Coinbase launches integration of the Bitcoin Lightning Network

The largest US crypto exchange Coinbase has today begun integrating the Lightning network, which is based on Bitcoin. This step has been announced several months ago. Coinbase already announced on April 3 of this year that it had entered into a partnership with the Lightning service provider Lightspark for this purpose - Blocktrainer.de reported.

By integrating second-layer technology for Bitcoin, Coinbase enables users to carry out Bitcoin transactions faster and more cheaply. However, the new feature has not yet been activated for customers in all regions. Competing exchanges such as Kraken and Binance have long since integrated the Lightning Network into their service. The company founded by Brian Armstrong has taken a long time to do so despite the high customer demand.

The Lightning Network, which is built on Bitcoin, enables instant off-chain Bitcoin transactions at a fraction of the cost. Since its launch in 2017, the Lightning Network has grown steadily, leading to an increase in demand from our customers. With this integration, Coinbase customers can now instantly send, receive or pay with Bitcoin via Lightning directly from their Coinbase account.
_Coinbase

Viktor Bunin, Head of Lightning Integration at Coinbase, also emphasized the great contribution of the Lightning Network to society and the adoption of Bitcoin.

The growing adoption of Bitcoin is increasing economic freedom in the world. I'm thrilled that our Lightning integration is live and making Bitcoin more useful and accessible around the world.
_{Vitkor Bunin across the block}

Coinbase will charge a 0.1 percent fee as a service provider for Lightning transactions, which is significantly lower than standard credit card fees.

With the Lightning Network integration at Coinbase, the cost of sending BTC globally is 20 times less than the average 2% charged for credit card transactions and a fraction of the $30 paid for bank transfers.
_Coinbase

The fact that the crypto exchange, which has been largely criticized in the Bitcoin scene, now supports the Lightning Network is of great significance. In the past, Coinbase was in the camp that positioned itself in favor of scaling Bitcoin in the main network and against second-layer technologies - even if the exchange now acts as if it has always supported developments in the Bitcoin ecosystem.

Bitcoin is one of the most important assets in the crypto world and since our inception we have supported the Bitcoin ecosystem through our exchange and numerous investments through Coinbase Ventures. Adding support for Lightning furthers the growth of the crypto ecosystem by increasing the daily utility for millions of Coinbase customers.
Coinbase

As part of the New York Agreement, Coinbase wanted the Bitcoin network to adopt larger blocks at the expense of decentralization. However, Bitcoin users prevailed against the influential industry. The day on which the "big blockers" carried out a hard fork with Bitcoin Cash, but the majority of users opted for Bitcoin with continued small blocks, is now celebrated by the community as "Independence Day". Bitcoin Cash forked on August 1, 2017 and has been a failure ever since.

The Lightning Network is a response to Bitcoin's limited scalability and has proven to be a suitable solution for fast and cost-effective transactions with Bitcoin in recent years. The fact that the largest crypto exchange in the USA now supports second-layer technology is a positive development. The usability of Lightning benefits from higher liquidity and additional participants.