Xapo Bank, a licensed private bank and leading Bitcoin custodian, has announced a partnership with Lightspark to integrate with the Lightning Network.
According to Xapo Bank’s press release, this integration aims to offer nearly instant Bitcoin payments for its members, enabling them to make small purchases of up to $100 USD at those vendors that accept Lightning payments without high transaction fees and long confirmation waiting times. The Lightning Network is a decentralized layer 2 network on the Bitcoin blockchain that enables scalable payments at millions of transactions per second across the network.
Seamus Rocca, CEO of Xapo Bank, cited the disadvantages of traditional Bitcoin payment methods for small daily purchases like groceries, which include long confirmation times and high fees. By integrating with the hyper-efficient Lightning Network, Xapo Bank aims to streamline the payment process and allow members to pay for small purchases with Bitcoin without converting to USD first.
Xapo, which was founded in 2013, claims to be “the first institutional holder of Bitcoin,” and also “the first crypto company in the world to obtain a banking license”. That’s how it evolved into Xapo Bank. It also has expanded its product range to include interest-bearing accounts for USD and BT. At Xapo Bank, members are in full control of their bitcoins, which makes it possible for them to receive, hold, and send $BTC directly.
David Marcus, Facebook’s former Head of Messenger and Head of Crypto (more specifically, the Head of the Novi digital wallet), is the CEO and Co-Founder of Lightspark (which was established in May 2022).
Marcus expressed his enthusiasm about his firm enabling the first bank on the Lightning Network to offer very quick and very low-cost Bitcoin payments to its customers. Xapo Bank’s customers will need to have some Bitcoin in the Xapo Bank App to pay using the Lightning Network.
Wences Casares, Chairman at Xapo Bank, stated, “We believe that Bitcoin is the future of money, and we are committed to helping our members navigate this new financial landscape. By expanding our services to include instant Bitcoin transfers, we can offer our members better usability and ultimately grow the cryptocurrency that many of our members rely on.”
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