The volume of transactions exceeds the available space in the mempool of certain nodes. Low-fee transactions run the risk of lagging.

Given that the hash rate has dropped in the last few days, several of elements have added to the Bitcoin network. The slowdown in mining has led to a delay in transaction confirmation. Some users pay more fees to accelerate their transactions, but many get stuck.

Developer Jameson Lopp said that the volume of pending transactions is saturating many nodes with mempools having a default limit of 300 MB. This high level of congestion has led to an increase in transaction fees. For that reason, low-free transactions run the risk of lagging behind the specialist commented.

Fellow developer Danny Diekroeger later gave details on what Lopp stated. He explained that each of the nodes that comprise the Bitcoin network has its own mempool, whose size depends on its configuration. There are more megabytes in trading volume than available space in the mempool of certain nodes.

A transaction transmitted to the Bitcoin network usually reaches the temporary memory of all nodes. For that reason, people generally refer to the mempool as if it were a single one. Diekroeger described the current state of the mempool as a red sea, regarding the tide of high-fee transfers to confirm.

On October 29^th, the average Bitcoin transaction fee was USD 12.52, according to data from Bitinfocharts. Fees have been rising since October 19^th, recording an increase of more than 500%. Glassnode reported that the percentage of miners’ revenue from transaction fees recorded an increase of 22.25% on October 27^th. That is a level not seen since January 2018.

Congestion on Bitcoin Network Will Decrease

Developer Matt Odell relates the current congestion on the Bitcoin network to the closure of some mining operations in China. On his Twitter account, he says that “China’s rainy season is over. Hydropower prices rise. The hash rate decreases as miners switch to cheaper energy. The activity of the mine decreases until the difficulty adjusts.

Other analysts agree with Odell that the drop of at least 40% in the hash rate relates to the migration of miners from China to other countries in search of cheaper energy.

The former director of mining group F2Pool, Thomas Heller, joined the analysts who have the same theory. He said that the migration of miners from China abroad would have caused at least 22 EH/s to leave the Bitcoin network. These data are inaccurate, but he believes that they give him a rough idea of the current effect of the drop in hash rate.

The reduction of the hash rate will allow miners to see that the difficulty will decrease, even more, Both Odell and Heller suggest. In turn, this will facilitate the process of mining Bitcoin. However, there remain some days until the next difficulty change scheduled for around November 2^nd.

By Alexander Salazar

The bitcoiner considers that BTC provides individual security against the States. He believes that the firms Taproot and Schnorr will transform the usability of Bitcoin.

Max Hillebrand believes that this world demands individual freedoms, the right to privacy, and anarchy. The Wasabi Wallet contributor believes that fiat money is causing increasing “devastation” to societies.

According to the programmer, individuals worldwide can defend themselves against such a situation by using Bitcoin. This cryptocurrency is a tool that offers solutions against phenomena such as hyperinflation and wrong monetary policies, among other things.

Hillebrand recently highlighted that money printing is contributing to the destruction of wealth and value. He admitted that he felt that fiat money was causing “horror and pain” to him.

For Hillebrand, states cannot interfere with the Bitcoin consensus. Besides, he believes that it emerged for people to defend themselves both in cyberspace and in real life.

“Bitcoin is the weapon that individuals are using in this currency war against the empire of fiat money. This is resistance and we are under strong attack,” the enthusiast highlighted.

Concerning the development of Bitcoin and its expansion around the world, Hillebrand noted that its scalability and usability go through tools such as Taproot and Schnorr signatures.

Privacy, Bitcoin and the States

The developer raises the flag of privacy to the top. He highlighted the increase in the use of obfuscation or mixing techniques such as CoinJoin and other ways of protecting users.

Hillebrand recalled that, initially, there was a CoinJoin per week on Wasabi since “no one was there”. However, the situation has changed, and now users trade thousands of bitcoins in this way. In the case of the privacy-oriented wallet, it would now be 1 CoinJoin per hour.

The enthusiast spoke about the investigations that blockchain intelligence companies conduct. He said that it is an “interesting conflict” between services that provide privacy and government agencies. He added that “it is something similar to virtual private networks (VPNs) or anonymous servers.”

Hillebrand considers that the subject of “digital totality”, relevant in recent months, has served for world governments to send their propaganda messages. He says that they “spread messages of fear, hatred, and divisiveness, with a high rate of effectiveness in obeying tyrannical laws, but individuals must protect themselves.”

The developer advised on the types of tools that people can use to improve their privacy. He recommended using the Signal messaging service and CoinJoin derivative services for cryptocurrency mixes. Likewise, he said that using Bitcoin would allow them not to share information with international payment processors.

According to Hillebrand, the issue of scarcity, digital resources, and natural resources is also of great relevance. He believes that there is a potential conflict about “who can control scarce sources.”

To conclude, the developer said that the individual is free to decide how to manage their resources. He mentioned time as one of the main ones since it is scarce by nature. Regarding a person’s real empowering of their funds, he left the door open for Bitcoin and data privacy.

