Developer David Burkett posted a new update of MimbleWimble progress. Henceforth, the developer promises to post the results of the efforts monthly.
I'll be posting monthly status updates detailing progress on the LTC MW EB (YAY acronyms). This is geared toward those interested in LTC development, but will also talk a lot about Grin++ changes, so it may be interesting to Grinners as well. https://t.co/hTpUbWSPI6
— David Burkett ツ (@DavidBurkett38) December 1, 2019
Burkett revealed that the Litecoin Foundation will bear all the costs regarding the implementation of the MimbleWimble solution on LTC network.
Burkett performed the first-ever (AFAICT) pre-broadcast Mimblewimble CoinJoin. Note, that directing transactions to a CoinJoin server before broadcasting is one of many different methods that users can use to combat transaction tracking by network nodes.
Earlier on October 22, the team published 2 new proposals for improving the Litecoin network, these include LIP-0002 and LIP-0003. Both solutions are the next step towards integrating MimbleWimble technology into the network of the sixth-largest cryptocurrency according to Coinmarketcap. This ensures the privacy of transactions.
[Update on MimbleWimble & Litecoin]: @ecurrencyhodler, @DavidBurkett38, & @satoshilite have proposed a draft of two Litecoin Improvement Proposals to implement MimbleWimble through Extension Blocks.
LIP-0002 EB:https://t.co/u2ORFy6yfD
LIP-0003 MW:https://t.co/u2ORFy6yfD
— Litecoin Foundation (@LTCFoundation) October 22, 2019
In the case of accepting proposals, users of the network will use the new confidential transaction format through extension blocks that will be issued simultaneously with the main ones. Among the authors of the proposal are Andrew Yang, Charlie Lee, and David Burkett.
According to the dev., the currently existing transparency of the Litecoin blockchain prevents its adoption.
The documentation says the network participants need to support the soft fork to implement the update. Clients who use outdated software will be able to keep operating on the main network, however, transactions in extension blocks will not be available to them.
It is assumed that the update will be activated a year after the release date. However, the event can happen earlier, if 75% of the miners vote in favor of the decision.
Recall, Litecoin developers are interested in integrating MimbleWimble technology at the beginning of the year, and the creator of Litecoin, Charlie Lee, did not rule out that confidential transactions would be possible this year. He calls this update a new stage of development of the cryptocurrency.
What Is MimbleWimble
Mimblewimble is a solution designed for privacy and to improve the scalability of the Bitcoin network. The name of the protocol is a reference to a spell from a series of books about Harry Potter, which deprives the victim of the opportunity to speak. The white paper was published in the summer of 2016.
The Mimblewimble protocol offers a transaction mechanism that does not require the use of private user keys, and the transfer amount is hidden using cryptographic encryption. This allows users to anonymize the transfer of cryptocurrencies and significantly reduces the amount of data in the blockchain, which increases the scalability of the network.
With Mimblewimble, Litecoin users can make confidential transactions and make more money.
Implementing Mimblewimble on the main network will require some preliminary changes. Therefore, the developers of Mimblewimble are considering options for its implementation through a sidechain or a separate cryptocurrency that already launched on the Grin project network.
