Discover the Power of Privacy and Scalability: An In-Depth Look at MWEB on Litecoin

MimbleWimble is a cutting-edge technology that prioritizes both privacy and scalability. Originally published on July 20th, 2016, it has since been adopted by various cryptocurrencies, including Litecoin. In 2019, Charlie Lee, the creator of Litecoin, Andrew Yang, and David Burkett released Litecoin Improvement Proposal 0003 with the goal of increasing fungibility through the use of MimbleWimble Extension Blocks (MWEB).

To facilitate the integration of MWEB into Litecoin, the Litecoin Foundation hired Grin developer David Burkett on a community donation-based salary. Charlie Lee matched all donations 1-to-1, and the work began on November 2019. For over 2 and a half years, the team has been testing and validating the code, ultimately leading to the successful activation of MWEB on May 19th, 2022.

To use the MWEB privacy option, the recipient first checks the “Generate MWEB address” box and then clicks on the “Create new address” button, which generates a stealth address to share with the sender. The sender then pastes the recipient’s address, enters the amount, and clicks the “Send” button. The transaction is automatically pegged-in to an MimbleWimble Extension Block, which hides both the sender and recipient addresses and the amount transacted. Get full instructions here: https://www.lookintolitecoin.com/post/steps-to-send-mweb-addresses-on-litecoin

MWEB offers an optional privacy feature that hides both transaction details and the wallet’s balance. This feature can be useful for companies who pay employees in Litecoin and wish to keep transaction details private, as well as for individuals who value financial privacy. Additionally, by removing unnecessary data, MWEB makes the Litecoin blockchain more scalable, leading to less storage and faster synchronization.

Furthermore, MWEB promotes fungibility by ensuring that 1 LTC always equals 1 LTC, regardless of a coin's history. This is an important characteristic of money, akin to physical cash. Now that you are familiar with MWEB, you can download the Litecoin Core wallet and experience the added privacy and security that it offers when sending funds to anyone around the world.

Sources:

1. https://docs.beam.mw/Mimblewimble.pdf

2. https://twitter.com/LTCFoundation/status/1612507323771277312?s=20&t=9ceq55XbGwYs8SDzk3SR6A

3. https://github.com/litecoin-project/lips/blob/master/lip-0003.mediawiki

4. https://litecointalk.io/t/mweb-progress-update-thread/26678