Blockstream Launches the Liquid Network

by Marsha Tusk

Blockstream is the blockchain company behind the project. It was founded in 2014 and developed the Liquid Network as a way to improve the liquidity between Bitcoin exchanges and brokers.

The Liquid blockchain became public on September 27, 2018, when the first block was generated. Supporters of the brand-new network are Bitfinex, BitMEX, Atlantic Financial, Korbit, OKCoin, Unocoin, XBTO, and 15 other members. Every one of the members is participating and contributing to the network by guaranteeing users‘ assets are protected.

One of the primary qualities of the Liquid Network is the high-speed Bitcoin transactions between users and businesses. The native Bitcoin asset (L-BTC) is backed by Bitcoin and can be obtained at any given time. Payment transfers can be concluded in two minutes.

The Issued Assets of Liquid include tokenized fiat, digital reward points, and attested assets such as a gold coin. They remove the need for a specific blockchain or wallet software. The Confidential Transaction innovation of Blockstream is facilitating the transactions while ensuring the privacy of the involved parties.

In the future, more tools and applications will be developed like the GreenAddress wallet integration and possible third-party hardware wallet built by Ledger and Trezor.

The Liquid Network is one of the first to enable fiat, gold, securities, and other crypto assets to be transacted with Bitcoin at the center. The project was first announced in 2015 and later launched by Mow and Joseph Weinsberg.

The main difference between the Liquid Network and the Lightning Network – another solution for Bitcoin is that transactions have no limitations due to channel capacity.