BitPay, a Bitcoin and crypto payment platform, today announced support for Lightning Network Payments. Now, BitPay merchants and their customers have access to cheaper, more scalable Bitcoin payments.
The combination of payments made through major Bitcoin blockchains and through the Lightning network results in an overall better payment experience that is faster, lower cost and scalable.
Payments can be made through Lightning Network-supported wallets such as Strike, Cash App and others. BitPay merchants do not require any additional setup or configuration to receive Lightning Payments.
Advantages of Lightning Network
Lightning network is a secondary layer of blockchain that enables scalable transactions with low fees. It was created to improve the cost and scalability of bitcoin transactions.
Merchants and their customers can make “off-chain” transactions without the original blockchain jam, although they still enjoy the same security and benefits of blockchain-based payments.
- Quick transaction – Performing small transactions on the Lightning Network reduces traffic congestion in the main blockchain, increasing the speed of transactions across the board.
- Lower transaction fees – The fee on the Lightning Network is only a fraction of one percent. For merchants, this means more consumers are spending crypto. For customers, this means that paying with crypto is just as effective as any other payment method. In addition, micropayments became more profitable.
- Scalability – Lightning Networks can process thousands of transactions per second compared to major Bitcoin blockchains.
“BitPay's integration with the Lightning network gives customers more choice and more ways for merchants to pay using blockchain technology.”
– Tony Gallipoli, co-founder of BeatPay
