Lightning Network helps Bitcoin scale and compete with newer altcoins that promise faster and cheaper transactions.
The crypto exchange Coinbase will integrate Lightning Network to speed up and lower the cost of Bitcoin transactions.
Lightning Network (LN) was designed to support solving Bitcoin’s scalability issue and to compete with newer cryptocurrency initiatives that promised faster and cheaper transactions.
Coinbase and Binance, among others, had no intention of adopting layer 2 until recently since community members claimed that NL integration gave fewer economic incentives.
The team did a great job digging into this, and we've made the decision to integrate Lightning. Bitcoin is the most important asset in crypto and we're excited to do our part to enable faster/cheaper Bitcoin transactions. Will take some time to integrate so please be patient. https://t.co/FneeXkLI25
— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) September 13, 2023
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong acknowledged the exchange’s decision to integrate Lightning Network, contradicting the popular narrative. He added:
“Bitcoin is the most important asset in crypto and we’re excited to do our part to enable faster/cheaper Bitcoin transactions. Please be patient as integration takes time.”
Viktor Bunin, a protocol specialist at Coinbase, began looking into the viability of LN integration one month prior to the decision. This timeframe saw MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor and Square CEO Jack Dorsey publicly challenge Armstrong’s LN viewpoint.
We’re looking into how to best add Lightning. It’s non-trivial, but I think worth doing. I’m all for payments taking off in Bitcoin.
Not sure why you think we’re ignoring Bitcoin – we’ve onboarded more people to Bitcoin than probably any company in the world.
Let’s build it… https://t.co/9dFGYd6XZt
— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) August 2, 2023
The crypto community celebrated Armstrong’s news since Coinbase’s LN integration will enable more economical and efficient Bitcoin microtransactions.
Bitcoin LN integration for BTC withdrawals and deposits was completed as of July 17, according to Binance.
#Binance has completed the integration of Bitcoin ( #BTC ) on the Lightning Network and deposits and withdrawals are now open.
More details here 👇https://t.co/aIofPdtAGY
— Binance (@binance) July 17, 2023
Users of Binance can now pick “LIGHTNING” as an option when opting to withdraw or deposit Bitcoin. Other alternatives are BNB Smart Chain (BEP-20), Bitcoin, BNB Beacon Chain (BEP2), BTC (SegWit), and Ethereum ERC-20.