Litecoin’s Mimblewimble upgrade has finally launched after being in development for two years. This upgrade allows users to experience more privacy-oriented transactions. The integration of the Mimblewimble upgrade into Litecoin came in the form of the Mimblewimble Extension Block (MWEB). The MWEB offers users the option to participate in having confidential transactions.
David Burkett, the lead developer of MWEB, said that the new upgrade improves the viability of LTC as a fungible currency that people can use for everyday transactions, including buying real estate and paying salaries.
Mimblewimble is a privacy-focused decentralized protocol. Fans of the Harry Potter book series may be familiar with the name, as it’s a tongue-tying spell found in the series. Mimblewimble incorporates a confidentiality feature that gives users the option to cover up their transaction information. Not only that, but it also offers a framework for other blockchains, allowing them to improve the usability capabilities of their crypto assets.
BREAKING: After years of development, Litecoin’s #MWEB – Mimblewimble Extension Block upgrade will be included as part of the #Litecoin Core 0.21.2 release candidate, which also includes the security and privacy enhancing #Taproot upgrade. https://t.co/XIXqBt1INk
— Litecoin Foundation ⚡️ (@LTCFoundation) January 31, 2022
With MWEB as an opt-in feature, Litecoin will become the most fungible, cash-like, cryptocurrency in the space – warranting its position as one of the most used digital payments instruments on the planet.
— Litecoin Foundation ⚡️ (@LTCFoundation) January 31, 2022
Litecoin’s concept of the Mimblewimble upgrade initially occurred in Litecoin Improvement Proposals from back in October 2019. By the following year, Litecoin launched Mimblewimble’s first testnet after several delays because there weren’t enough participants. What’s more, they released the testnet when Europ regulators, primarily Europol, began to sound the alarm regarding privacy coins.
These days, privacy coins that facilitate and encourage anonymity and obscure digital ledger transactions are becoming more and more scrutinized worldwide. According to a Cointelegraph report, several crypto exchanges have decided to stop supporting leading privacy coins in early 2021, namely Monero (XMR), Zcash (ZEC), and Dash (DASH).
Aside from private and anonymous transactions, Mimblewimble also focuses on scalability and fungibility, two key features that many blockchains still lack. The Litecoin Foundation believes that this new upgrade will contribute to Litecoin’s reputation as “sound money,” which refers to stable monies that aren’t as vulnerable to depreciation and monetary policies.
Even though Litecoin is one of the pioneering cryptocurrencies available on the market, staying relevant in the now-saturated market has been challenging. At this time, LTC has a total value of $7.5 billion, taking the 21st spot in the market cap rankings.
