BTC supporters became happy when they became aware that the cryptocurrency’s Lightning Network’s (LN) capacity had jumped by 216% in a single day. However, their excitement did not last long when it was found that the sharp rise in capacity was due to a single node owned by Andreas Brekken, who owns Shitcoin.com, the notorious anti-Bitcoin website.
According to the Lightning Network statistics provided by 1ml.com, the node now commands control more than 49% of the total capacity of the Lightning Network. Brekken is also a close associate of Roger Ver, owner of Bitcoin.com and a ferocious supporter of Bitcoin Hash (BCH).
Andreas Brekken entered cryptocurrency sector way back in 2011. Ironically, Brekken was once a strong critic of off-chain scaling. Now, he owns the largest lightning network node. The extent of dominance can be understood from the fact that the second biggest node has only 1% of Lightning network’s capacity.
Brekken’s website reviews altcoins and also provides a rank list. The review is done by purchasing the tokens and testing the corresponding blockchain platform. The site is well known for its scathing criticism of ICOs and cryptocurrencies that mislead investors through lies and impossible goals. The website has its name from the ability to quickly identify cryptos which loses popularity and value over time.
Before Brekken’s node went live, the capacity of entire Lightning Network was only around $225,000. With Brekken’s arrival in the scene, the total network capacity shot up to $427,000. As of date, Brekken owns a Lightning Network node with a capacity of 35.4 BTC (~$221,000).
Single lightning node has 20BTC capacity and 146 open channels. I believe the owner is @abrkn https://t.co/KuOGnvkuJs pic.twitter.com/0IsMXQbOIU
— RideTheLightning⚡️ (@MediumSqueeze) July 10, 2018
What is Bitcoin Lightning Network?
The Lightning Network was specifically created to resolve the scalability issues of Bitcoin network. It is a second layer payment protocol deployed over Bitcoin blockchain. The protocol allows 2 nodes to perform unlimited number of transactions through the Bitcoin blockchain. When the channel is closed, the transactions are recorded on the blockchain. Instant payments, cross-chain atomic swaps, and low cost are other features offered by Lightning Network.
Lightning Network statistics
- Nodes: 2755
- Channels: 9159
- Network Capacity: 72.29 BTC
- Nodes with active channels: 2024
Brekken has so far not responded to concerns raised by the cryptocommunity.
Why is everyone concerned?
When few nodes control the technology, it becomes centralized like traditional financial systems. Furthermore, some members of the cryptocommunity believe that such hubs would eventually charge more fees citing their ability to quickly route the transactions. It should be remembered that Lightning Network is in Beta stage. So, hopefully things will get sorted out in the best interest of cryptocurrency investors.
