Binance, a prominent cryptocurrency exchange, has announced the successful integration of the Bitcoin Lightning Network for BTC withdrawals and deposits. In a blog post on July 17, Binance confirmed that its users can now utilize the layer-2 scaling solution for conducting BTC transactions.
When withdrawing or depositing Bitcoin on Binance, users will have the option to select “LIGHTNING” alongside other available choices such as BNB Smart Chain (BEP-20), Bitcoin, BNB Beacon Chain (BEP2), BTC (SegWit), and Ethereum ERC-20. The integration of the Lightning Network was initially hinted at by Binance in May after the exchange temporarily halted BTC withdrawals due to a surge in pending transactions caused by high network gas fees.
The increased transaction fees were primarily attributed to the creation of memecoins on the Bitcoin network using the BRC-20 token standard. In response to the situation, Binance confirmed on June 20 that it was actively working to onboard the Lightning Network, as users had discovered Binance’s own Lightning nodes.
Binance now joins other prominent exchanges such as Bitfinex, River Financial, OKX, Kraken, and CoinCorner in embracing the Lightning Network for Bitcoin transactions. In April, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong also expressed his intention to integrate the Bitcoin layer 2 network on Coinbase, although no specific timeline was provided.
The Lightning Network is designed to enhance the speed and cost-effectiveness of Bitcoin transactions by enabling users to establish off-chain transaction channels.
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