By
Temitope Olatunji
April 26th, 2024
While Coinbase is still planning to leverage the Bitcoin Lightning Network, the company’s rival Binance already completed the integration of the L2 network last month.
American-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase plans to explore the possibility of integrating the Bitcoin Lightning Network into its platform. The move is part of a broader plan to expand digital asset payment options for users across the world. During an open conversation on Twitter, now rebranded as X, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong confirmed that the exchange is considering incorporating the Bitcoin Lightning network to enable easier payments globally.
Additionally, Armstrong emphasized the need for collaborative efforts from the crypto community, including Coinbase, to integrate layer 2 solutions, improve on-ramps, and streamline the user experience for wider crypto adoption.
The next step for crypto is to make payments instant and free globally.
This will take lots of work from all of us, Coinbase included, getting layer 2's integrated, better on-ramps, simpler UX/onboarding, etc.
A magic threshold would be getting the average payment under 1 cent… https://t.co/IDWTHsZNUq
— Brian Armstrong 🛡️ (@brian_armstrong) July 26, 2023
Coinbase CEO Agrees to Work Together with Dorsey
However, Armstrong’s vision was met with questions from long-standing Bitcoin (BTC) supporters like Michael Saylor, the former CEO of MicroStrategy, and Jack Dorsey, who previously owned Twitter before it was acquired by Elon Musk last year.
Saylor recommended the integration of Bitcoin Lightning on Coinbase, while Dorsey inquired about the superior money transmission protocol compared to Bitcoin. Armstrong responded, clarifying that Coinbase has boarded more people to Bitcoin than any other company.
While acknowledging Coinbase’s role in spreading Bitcoin adoption, Dorsey expressed willingness to collaborate on open internet money-transmission protocols not controlled by any single entity.
“No doubt Coinbase introduced more people to Bitcoin than anyone else. And I’m grateful for that. Putting more of your resources towards your original focus on Bitcoin and layer 2 technologies would be amazing, and we’d be happy to partner,” said Dorsey.
The open discussion concluded with a commitment from both entrepreneurs to work together in support of Bitcoin and layer 2 technologies.
Binance Completes Integration of Bitcoin Lightning Network
While Coinbase is still planning to leverage the Bitcoin Lightning Network, the company’s rival Binance already completed the integration of the L2 network last month.
On July 17, Binance announced that it had completed the network integration for BTC deposits and withdrawals, joining the likes of Kraken, OKX, Bitfinex, and River Financial, which have also embraced the layer 2 scaling solution.
With this, Binance users can now leverage the scaling solution to facilitate faster and more cost-effective transactions.
Meanwhile, the Lightning Network’s adoption has gained momentum in emerging markets like South America and Africa, primarily driven by initiatives like the LN mobile payment application Strike.
Lightning Labs, the company behind the introduction of the layer 2 scaling solution, which uses micropayment channels between nodes to expedite transactions at a lower cost, recently released a new toolkit facilitating artificial intelligence (AI) applications’ interaction with the Bitcoin network, enabling them to send, receive, and hold the crypto asset.
As the adoption of the Lightning Network grows, the crypto community continues to explore innovative solutions to enhance crypto payments and pave the way for broader global adoption.