Coinbase Seeks to Add Bitcoin Lightning for Crypto Payments

As part of a broader plan to provide more cryptocurrency payments to global users, Coinbase (COIN) is seeking to add Bitcoin's Lightning network for payments.

“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,” Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said on Wednesday. “Let’s build it together,” he added in response to a tweet by Jack Dorsey, founder of financial services company Block Inc.

The Lightning Network is a second layer of Bitcoin (BTC). It uses the micropayment channels between software providers called nodes to accelerate payments on the Bitcoin blockchain at low cost.

These channels allow both parties to lock up funds on-chain funds. It reduces network congestion by performing several transactions separately and then bundling every transaction into one when submitted to the main blockchain.

(Source: Coindesk