Today we're launching Elements Academy, an easy to follow along tutorial series that teaches you the basics of Bitcoin sidechains through the open-source Elements platform.

Part of Liquid's developer advocacy initiative, Elements Academy comprises ten sections with a total of 30 lessons. Each section includes learning through text and a video that ends in a short quiz so you can quickly test your knowledge.

Read more and get started today:

https://blog.liquid.net/elements-academy/

The latest release of the FOSS Elements sidechain software is now available for Liquid node operators and developers! Elements 23.2.1 brings its codebase to parity with Bitcoin Core 23.2, while adding support for Apple silicon. Read the details below!👇

https://blog.liquid.net/elements-23-2-1-reaching-parity-with-bitcoin-core-23-2/

Read the latest from JAN3 on how their newly rereleased AQUA wallet is streamlining the Bitcoin layer-2 payments experience in LATAM and other emerging economies with the help of Liquid 🌊 and Lightning⚡️.

https://blog.liquid.net/experience-the-all-new-aqua-wallet-from-jan3/

This case study examines Mexican fintech pioneer Mifiel’s efforts to address long-standing barriers to accessing global liquidity in Latin America through its groundbreaking use of Liquid.

Mifiel has helped 30 Non-Banking Financial Institutions (NBFIs) issue more than 25,000 tokenized promissory notes on Liquid valued at over USD $1 billion, with plans for further issuances worth billions more over the coming years.

This is the first in a series of case studies highlighting Liquid and the emergence of Bitcoin-based capital markets:

English: https://blog.liquid.net/case-study-transforming-latin-americas-access-to-global-capital/

Espanol: https://blog.liquid.net/es/transformando-el-acceso-de-america-latina-al-capital-global/

The 'blockchain trilemma' refers to the challenge of balancing security, scalability, and decentralization in the design of blockchain systems. Bitcoin's base layer prioritizes security and decentralization but faces limitations in scalability.

To scale, Bitcoin relies on its second-layer protocols (i.e., Lightning, Liquid, and Fedimint), but each protocol also has unique trade-offs.

The Liquid team explains:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-3OLB2KR0A

In a recent Liquid community livestream, the Spirit of Satoshi (https://www.spiritofsatoshi.ai/) team shared their new Bitcoin-oriented AI chat and code assistants. They also fielded questions about the challenges building LLMs for Bitcoin development.

Full video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8s-GyRcZ6s0

Announcement: the first ever El Salvador tokenized asset raise - USD $6.25M - for a new hotel at El Salvador International Airport will be issued on Liquid.

Bitcoin-based capital markets are happening and will help usher in hyperbitcoinization—many more issuances in the pipeline.

https://blog.bitfinex.com/media-releases/bitfinex-securities-announces-capital-raise-for-hampton-by-hilton-at-el-salvador-international-airport/

The Liquid Federation welcomes Nym, a project building privacy infrastructure, as a new member. 🤝

Nym is also now one of 15 functionary operators, which secures the network's bitcoin multisig and creates blocks.

Press release for details:

https://blog.liquid.net/nym-joins-the-liquid-federation-ahead-of-bitcoin-halving/

Today, Liquid rolled out a beta protocol upgrade that lowers sats/vbyte for Boltz users from 0.1 to 0.01. This makes micropayments via Boltz-integrated Liquid wallets like Aqua, Marina, and Bull Bitcoin more competitive in high-fee markets.

Previously, combined Boltz and network fees were ~400 sats; with the upgrade, they are now ~40 sats total.

Happy stacking.

https://x.com/Boltzhq/status/1782801788762026244

How do the Liquid Federation members, functionary operators, and Blockstream, as the technical provider, interact on the Liquid Network? What roles do they serve?

Learn more in this short from one of our Liquid engineers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4X9LY8AI7Bc

Announcement: STOKR, through a Luxembourg securitization vehicle, has issued CMSTR, tokenized Microstrategy stock, on the Liquid Network. This transforms MSTR shares into 24/7/365, P2P tradable assets that can be securely self-custodied in a hardware wallet.

