Crypto exchange Binance is actively pursuing integrating Bitcoin’s LN for deposits and withdrawals after it was spotted running new lightning nodes.
The platform acknowledged in a tweet that there is still technical work to be done and promised to update once it is fully implemented.
“Some eagle-eyed users spotted our new lightning nodes recently. Yes – that’s us! However, there’s still more tech work to be done. We’ll update once Lightning is fully integrated.”
Binance’s bid to make the Lightning network accessible is to prevent a repeat of the Bitcoin withdrawal woes it encountered earlier.
On May 8, the trading platform announced suspending its BTC withdrawals owing to a “large volume of pending transactions,” which had arisen as a result of an unanticipated increase in transaction costs.
“We’re replacing the pending $BTC withdrawal transactions with a higher fee so that they get picked up by mining pools,” the firm tweeted then.
Binance quickly reinstated withdrawals while claiming that the outstanding transactions were being handled and will be replaced with increased transaction fees.
“To prevent a similar recurrence in the future, our fees have been adjusted. We will continue to monitor on-chain activity and adjust accordingly if needed.”
A reported overflow of transactions on the blockchain forced Binance to temporarily prohibit Bitcoin withdrawals the day before.
In the Bitcoin mempool, there were about 400,000 transactions waiting to be processed. Mempool.space records showed that the number surged by about 485,000.
The Layer 2 protocol known as the Lightning Network for Bitcoin employs micropayment channels to increase the blockchain’s capacity and process transactions more quickly and affordably.
Introducing off-chain transactions is a technological fix created to address BTC’s flaws.
Bitcoin LN Adoption Will Boost The Micropayments Industry
Following Binance’s announcement, Bitcoin’s transaction fees reached a sky-high. The Lightning Network is now supported by a number of significant cryptocurrency exchanges, including River Financial, OKX, Kraken, and CoinCorner.
One of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges by volume, Bitfinex, has also deployed a BTC Lightning node in an effort to jump-start the Bitcoin micropayments industry. Lightning Network support has been added for Bitfinex wallets.
According to CEO Brian Armstrong’s recent comments, Coinbase has also started to warm up to the LN and will soon include it.