By Alexander Salazar

Amid growing fears and rumors, its founder Mingxing Xu remains missing. Chinese media believe that it is unlikely that there can be a solution to the situation in a short time.

More than two weeks ago, Bitcoin exchange OKEx suspended withdrawals from its platform. Since that time, rumors about the whereabouts of its founder Mingxing Xu have grown. Meanwhile, impatience and nervousness take hold of users who request the acceleration of the procedures for the resumption of withdrawals.

The exchange suddenly froze withdrawals from the platform on October 16^th. They alleged that one of the owners of the service’s private keys is “cooperating with a public security bureau that requested him.” Local Chinese media claim that the owner of the private key in question is the founder of OKEx, Mingxing “Star” Xu. They say that he is supposedly in prison and that no one has seen him since then.

The company resumed peer-to-peer trading on October 21^st. This service does not require the mobilization of the locked funds. According to data from Glassnode, this would be around 200,000 BTC ($ 2.8 billion).

Regarding the OKEx case, the decision to enable the operations of its peer-to-peer platform reveals that the police investigation into “Star” Xu would be a personal matter. However, it can also be a sign that the founder has refused to provide the key to resume the withdrawal of cryptocurrencies.

An OKEx team may be negotiating a deal with the founder, but nothing has worked until now. If “Star” Xu is not free in the next two weeks, the prosecution must arrest him. That means that he is unlikely to be innocent, which will further complicate the situation.

The wave of rumors and conspiracies surrounding the Okex case darkens the picture. No one knows yet the real reason why the platform cannot resume the withdrawal of funds. However, the police may have frozen the withdrawal of cryptocurrencies as part of the investigation. If that is the case, it is not possible to determine at this time when users will be able to withdraw their bitcoins.

Users Request Release of Their Bitcoins

Hundreds of users on social networks are requesting OKEx to release their funds. Some of them say that, with the situation that occurred on OKEx, they have learned never to trust a centralized exchange to safeguard their cryptocurrencies. What happened may confirm the old saying that “if you don’t have the keys, they aren’t your coins.”

To calm things down, Okex recently released a new statement. With this, it seeks to inform that, although it is not possible to make withdrawals yet, the rest of its services work as usual. They added that “loyal” users, who are still public, even if they cannot withdraw money, will receive rewards with lower transaction fees. They say that this will be the case even up to 30 days after withdrawals from the platform resume.

By Alexander Salazar

On October 31^st, the price of Bitcoin reached USD 14,027. The development of the Bitcoin code occurred before the publication of its white paper.

October 31^st has been a cause for celebration for many people for 12 years. It is not about those who like to dress with scary costumes or those who celebrate the lives of their dead. It is about bitcoiners who celebrate the day when the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto shared the document that explains the original operation of Bitcoin.

In addition to Twitter and Reddit, bitcoiners are celebrating in the markets. This twelve-year-old has managed to break the psychological barrier of USD 14 thousand. However, after reaching USD 14,027 for a few moments, its price decreased again.

Bitcoin rises to its highest price of the year, trading at an average of USD 13,882 at the time of writing this article, according to data from CoinMarketCap. This happens to currency pairs in markets such as Coinbase Pro, Bitstamp, and Kraken, where the price exceeds USD 13,900.

White Paper Marks Birth of Bitcoin

A relevant aspect of the Bitcoin white paper is that the code for the pioneering cryptocurrency already existed when Satoshi Nakamoto wrote it. It was not a promise of a possible technology if enough fundraising from investors occurred in an initial coin offering (ICO). That problem no longer existed when Satoshi decided to reveal it to the world.

That code that Satoshi had written was curiously not the same code to mine the genesis block on January 3^rd, 2009. In this code, it is possible to find the first mention of a Bitcoin miner, the denomination of the units coin and cents for which today are bitcoins and sats (or satoshis), as well as the definition of Timechain for blockchain, rather than blockchain technology.

The white paper initially did not cause as much of a stir as people would currently expect with the unit’s price at nearly USD 14,000. After posting it on the small crypto mailing list, Satoshi had to wait two days until November 2^nd. At that point, he received his first response from James Donald, which was not very encouraging.

All blockchains (time chains) have an inherent limit for transaction processing when seeking to preserve decentralization. Much of the history of Bitcoin’s development after the publication of the white paper has been of that scalability. The search for a solution to this fundamental problem has led to the research and development of incredible technologies such as SegWit, Lightning Network, Schnorr, and Taproot signatures, among many others.

Changes in Bitcoin take time as it is a decentralized and consensus-based network. However, today it is possible to say that this stability of Bitcoin is a pro rather than a con. The network will continue to advance in due course to ensure its health.

The Bitcoin white paper produced many changes in attitude. People realized that a peer-to-peer digital cash system, without trusted third parties, was possible. Satoshi not only created this system, but he also raised awareness of the fundamental contradictions of the fiat empire.

By Alexander Salazar

The company claimed that it is applying the measure to maintain the “security” of its users. The blocking generated widespread rejection among members of the Bitcoin community.