More details below:

https://stokr.io/microstrategy/

There have been several new integrations and feature announcements in the Liquid ecosystem recently that you may have missed:

🌊 Nym became one of 15 globally distributed functionary operators for Liquid. Functionary operators secure the Liquid Federation's pegged-in bitcoin (in an 11-of-15 multisignature wallet) and create blocks.

🌊 Taproot-enabled non-custodial chain swaps, LBTC to BTC, went live on Boltz. This new feature allows Liquid users to move their $BTC seamlessly between the Liquid sidechain and the Bitcoin mainchain, removing the need to rely on the Federation's functionary operators to peg out.

🌊 Changelly has added LBTC and LUSDT to its swap platform, offering over 700 trading pairs for easier on/off ramping between Liquid and altcoins.

🌊 Bitfinex Securities unveils a $6.25M debt issuance on Liquid, marking its inaugural venture in El Salvador following the enactment of the Digital Asset Securities Act.

🌊 STOKR issued CMSTR (tokenized Microstrategy stock), the first Liquid-issued tokenized security backed by stocks from a Nasdaq-traded company.

Read more about these in the 'What's New' section of the Build On L2 community platform:

https://community.liquid.net/c/announcements/

What is the difference between the Liquid Network and Elements? Elements is the open-source software that Liquid is built on, which shares 80% of its codebase with Bitcoin. Learn more by watching this short clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNZhNP8YJfA

Support for Liquid Wallet Kit (LWK) has been integrated into PeerSwap, a decentralized Lightning channel rebalancing protocol. This means you can enable P2P LBTC rebalancing swaps and save gigabytes of RAM that would otherwise be used to run a full node elementsd. PeerSwap supports both LND and CLN implementations.

https://community.liquid.net/c/announcements/peerswap-now-supports-lwk

Join us this Thursday on X Spaces for a Federation-wide discussion on the maturation of the Blockstream Mining Note (BMN), its impact on the Liquid ecosystem, and what comes next.

https://x.com/Liquid_BTC/status/1812960387362615707

Federation update: Nine new members are joining the Liquid Federation, each bringing their unique expertise: Alby, Botev Plovdiv FC, Breez, Changelly, Daedalus, Ditobanx, eNor Securities, Peach Bitcoin, and Spirit of Satoshi.

This marks a significant milestone, expanding the Liquid Federation to a total of 73 Bitcoin-focused members. Membership now includes major P2P platforms, Lightning companies, and leaders in the digital asset space, further strengthening our community.

Read details of each member below:

https://blog.liquid.net/liquid-federation-growth-alby-breez-and-peach-bitcoin-among-nine-new-members-raising-total-to-73/

Federation update: After merging 'Discounted Fees for Confidential Transactions' (ELIP200) in the latest Elements release last week, the new fee policy has been activated on Liquid testnet to assist with QA and future iterations.

For any questions, app developers can learn more by spinning up a thread on the Build On L2 forum or discussing it in the Liquid developer Telegram (linked below).

Original blog post: https://blog.blockstream.com/elements-23-2-3-discounted-fees-for-confidential-transactions/

BOL2: https://community.liquid.net/home

Dev TG: https://www.tg-me.com/liquid_devel

Boltz has launched a new 'nodeless' BTCPay Server plugin, enabling merchants to accept Lightning payments without the need to operate a Lightning node. Not only does this remove the complexity of having to manage channels or liquidity but it provides a much-needed non-custodial solution for merchants wishing to use a Lightning-enabled BTCPay Server plugin.

Read more details about the implementation from the Boltz team on their personal blog:

https://blog.boltz.exchange/p/launching-the-boltz-btcpay-plugin

Earlier this month, members of the Liquid Federation and Blockstream attended Bitcoin Tokyo 2024, Japan’s largest annual Bitcoin gathering, to discuss the convergence of Bitcoin and Japan’s financial sector. Among the topics up for discussion was the potential role of Bitcoin layer-2 scaling technologies, including Liquid, in helping to drive a new era of innovation in global finance.

Full details in the Liquid blog:

https://blog.liquid.net/liquid-provides-glimpse-of-the-future-of-bitcoin-based-capital-markets-at-tokyo-bitcoin-2024/