- Coinbase just unveiled a new partnership with Lightspark that will bring the Bitcoin (BTC) Lightning Network into its platform.
- The integration of the feature is expected to usher in quicker and more affordable BTC transactions within the cryptocurrency exchange.
Coinbase x Lightspark Strategic Partnership
Coinbase just announced its new strategic partnership centering on the integration of the Lightning Network into its crypto exchange operations. Open-source protocol Lightspark will serve as the technical partner of the exchange to pave the way for faster and very low fees for Bitcoin transactions within the platform.
“Coinbase customers will benefit from instant, cheaper transfers, and this integration will pave the way for more collaboration between the companies in the months and years to come,” Lightspark stated in its press release.
According to the company helmed by David Marcus as CEO, it took them two years to arrive at a product considered “the best enterprise-grade entry point to the Lightning Network on the market.” They pride themselves on developing software and services anchored on the Lightning Network that’s tailored even to the most demanding institutions but without the complex procedure that comes along with it.
The streamlined and smooth implementation and management of Lightning nodes within Coinbase were mainly attributed to the tech firm’s own software development kits (SDKs), application programming interface (API), developer tools, and artificial intelligence-based (AI) smart engine called Lightspark Predict.
Early on, former X CEO Jack Dorsey challenged Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong because of the latter’s apparent snub of the capabilities of the Bitcoin Lightning Network. In response, the boss of one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges said they were still looking for the best way to fuse the L2 solution in the platform.
Fast-forward to the present, Coinbase has finally found the most ideal way to do it.
The Lightning Network
The Lightning Network is a decentralized layer 2 project scaled on the Bitcoin blockchain. It provides an execution layer that processes transactions outside of the Bitcoin network’s main chain to enable an increased throughput.
With its utilization on Coinbase, it will help decongest the overall network usage of Bitcoin while users will be able to do away with the continuously rising layer 1 fees of its transactions. In the long run, Lightspark plans to roll out additional use cases for its software solutions in the payments niche. It is currently developing a way to bridge more liquidity to be converted in and out of BTC from fiat and other cryptocurrencies.