Bitcoin infrastructure company Blockstream said in a statement sent to Bitcoin Magazine that six new members have joined the Liquid Federation, the cohort of financial institutions that underpins the Bitcoin sidechain’s consensus mechanism.
Bitmatrix, Digital Markets (DIGTL), GMO Coin, Mempool, Specter, and Zaprite are now part of the 63-member group of functionaries.
“The Liquid Network continues to experience steady growth through adoption by a broad-spectrum of financial platforms and providers,” said Samson Mow, CSO at Blockstream, per the statement. “Liquid-native security tokens and STO infrastructure developed by Federation members will be instrumental in the reformation of traditional capital markets and the transition to a more frictionless, peer-to-peer financial system.”
Bitmatrix is a covenant-based automated market maker protocol that allows users to swap between two Liquid assets; DIGTL is a technology company partnering with WallStreetBets to launch financial products on Liquid; GMO Coin is a Japanese cryptocurrency exchange that is integrating Liquid into its platform; Mempool is a famous open-source Bitcoin block explorer that has added support for the Liquid network; Specter is an open-source hardware wallet and desktop Bitcoin wallet that has also integrated the Liquid network, and Zaprite is a non-custodial invoicing and project management platform.
A sidechain is an independent blockchain that runs parallel to another blockchain, allowing for tokens from that blockchain to be used securely in the sidechain while abiding by a different set of rules, performance requirements, and security mechanisms.
Liquid is a sidechain of Bitcoin that allows BTC to flow between the Liquid and Bitcoin networks with a two-way peg. Bitcoin used in the Liquid network is referred to as L-BTC, and its verifiably equivalent amount of BTC is managed and secured by the network’s Federation, formed by mutually distrusting functionaries that also function as blocksigners.
“Federation members contribute to the Liquid Network’s security, gain voting rights in the board election and membership process, and provide valuable input on the development of new features,” the statement said. “Members also benefit from the ability to perform a peg-out without a third party, allowing their users to convert between L-BTC and BTC seamlessly within their platform.”
Liquid’s use cases include confidential transactions, asset issuance, security tokens, stablecoins, tokenized cryptocurrencies, digital collectibles and NFTs, and institutional trading.