Litecoin (LTC) has published on Github its draft proposal for the MimbleWimble privacy implementation titled LIP 2 & LIP 3.

These implementations would allow the network to offer privacy features to users that have been requesting them for a long time.

Litecoin Releases MimbleWimble Proposal

The 6th largest cryptocurrency in the market is expected to implement privacy features to its network. The MimbleWimble implementation was the most important project Litecoin developers have been working on.

According to the draft proposal presented by Litecoin, the first method LIP 2 will focus on Extension blocks. This would not only allow MimbleWimble but it will also effectively increase block size without any change in the consensus.

It is worth mentioning that the community still has to properly discuss what the extension block size should be for this implementation to take place.

The main motivation behind the implementation of privacy features to the Litecoin network is related to the fact that Litecoin is not fungible.

Moreover, the extension blocks will run alongside the main Litecoin blockchain. At the same time, a witness program will be implemented to differentiate the extension blocks chain from the parent chain. Furthermore, this will also ensure compatibility.

About these motivations, Litecoin informed:

“Due to the nature of a transparent ledger, transaction history can be publicly traced. This hinders Litecoin’s fungibility in several ways. Personal identifiable information collected from IP addresses, exchanges or merchants can be leaked and then tied to your address.”

The LIP 3 will be the one in charge to face the challenges faced by the lack of privacy. Through LIP 3, the MimbleWimble implementation will be helping Litecoin become fungible.

Although MimbleWimble will improve privacy on the Litecoin network – considering data will be hidden, it is still possible to track user activity and interactions. Thus, the solution increases privacy on the Litecoin network but it does not make it 100% fungible.

In addition to it, the team behind Litecoin is already planning what to do with the threat of quantum computing. Developers have prepared a contingency plan in which they would add a switch commitment for Elgamal allowing the network to move towards a more secure solution.

The Litecoin community will provide clear feedback about this implementation, the challenges it faces and how to better improve it in the future. Once all the issues are addressed, all the resources will be placed to start working on MimbleWimble for Litecoin.

Other cryptocurrency networks offering privacy solutions include Monero (XMR) and Zcash (ZEC). In the future, Tron (TRX) is also planning to add privacy features to its network.