Bitcoin’s Lightning Network Reaches Apple Watch as NYAG-iFinex Tit-For-Tat Amps Up

There was certainly no shortage of crypto news to digest over the weekend. Amongst the notable development was Bitcoin wallet developer BlueWallet Services’ first-of-its-kind announcement that its wallet app had gained Apple Watch support.

Additionally, the NYAG-iFinex legal tit-for-tat continued, with AG Letitia James on Friday opposing iFinex’s motion to vacate the highly publicized court order obtained by her Office two weeks ago. By Sunday, iFinex’s counsel doubled down; submitting to the Court a response addressing James’ opposition papers.

On the research side of things, ConsenSys published a paper presenting a methodology for Atomic Crosschain Transactions across private sidechains and blockchains.

In the past 24 hours, bitcoin (BTC) slumped 1.80% to $5,704.34. It was better news for ether (ETH), though, which rose 0.73% to $165.40. As for the MVIS CryptoCompare Digital Assets 10 Index, it dropped 2.34% to 2,792.36. Note, all pricing data is recorded at the time of writing.

Bitcoin’s Lightning Network Hits Apple Watch Users

For the first time ever, a Lightning Network-enabled Bitcoin wallet is available to Apple Watch users. The groundbreaking news was announced Sunday by Bitcoin wallet development firm BlueWallet Services, after it shipped v.4.0.0 of its self-titled wallet; an app that had already been available on iOS and Android devices. To receive bitcoin payments on the Apple Watch, Bluewallet users generate a QR code which is later scanned by a smartphone.

NYAG Requests Court Denies iFinex’s Motion to Vacate…

New York Attorney General (NYAG) Letitia James has submitted an opposition to last week’s motion by Bitfinex and Tether parent company, iFinex, to vacate (or modify) the preliminary injunction and document demand order obtained by the NYAG.

According to James’ law of memorandum submitted on May 3, Bitfinex violated the state of New York’s anti-fraud law, the Martin Act. The NYAG announced, on April 25, it had obtained a court order against iFinex to stop the Bitfinex and Tether from any “further violations of New York law.”

…iFinex Lawyers Hit Back at NYAG

On Sunday, the counsel for iFinex filed an official response to Friday’s allegations made by the NYAG against the parent company of Bitfinex and Tether, claiming “nothing in the [AG’s] opposition papers justified the ex parte Order having been issued in the first place, or persisting any longer.”

The 18-page document picks apart James’ law of memorandum and, in so doing, further argues why “the Court should vacate of modify the April 24, 2019, Ex Parte Order.” The document blames the NYAG for a $10 billion loss in the cryptocurrency space, as well as “significant” damage on Bitfinex.

ConsenSys Presents New Technology for Ethereum Private Sidechains

Four researchers from PegaSys, the protocol engineering group at ConsenSys, have published a research paper presenting “Atomic Crosschain Transaction technology in the context of Ethereum Private Sidechains.”

According to the 40-page paper, the new crosschain technique “allows transactions to be executed atomically across sidechains.” In addition to this, the four researchers “introduce a new mechanism for proving values across sidechains, describe a transaction locking mechanism which works in the context of blockchain to enable atomic transactions, and a methodology for providing a global time-out across blockchains.”