Key facts:
A Lightning Networks node is compromised from being seized by Russia.
If the Russians take over the node, the users using it could lose their bitcoins.
The beginning of the war in Russia and Ukraine has generated a scenario of concerns and danger of such varied nature that it reaches the terrain of Bitcoin. And it is that even a cryptocurrency wallet asked its users to remove their funds from there because they can be seized by the Russian army.
This is Simple Bitcoin Wallet (SBW) which, from its Twitter account, express: “Get your money out of SBW’s default channel, it’s not safe to keep anything there given the situation.” This is due to his bitcoin wallet is powered by a Lightning Network node hosted in Ukraine, which could be taken over by the Russian attack.
Wallet followers responded to the post by praising the team for the information with comments such as “I applaud your transparency and honesty” and “ok stay safe”.
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Simple Bitcoin Wallet is an open source non-custodial standalone wallet that supports the Lightning Network and works on Android mobile devices. This wallet allows the balance to be kept in its custodian node for users to send transactions from there.
Because of this, in case the node is compromised, the funds of all your SBW users could be in danger. Therefore, for now, the recommendation is that SBW users move their funds to other wallets and not connect to the custodian node provided by the company. This while the conflict between Russia and Ukraine progresses.
Bitcoin in Ukraine
In the Twitter thread published by the Simple Bitcoin Wallet account about the alert and the withdrawal of funds from its wallet, the company shared a link so that those interested in helping Ukraine can contribute donations. These can be made through the SaveLife website through transfers in bitcoin, US dollars or euros.
Before the bombings of the Russian army in Ukraine, different users have been sharing the SaveLife link and that of other websites, such as Tallycoin, to collect donations.
In addition, Other figures in the cryptocurrency ecosystem have also become involved in the conflict, calling for the war between Russia and Ukraine to stop. One of them has been Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, who on his Twitter account told his more than 3 million followers that he will not be neutral with the situation and was against the Russian attack in Ukraine.
Vitalik recalled that Ethereum, like Bitcoin, is neutral, since it is a decentralized network that is not managed by an agency or government. As long as users make transactions without any platform that works as an intermediary governed by the state, as is the case with some exchange.
This could allow Ukrainians to store their funds in bitcoin or ether (Ethereum cryptocurrency) and make transfers freely and anonymously. Something that is currently restricted in the traditional financial system, since the Central Bank of Ukraine suspended digital operations and limited the withdrawal of money in banks.
