OKEx notes that the new Lightning Integration will help to significantly reduce average transaction costs and improve transaction times while improving the user experience on the platform.
On Tuesday, February 3, crypto spot and derivatives exchange OKEx announced the integration of the Bitcoin Lightning Network with execution by the second quarter of 2021. As we know, the Lightning Network is an off-chain second-layer scalability solution for the Bitcoin blockchain.
This integration will OKEx to process transactions at a higher speed and much reduced costs. Besides, it will also help to improve the overall user experience on the platform. In the official press release, OKEx noted that this integration highlights their deep commitment to the advanced Bitcoin technology.
The number of new users joining the Bitcoin blockchain network is rising rapidly. Industry experts predict that Bitcoin will have around 1 billion users by the next four years.
In terms of adoption, Bitcoin has roughly the same users as the Internet had in 1997.
But Bitcoin's growing faster. Next 4 years on current path will bring Bitcoin users to 1b people, that's the equivalent of 2005 for the Internet. pic.twitter.com/Np9yTR3WkL
— Willy Woo (@woonomic) February 1, 2021
However, as more users join the network get more cluttered. Currently, the average BTC on-chain transaction time is around 10-30 minutes while the average fee has surged to more than $10. OKEx notes that the Lightning Network integration will help users send/receive BTC “in near real-time at next-to-no cost”.
The Lightning Network serves as a payment protocol atop the Bitcoin blockchain. It also helps to route payments via the participating nodes through the peer-to-peer system. Thus, the Bitcoin Lightning Network offloads the load of the Bitcoin mainnet and thereby reduces transaction costs significantly. Speaking about the development, OKEx CEO Jay Hao said:
“OKEx is extremely proud to be one of the first major exchanges to integrate the Lightning Network. We are always looking for new ways of decreasing user transaction fees and times. By integrating Layer 2 payment protocols like the Lightning Network, we can offer more competitive products to our users and, at the same time, openly demonstrate our support for the Bitcoin network by increasing the number of participant nodes in the Lightning Network”.
OKEx Overcoming All Previous Challenges with Bitcoin Lightning Network
OKEx has been through a rough phase recently after it halted withdrawal services in November 2020 following an investigation by Chinese officials. Reportedly, OKEx chief was also in police custody due to the recent investigation. The exchange had to face a lot of flak from crypto users which also led to erosion of its customer base.
However, OKEx seems to be now set up things straight. With the Bitcoin Lightning Network integration, OKEx is looking to win its customer confidence by improving the platform experiences. Elizabeth Stark, CEO and Co-Founder at Lightning Labs said:
“OKEx’s Lightning integration marks a big step for its users and the bitcoin community as a whole, enabling instant, global, low fee transactions. OKEx’s leadership in adopting Lightning will help bring bitcoin to the next billion people around the world”.
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