Binance completes integration of Bitcoin Lightning Network

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has completed the integration of the Bitcoin Lightning Network on its platform for BTC withdrawals and deposits.

The development was confirmed by Binance in a July 17 blog post, where they noted that Binance users can now use the layer-2 scaling solution for BTC withdrawals and deposits.

When users now choose to withdraw or deposit Bitcoin, they will now be able to select “LIGHTNING” as an option. Other options include BNB Smart Chain (BEP-20), Bitcoin, BNB Beacon Chain (BEP2), BTC (SegWit), and Ethereum ERC-20. 

Binance first hinted at the integration of the Lightning Network in May after it had to temporarily pause BTC withdrawals due to a flood of pending transactions caused by “the recent surge in BTC network gas fees.”

The explosion in transaction fees has largely been attributed to the creation of memecoins on Bitcoin in the form of BRC-20 tokens — a new token standard on the network.

Binance later confirmed it was working to onboard the Lightning Network on June 20 shortly after users spotted Binance’s own Lightning nodes. 

Related: What is the Bitcoin Lightning Network, and how does it work?

Binance joins Bitfinex, River Financial, OKX, Kraken and CoinCorner as the other prominent exchanges to have embraced the Lightning Network.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong also signaled his intention to integrate the Bitcoin layer 2 network on Coinbase in April. However, he didn’t give a timeline as to when that may happen.

The Lightning Network aims to make Bitcoin transactions faster and cheaper by allowing users to create off-chain transaction channels.

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