Alyssa Hertig

Jack Dorsey Leads $6 Million Raise for Bitcoin Payments Company Azteco

Block co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey—also co-founder and former CEO of Twitter—led a $6 million seed funding round for Bitcoin payments firm Azteco, the startup announced today. Azteco offers a unique way to buy Bitcoin worldwide with a focus on making it easier for unbanked populations to use the digital money. Users either buy an Azteco voucher online or at a local, brick-and-mortar store, which they can then redeem for Bitcoin. The model works similar to buying a gift card or a mobile phone t

Bitcoin Transaction Fees Surpass Block Rewards for the First Time Since 2017

Amid Bitcoin’s recent spike in transaction fees, block number 788695 marks a special milestone for miners: For the first time since 2017, the transaction fees in a single block surpassed the block rewards doled out to miners. Transaction fees in the block clocked in at 6.7 Bitcoin, beating the block subsidy of 6.25 Bitcoin. Though this spike in fees has thrown a curveball to users, this block shows how it's benefitting Bitcoin miners, the global network of volunteers that run expensive, speciali

Fedi Raises $17M in a Bid to 'Accelerate the Adoption of Bitcoin and Lightning'

Tech startup Fedi has raised $17 million in an effort to make Bitcoin easier for newbies to use and grasp through the use of private and scalable "federations." "Fedi, as a company, aims to empower communities everywhere by accelerating the adoption of technologies like Bitcoin and Lightning—and rolling out Fedimint federations to communities and companies worldwide is how we intend to do it," Fedi CEO and co-founder Obi Nwosu told Decrypt. Fedimint federations are a cryptographic Bitcoin tool t

The Lightning Network helps scale payments on the Bitcoin blockchain. Image: Shutterstock

Lightning Labs Aims to Help 'Bring Bitcoin to Billions' With Latest Upgrade

The team at Bitcoin tech startup Lightning Labs, one of the main developers of Bitcoin's speedy and scalable Lightning Network, released an update to its Litd node management tool designed to make Bitcoin and Lightning easier to use. Users need to run a Lightning “node” to send and receive payments on the network non-custodially, meaning without the assistance of a third party, a feat that isn’t easy for users who aren’t tech-savvy or don’t want to spend hours learning the ins and outs of the pr

How private are your Bitcoin transactions? Image: Shutterstock

What You Need to Know About the Bitcoin 'Privacy War'

If you've been anywhere near Twitter recently you might have noticed Bitcoiners furiously debating Bitcoin privacy ins and outs. This feud has colloquially become known as the Bitcoin "privacy war." Bitcoin isn't private by default. Because Bitcoin's transaction history is open for the world to see, users need to take the time to learn and use certain tools and wallets, if they want to fully privatize their Bitcoin. Two of the most popular wallets out there today that make it easy for users to s

MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor with Bitcoin laser eyes. Image: Michael Saylor/Twitter

How to Copy Michael Saylor and Create Your Own Bitcoin Lightning Email Address

Employees of business software company MicroStrategy can now receive Bitcoin payments to their corporate email addresses, MicroStrategy co-founder and executive chairman Michael Saylor revealed during the Cafe Bitcoin Twitter Spaces on Monday. It might sound like a magical feat, but anyone can set one up. We'll show you how. The Lightning Network, Bitcoin's speedier and more scalable cousin, fixes Bitcoin's scalability problems. Traditionally, when someone wants to receive a Lightning payment, t

Bitcoin Mining Pools Will Have Less Power With This Upgrade

Are Bitcoin mining pools too powerful? Do they make Bitcoin too centralized? Stratum v2, an overhaul to Bitcoin mining, aims to make these questions moot. In the latest release of the open source version of the Stratum v2 (SV2) protocol, Stratum Reference Implementation (SRI), developers announced that they have completed "job negotiation," an important feature for the wider Bitcoin industry because it gives mining pools less power over transaction selection. Mining is a key component that make

This Upgrade Could Make It Harder for Governments to Censor Bitcoin

The enduring popularity of Bitcoin is largely due to the fact that no third party controls it, including governments. But even if that's the case, the currency's developers are constantly mulling over how powerful entities could poke holes in the technology, attack it, or bend the rules. One potential attack vector on Bitcoin is that the nodes on the network communicate with each other via unencrypted traffic. Powerful interests like governments and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) could use th

