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Cryptocurrency Used by Nearly 40% of Freelancers
A survey of 1100 freelancers recently conducted by Humans.net,
found that cryptocurrency is becoming extremely popular among the self-employed. According to the study, 38% of the 1100 people surveyed said that they have used cryptocurrency before, while 41% had never used the technology, and only 24% had never heard of it. For many freelancers, cryptocurrency is appealing because there are no intermediaries for payments, even for international transactions, which are typically slow and costly.
Some of the advantages that freelancers found in crypto were illustrated below
Freelancers are also drawn to the technology because it allows them to deal with clients who they may not know or trust. Humans.net also found that 29% of freelancers would actually prefer to be paid in crypto than through the legacy banking system. 11% of those surveyed said that they would like to receive a portion of their income in cryptocurrency, while 18% said that would prefer to receive their entire income through crypto. Earlier this month, Humans.net announced that they will be using blockchain technology for their freelancing platform. Founder and CEO of Humans.net, Vlad Dobrynin,
told Coinpedia that:
"We are using an advanced AI to drive the search process on the platform which will radically alter how we connect online with peers and businesses. People will get swift and accurate search results irrespective of geographical location. By leveraging decentralized networks, power is given back to users ensuring no one can use their data without their permission. In today’s world of data driven economies, this is a radical but far-reaching step."
Article Produced By
John Vibes
John Vibes is an author and activist who has been writing for various online publications since 2012. In his research of central banking and the financial system, John discovered cryptocurrency, and has since taken a special interest in the technology. In addition to his writing and activism, John also hosts a number of large events and helps first time authors publish their own books.
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Lightning Network Growing Despite ‘Crypto Winter’, Up 300% This Month
Bitcoin’s second-layer settlement solution, the so-called Lightening Network,
is growing by leaps and bounds, even as the preeminent cryptocurrency sinks in value versus fiat currencies to new yearly lows. The Network has grown in the last 30 days across all metrics: in terms of the amount of nodes, channels, and bitcoin living on the network, according to the 1ML statistics website dedicated to tracking the network.
The amount of bitcoin stored on the network is of particular note, growing a whopping 300%+ in just one month. Nearly $1.6 million worth of bitcoin, in current valuation, is now stored in Lightning channels. The number of channels is up over 40% versus last month, to 13,000; and the number of nodes is up 9.5%, to about 4,400 nodes. Longhash reports that the amount of Lightning channels has increased sixteen times since the start of 2018. Users store bitcoin in Lightning Network payment channels, in order to have it ready to conduct peer-to-peer transactions off-chain. Once the channel is closed, the transactions are then settled on-chain - on the Bitcoin blockchain.
The news comes as a ray of sunny good news for those still watching the cryptoasset industry and its developments - except, of course, if one is in the camp that opposes off-chain solutions for Bitcoin’s scaling problems. The question of how to scale the Bitcoin network - on-chain or off-chain - is a long standing bone of contention that mostly prompted last year’s fork of Bitcoin to Bitcoin Cash. The issue prompted one of Bitcoin’s earliest developers, Mike Hearn, to quit his role in development and completely leave the space a couple of years ago. Opponents of the Lightning solution argue that all transactions should be stored on the blockchain, with their prefered solution being to increase the file size of blocks.
It is important to note that not only bitcoin can be sent using the Lightning Network. Other blockchains can transact on the Network if they support its protocol. The Lightning Network also has a mobile solution called Neutrino in development, which is operational at an alpha stage.
Article Produced By
Colin Muller
Colin studied history and political economy at some pretty good universities. He also did other things. He thinks changing the nature of money will change the nature of humanity.
