Litecoin relaunches MimbleWimble testnet as Europol targets privateness protocols

Litecoin (LTC) has relaunched its MimbleWimble testnet — a protocol designed to boost privateness and obfuscate the traceability of distributed ledger transactions.

MimbleWimble is a modified implementation of the proof-of-work algorithm underpinning Bitcoin (BTC) through which blocks seem as a single massive transaction, stopping the person inputs and outputs referring to the transactions from being recognized.

David Burkett, the lead developer of the MimbleWimble protocol for Litecoin, will now focus making it simpler for “non-technical Litecoin customers” to start testing to performance, along with ironing out elements of the code which can be “fragile.”

Burkett is concentrating on full activation of the protocol someday subsequent yr, noting in a Telegram channel that it will likely be right down to Litecoin’s miners and node operators to resolve “when or even when they wish to activate.”

LTC’s MimbleWimble testnet was beforehand launched on September 30, however was postponed on account of low group participation.

Litecoin’s MimbleWimble progress comes as regulators more and more look to crack down on privacy-enhancing crypto asset applied sciences, with Europol calling out privateness cash and naming decentralized marketplaces, cryptocurrency mixers, and anonymizing wallets among the many prime on-line organized crime threats.

In its ‘Web Organised Crime Risk Evaluation’ for 2020, Europol asserts that “privacy-enhanced pockets companies utilizing coinjoin [..] have emerged as a prime risk,” citing Wasabi and Samurai’s respective wallets as examples. Wallets that use Coinjoin combine the cash of a number of customers participating in separate transactions, successfully offering a decentralized mixing service.

Europol asserts that the operators of darknet marketplaces are more and more shifting to combine coinjoin wallets onto their platforms.

Europol additionally notes that whereas Bitcoin continues to be the dominant forex throughout darknet marketplaces, Monero (XMR) is rising as the most well-liked privateness coin, adopted by Zcash (ZEC), and Sprint (DASH). The report recognized Litecoin and Ethereum (ETH) as the 2 hottest altcoins on darknet marketplaces.