Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has confirmed that the U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange will soon integrate Bitcoin’s lightning network. The latest update comes five months after Coinbase first hinted at its willingness to enable support for the layer-2 network, which offers cheaper and faster transactions.
In a Wednesday tweet, Brian Armstrong noted that the Coinbase team has completed its “digging” into a potential Bitcoin Lightning network integration and will now proceed with its implementation. The CEO, however, failed short of providing a precise timeline for Coinbase enabling support for Bitcoin lightning. He added that the integration process would take time and urged users to be patient.
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
If successful, the Coinbase lightning network implementation will become one of the largest by a crypto platform. The San Francisco-headquartered company reports over 100 million users, many of whom would get to interact with lightning technology for the first time.
Coinbase Joins Top Crypto Exchanges to Rally Around Bitcoin Lightning
First proposed in a whitepaper in 2016, the layer-2 solution allows users to enjoy cheap and instant off-chain transactions that eventually settle on Bitcoin’s mainnet. This off-chain approach allows for more transactions to be bundled and takes a considerable load off the Bitcoin network during periods of peak demand.
After struggling to gain traction in its first few years, a number of cryptocurrency exchanges are now supporting the technology. Coinbase is the latest top-tier cryptocurrency exchange to join the bandwagon, with Binance, Kraken, and Bitfinex also enabling support for Bitcoin’s lightning network in recent times.
