Lightning Network [LN] to debut in Swiss-based Bitcoin Suisse

Bitcoin’s Lightning Network [LN] officially integrates into the payment module of Bitcoin Suisse, a Switzerland-based crypto-financial firm. According to the press release, the latest development is significant due to the fact that it became the first digital payment processor in the country to offer the scalability solution, thereby gaining the first-mover advantage in the crypto market. