Bitcoin’s [BTC] Lightning Network gains support from Zebpay; payment support in 131 countries

On 27 March 2019, Zebpay, one of the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchanges and wallet providers, announced Lightning Network support for all its customers. This service can be availed by customers in 131 countries to make Bitcoin [BTC] payments. It can also be availed immediately after signing-in on the platform and activating the Lightning tab.

The blog post read,

“We are excited to announce that Zebpay is launching its Lightning Network integration. Starting today, Zebpay customers from around the world can use the BTC balances on their Zebpay wallet to make payments in a flash on the Lightning Network.”

Lightning Network has been the most controversial topic in the Bitcoin community over the past few months. It is a second-layer protocol that enables users to make off-chain payments while backing on Bitcoin blockchain’s security. It allows participants to create channels to transfer Bitcoin without recording it on the blockchain.

Interestingly, the Singapore-headquartered exchange was marked as the first cryptocurrency exchange to integrate payments via the Lightning Network. The exchange stated that its users could make 10 transactions/per day “with amounts as low as 1 Satoshi.” The maximum transaction value allowed on the platform was set at 0.001 BTC.

Ajeet Khurana, the CEO of Zebpay, said,

“Making Bitcoin technology widely accessible is a key component of our roadmap. Today, with the integration of the Lightning Network, we have taken yet another step in this direction”

The platform asserted that its mission was to set crypto “free from the shackles of trading fees.” This was followed by the exchange claiming that it would bear all the cost of Lightning Network transactions for all its wallet transactions. The exchange is “committed” to keeping the “cost of adopting this technology low” for its users around the world, it claimed.

The exchange said,

“Crypto enthusiasts around the world can pay anywhere where Lightning is supported and buy virtually anything by identifying the store, copying or scanning the invoice of the product or service, and finalizing the payment  –  all within milliseconds.”

Recently, Lightning Labs announced the addition of Lightning Loop for the Lightning Network, in order to make the network more efficient, stable, and cheap. Lighting Loop is a non-custodial service that acts as a bridge for on-chain and off-chain Bitcoin with the help of submarine swaps.