Coinbase Integrates Lightning Network
Coinbase has announced its support for the Bitcoin Lightning Network, giving users the option to choose between Lightning or the Bitcoin network for their Bitcoin transfers.
By utilizing the second-layer Lightning Network, Coinbase customers can now transfer Bitcoin faster and at a lower cost compared to transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain.
To use the Lightning Network, the recipient must provide an invoice with a unique set of characters, which Coinbase will recognize as the transfer amount.
Transfers on Lightning are considered “instant,” unlike the Bitcoin network which can take anywhere from 10 minutes to 2 hours due to its limited transaction processing speed.
However, Coinbase has cautioned that transfers to certain self-custody wallets may still take multiple hours or fail due to different implementations or fee structures.
Coinbase is implementing a 0.1% processing fee for senders of Lightning transfers. For the integration, Coinbase has partnered with Lightning payments provider Lightspark, headed by former PayPal president David Marcus.
Marcus expressed his excitement for the partnership, calling it a “significant milestone” towards their shared goal of providing efficient solutions for online payments.
