John Deaton Criticizes Lightning Network’s Pro-XRPL Stance

The XRP Ledger’s ‘Spend the Bits’ Protocol vs. the Lightning Network

John Deaton, a lawyer and cryptocurrency proponent, has expressed his preference for the ‘Spend The Bits’ protocol on the XRP Ledger (XRPL) over the Lightning Network. The Lightning Network is a second-layer solution built over the Bitcoin blockchain, designed to improve the scalability and efficiency of Bitcoin transactions by enabling off-chain, peer-to-peer transactions.

Deaton, who is an angel investor in ‘Spend the Bits’ and its chief legal officer, made his opinion known on Saturday, Oct. 21. This is not the first time he has praised the protocol as a preferable alternative to the Lightning Network. Earlier in the month, he argued that it is more secure than the latter.

The timing of Deaton’s statement was noteworthy, as it coincided with a tweet from the crypto investigator ‘WhaleWire.’ This tweet highlighted a security vulnerability in the Lightning Network, which prompted a prominent Bitcoin developer to abandon the project.

As reported by ‘IML’, the Lightning Network, backed by major players such as Tether, Bitfinex, and BlockStream, has been accused of containing deliberate vulnerabilities which may give attackers full control of the network. This has raised serious questions about the security and reliability of the network.

Currently, the Lightning Network only holds 5,338 BTC, which is only 0.025% of Bitcoin’s total supply. This has caused doubt in the network’s durability and long-term sustainability, and this concern is further amplified by the 15% decline in the capacity of the Layer 2 payment protocol over the past three months.

The crypto industry is currently in a state of flux, with the ‘crypto death’ of Casper Crypto, Celcius Crypto, Bitgert Crypto, Bond Crypto, and Bone Crypto, as well as the rapidly changing crypto currency today and crypto stock markets. This has led to an increased demand for crypto apps and blockchain web 3.0.