payments
Shopify is the latest online platform to provide integration for Lightning payments. The e-commerce platform announced that it is now featuring a plugin for the Lightning Network for its merchants.
The Lightning integration was done in conjunction with OpenNode. While Shopify has been providing on-chain payments with support from BitPay, the OpenNode partnership provides merchants with the ability to receive cheap and fast Lightning payments.
Speaking with Bitcoin Magazine, OpenNode CEO Afnan Rahman said, “Other payment processors have failed to provide a smooth experience for both the customers and the businesses using them and we intend to improve the overall experience.”
The Bitcoin Market Cap in the Spotlight
Bitcoin may lead the cryptocurrency field in market cap, but how does this asset stack up against others in the world? A new infographic from Bitcoin Magazine puts bitcoin’s market cap into perspective.
The infographic shows that bitcoin still pales in comparison to traditional asset classes like the global real-estate market and gold.
LocalBitcoins Announces New KYC Requirements
LocalBitcoins, a popular peer-to-peer bitcoin exchange, has announced that it would extend its KYC/AML requirements to users based on their trading activity on the platform. This move is expected to affect users’ privacy significantly.
The exchange entered into an agreement with identity verification technology provider Onfido, while also establishing a new account tier system. Essentially, users will need to provide specific data about themselves depending on how much they trade each year on the exchange.