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Bitso, the leading cryptocurrency exchange in Latin America, has partnered with Lightspark to integrate bitcoin’s Lightning Network into its platform. This will enable faster and cheaper bitcoin transactions for Bitso’s user base of over 8 million retail customers and 1,700 institutional clients.
Bitso will leverage Lightspark’s infrastructure to enable Lightning transfers. Lightspark will host the nodes while Bitso will retain control of the private keys in a remote signing setup.
The integration comes as Lightning Network adoption spreads globally, making bitcoin payments faster, smoother and less expensive.
According to Bitso research, 53% of cryptocurrency wallets in Latin America hold bitcoin. Trading pairs with local fiat currencies are also widely used. Therefore, Lightning is a natural choice to upgrade Bitso’s existing infrastructure.
Daniel Vogel, Co-Founder and CEO of Bitso, said: “We are delighted to partner with Lightspark to bring Lightning to our platform. This contributes to our mission of making crypto useful by offering faster, more cost-effective and transparent money transfers.”
With Lightning, Bitso can offer near-instant bitcoin transactions at a fraction of the cost of regular on-chain bitcoin payments. This opens up new possibilities for payment and remittance solutions for both retail and business customers.
David Marcus, CEO of Lightspark, said Bitso “shares our vision of creating open payments for the Internet. This brings us closer to that goal. We know that people across Latin America want this solution.”
As a pioneering exchange in Latin America with millions of users, Bitso's integration of Lightning is a milestone in increasing bitcoin adoption.