The social network Facebook is censoring all published content that contains the #bitcoin hashtag. Since last October 31^st, dozens of users have reported that the situation only covers the name of the pioneering cryptocurrency. Supposedly, the company is applying the measure to protect the “security” on its platform.

When search with the #bitcoin hashtag in the “search” section, the system does not show results. However, it does display a message highlighting that there is a restriction on the posts.

Facebook explains that they want to “keep [their] community safe.” They say that they have temporarily hidden “posts with the #bitcoin hashtag.” They allege that “certain content in those posts violates [their] Community standards.”

No one knows yet if Facebook’s decision relates to alleged cases of scams, regulations, or other measures to make conversations about cryptocurrency invisible. Searches that relate to other crypto assets such as #ethereum, #dash, and #bitcoincash, did show results.

However, such blocking does not seem to be system-wide. When making multiple searches from various IP addresses, it was possible to observe that some searches did show results with the #bitcoin hashtag, while the majority of them did not.

Members of Bitcoin Community Give Their Opinion about Facebook

Different opinions emerged among members of the Bitcoin community regarding censorship against Bitcoin-oriented content. The users of social networks Twitter and Reddit took the situation with irony, humor, and reflections on what happened.

Reddit user produit1 highlighted that situation like this lead to higher community resolution. In his message, he said that “we are all clearly onto something big if there is such division between people and corporations over Bitcoin. This is truly the most revolutionary thing that has happened in the history of money, and wealth and it is impossible to stop it.”

Ironically, the user soontobesilenced shared another comment on Reddit: “Oh, my God! We are so oppressed! “On his Twitter account, @perjez01 took it with humor, writing: “Did Facebook seriously censor #bitcoin? What a joke! Anyway, (Facebook) will soon become obsolete!”

In the past, Facebook’s restrictions on Bitcoin have even covered the ad space. In January 2018, both Facebook and Instagram banned cryptocurrency and Initial Coin Offering (ICO) ads.

They partially revoked the measure six months later with an easing for crypto assets, but kept it for ICOs. At the time, Facebook said that it had “looked at the best way to refine this policy: allow some ads and, at the same time, work to ensure they are safe.”

The growth of the main cryptocurrency is increasingly evident worldwide. Social networks have served as a means of sharing opinions, data, and recommendations on Bitcoin. No one knows yet why Facebook blocked the #bitcoin hashtag, but it has given a lot to talk about among users of social networks.

By Alexander Salazar

Some people believe that this will not be the case as the relationship between Bitcoin and gold is very high. Analysts predict that, after the COVID-19 crisis, both assets will decouple from each other and BTC will grow more.

An analysis by the data analytics company Ecoinometrics says that the price of Bitcoin (BTC) could increase 10 times in a matter of months as a result of the latest halving. This will only happen if it first decouples from gold.

They predict that, at the end of the current cycle, after the halving, the price will stabilize around USD 110,000 for some time.

Ecoinometrics comes to this conclusion after comparing the pioneering cryptocurrency to gold. They highlight the importance of this comparison since the current narrative that is driving the growth of Bitcoin is that it is “digital gold”, they explain.

A graph shows how many bitcoins it is possible to buy with an ounce of gold (currently 0.146 BTC is equivalent to 1 ounce of gold). They say that they are “ready for another leg down on this chart” 5 months after the May halving.

According to the study, after the last halving, when the reward per mined block had a reduction to 6.25 BTC, “the status of Bitcoin as a fantastic store of value solidified.”

Bitcoin and Gold Join Due to COVID-19 Crisis

The report shows that the correlation between Bitcoin and gold in the months close to the two previous halvings was very low (2% and 11% respectively), which is different today. The correlation between both assets during the last month was 52%, a fairly high number.

Many people think that the price of BTC is more stable and that it will maintain its correlation with the precious metal in the long term. For that reason, some believe that a sharp increase is unlikely to occur.

On the contrary, Ecoinometrics analysts consider that the current situation is unusual and that the coronavirus crisis has affected all asset classes, including Bitcoin. They hope that the progressive return to normality will allow this crypto asset to resume its normal behavior and decouple from gold.

Analysts add that “another factor driving the value of Bitcoin is the devaluation of fiat currencies.” For this reason, they do not exclude that gold will also have a significant increase in its price. In any case, the analysis indicates that Bitcoin will benefit more than gold because its issuance is predefined and unalterable, among other factors.

Bitcoin Could Outperform Gold Market Cap

If Ecoinometrics’ prediction comes true, Bitcoin’s market capitalization with the price at USD 110,000 per unit will be equivalent to 20% of gold’s market capitalization.

“However, if Bitcoin is at USD 110,000, the market capitalization will be USD 2 billion. That is just above Apple’s market capitalization,” they say. They consider that there has never been another asset with so much bullish potential available to so many people. They also encourage their readers “not to miss the wave.”

Some analysts suggest that Bitcoin could exceed the market capitalization of gold. Investment firms such as Grayscale, among others, are confident that BTC will eventually reach mass acceptance and replace gold as the primary store of value.

By Alexander Salazar