Liquid Federation Welcomes Six New Members

The Liquid Federation, a consortium consisting of major exchanges, Bitcoin infrastructure companies, and wallet providers, has recently welcomed six new members, according to an announcement made by the Liquid Network on June 2. The new additions to the federation are Bcademy, Boltz Exchange, Equitas Foundation, JAN3, Maven, and Mifiel, bringing the total membership count to 67 and further diversifying the federation’s global reach.

Founded in 2016 by industry veterans, @BcademyIT offers #Bitcoin education courses for individuals and businesses. It has a proprietary minting platform and a bridge to transfer Liquid tokens across blockchains, and offers clients access to L-BTC via its OTC service desk.

— Liquid Network 🌊 (@Liquid_BTC) June 2, 2023

Driving Global Expansion

Following the annual board election held on April 18, the six firms joined the Liquid Federation. Each new member had a representative join one of the federation’s three governing boards: membership, oversight, and technical boards. This move is expected to enable the Liquid Federation to expand its presence worldwide, fostering innovation and creating new opportunities for users seeking to transact on Bitcoin’s financial layer.

By utilizing the capabilities of the Liquid Network in their operations, the new federation members contribute to the growth and development of Bitcoin’s financial ecosystem. Bcademy, based in Italy, provides Bitcoin-related education, training, consultation, and custom development services. Leveraging Liquid’s functionalities, Bcademy manages fungible and non-fungible tokens, facilitates transfers across Bitcoin’s various layers and side-chains, and offers clients access to Liquid Bitcoin through its OTC service desk.

Boltz Exchange, another new member, is a non-custodial Bitcoin exchange and Lightning Service Provider (LSP). It enables Lightning node operators to rebalance their channels via Liquid, reducing operational costs in high-fee environments. Maven, on the other hand, exclusively deals with real-world assets on the Liquid blockchain and was the first marketplace to sell real estate as a non-fungible token (NFT), with ownership recorded on Liquid.

The inclusion of these companies into the Liquid Federation comes at a time when Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) has expressed interest in adopting the Lightning Network, a layer-2 scaling solution. CZ recently mentioned in a Twitter Space conversation on June 2 that Binance is actively exploring the integration of the Lightning Network into its exchange platform. However, he also emphasized the complexity of the implementation process, stating that it requires careful consideration and planning.