Bitcoin Marketplace OpenBazaar Is Coming Back

After a two year break, OpenBazaar, the decentralized marketplace platform, is on its way back to life, according to some vague tweets from its official account. The digital marketplace—where users sold goods from homemade candles to medicine—had shuttered in late 2020 due to dried up funding. After initially announcing its closure, the marketplace was temporarily rescued by an anonymous donor—but it ultimately wasn't enough to keep OpenBazaar open for business. OpenBazaar CEO Brian Hoffman con

Chain analysis companies keep a close watch on Bitcoin and other crypto transactions. Image: Shutterstock

Bitcoin Privacy Tool Aims to 'Confuse' Surveillance Companies

Bitcoin developer and privacy veteran Dan Gould has released a new privacy tool that aims to make it harder for Bitcoin analytics companies to track who owns which Bitcoin. Bitcoin transactions aren't very private; seeing every Bitcoin transaction ever made is as easy as pulling up any Bitcoin block explorer. Bitcoin analytics companies like Chainalysis (which some call "surveillance" companies) use patterns that they see among transactions to inform governments and companies about where Bitcoin

Xapo Bank is the first partner to integrate Lightspark tools. Image: Lightspark

David Marcus's Lightspark Unveils Bitcoin Lightning Platform for Business

After a year of quiet, the well-funded Bitcoin tech infrastructure company Lightspark, founded in 2022, has unveiled a platform for Bitcoin’s Lightning Network aimed at onboarding businesses to the network. Lightspark is led by former Paypal president and entrepreneur David Marcus, who co-created Diem, a Facebook cryptocurrency product that failed to take flight after arousing the suspicions of US regulators. Lightspark's announcement on Twitter calls the new Lightspark Platform "the first enter

Jack Dorsey-Backed Spiral Plots Course for Mainstream Adoption of Bitcoin’s Lightning Network

Bitcoin’s Lightning Network may be inching closer toward mainstream adoption, as LDK—one of the main implementations of the network—sets forth on an ambitious new roadmap to improve functionality and accessibility for users. Lightning Development Kit, also known as LDK, is a project from Bitcoin open-source development entity Spiral, which is funded by Jack Dorsey’s Block. LDK plays a significant role on Bitcoin's Lightning Network, and the project’s team recently showcased tech improvements dur

Is Bitcoin safe on a centralized exchange? Image: Shutterstock

Why Bitcoin Supporters Organized a 'Bank Run' on Crypto Exchanges

The winter holiday season might have just rolled to a close, but Bitcoin supporters had another curious tradition to carry out. Tuesday they celebrated a unique, annual, grassroots holiday known as "Proof of Keys," started in 2019 by Bitcoin entrepreneur Trace Meyer. In an experience that roughly mirrors a bank run, the community uses this day to encourage fellow Bitcoiners to pull their Bitcoin off of exchanges and other third-party services so that they can gain full ownership of their assets.

What's in your Bitcoin wallet? Image: Shutterstock

How to Move Bitcoin, Ethereum and Other Crypto to Self-Custody

The self-custody of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrency assets is grabbing much more attention ever since Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX exchange unexpectedly blew up a couple of weeks ago in a whirlwind of drama. Users of the former third-largest exchange have no idea if they will ever get their money back. With this in mind, many users are deciding to no longer trust centralized exchanges like FTX or Coinbase with their funds. "If you leave your funds on an exchange, you open yourself up to r

FTX is a crypto exchange founded by Sam Bankman-Fried. Image: Shutterstock

Proof of Reserves Isn't a 'Panacea' for Future FTX-Like Collapses, Industry Leaders Caution

In response to FTX's recent shocking demise, cryptocurrency exchanges across the industry from Binance to Crypto.com are pledging to display proof of reserves as a way to boost transparency. The goal is to make sure a disaster like this doesn't happen again. Leaders across the industry are applauding this abrupt shift toward transparency. Providing proof of reserves—a way to prove that a custodian still has their users’ funds—has been possible for ages, and exchanges are now actually finally imp

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Stories by Alyssa Hertig