Coinbase adds support for the Bitcoin Lightning Network

The largest US cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase, has supported the Lightning Network to enable faster and cheaper payments.

According to a blog post, the Lightning Network integration on Coinbase will reduce the cost of sending bitcoin (BTC) globally by 20x, compared to 2% for US credit card transactions and 20% for a $30 money transfer.

Coinbase integrates the Lightning Network

Coinbase's Lightning Network integration was led by Lightning Infrastructure Provider LightSpark, led by David Marcus of payments giant PayPal. The crypto exchange entered into a partnership with Lightspark earlier this month as it plans to move forward with Lightning integration.

The high cost and latency of traditional payment systems prompted Coinbase's plans to improve its payment offerings. The organization says that by 2022, US consumers will spend about $75 billion on credit card transactions, and even worse, most of them will be days late.

As the future of payments is crypto, Coinbase says it is committed to enabling fast, cheap and secure payments through blockchain technology with Lightning Network integration. Instead of the ten minutes to two hours it took for on-chain transactions in the past, customers can now make BTC transfers faster.

“Coinbase is excited to continue to improve the traditional payment system with crypto. Quick and cheap access to money is critical to bridging gaps in access to financial instruments, especially for underbanked and unbanked communities.

“These blockchain-based innovations will unlock capital trapped in unnecessary fees and settlement delays by enabling consumers and businesses to do more with their money,” the company said.

Not available in all regions

Notably, Coinbase's Lightning Network integration is currently not available in all regions. According to information from the exchange's help center, users in New York and Canada are unable to access the service at this time. Also, the price difference between Bitcoin and the Lightning Network does not apply to all Coinbase transfers.

Meanwhile, Coinbase is not the only crypto exchange that has added support for the Lightning Network. Binance, the world's largest trading platform, joined Kraken, Bitfinex and OKX in July 2023.