Blockstream today revealed the addition of ten new members to the Liquid Network’s federation: Aquanow, DVChain, Hodl Hodl, Ledger, ListedReserve, MerklePro, Point95, STOKR, Wiz, and Wyre. The Liquid Network, a sidechain-based settlement network for traders and exchanges, now includes a total membership of 45 exchanges, trading desks, and financial institutions.
“As a fund manager, fast movement of capital is an essential part of ensuring our clients get the best prices when we access the international market for Bitcoin,” said Daniel Pickering, chief investment officer at ListedReserve. “The Liquid Network is enabling much faster movement across exchanges around the world and we look forward to supporting that network as a member of the Liquid Federation as well as through the launch of AUD.ONE which will facilitate trades in the host currency of our funds business.”
The latest new Liquid members mark the first cohort of new members onboarded by the Liquid Membership Board. Transferring the membership onboarding process from Blockstream to the Liquid Federation further demonstrates the decentralisation of the Liquid Network.
By joining as members, the companies listed above gain access to some key features and responsibilities. Members contribute to the Liquid Network’s management, handling the addition of new members, and providing input on the development of new features to keep pace with market demands. Members also benefit from the ability to peg-out bitcoin to their own cold wallet and provide exchange service to their users. A peg-out is the process by which Liquid Bitcoins are transferred back to the Bitcoin mainchain from the Liquid sidechain.
“Liquid adoption is accelerating at this critical juncture in Bitcoin’s history,” said Samson Mow, CSO of Blockstream. “A growing number of Liquid members shows that the cryptocurrency market is actively preparing for Bitcoin’s third halving and increased trading volume. With Liquid, traders no longer have to worry about the frustrations of network congestion and slow confirmations as seen in prior bull markets, and they will benefit from enhanced confidentiality and self-custody solutions.”
Some of the new members listed above have already completed Liquid integrations:
- Hodl Hodl: added L-BTC as a payment option on their non-custodial Bitcoin marketplace.
- STOKR: integrated with the Liquid Securities platform for the smooth issuance of Liquid-based security tokens, such as the upcoming EXO token.
- Wyre: launched an Apple Pay quick-buy widget for L-BTC.
Other new members have integrations launching soon:
- Ledger: bringing Liquid asset support to the Ledger hardware wallets and Ledger Vault.
- ListedReserve: launching a Liquid-based Australian dollar stablecoin.
- DVChain, MerklePro, Point95: integrating with a Liquid-based OTC settlement platform that is under development in Japan.
- Wiz: added L-BTC P2P trading to Bisq and released a proof-of-concept Liquid mempool monitor.
The increased business interest has followed rapidly increasing liquidity on the Liquid Network, with over 952 BTC and $16 million in Tether (USDt) held on the network at the time of writing. This now surpasses the current liquidity held by all Lightning Network public channels (899 BTC), although this is to be expected given that Liquid is intended for high-value trading transactions, while Lightning is intended for lower-value consumer transactions.
Businesses interested in joining the Liquid Network as a member should submit an application to the Liquid membership board on Liquid.net. US-based users can quickly start testing Liquid by purchasing some L-BTC on Liquid.net with Apple Pay or debit card (provided by Wyre). Alternatively, non-US users can exchange BTC for L-BTC on Bitfinex, BTSE, Hodl Hodl, Sideshift AI, and The Rock Trading. Users can withdraw their Liquid assets to Blockstream Green, available on Android and iOS.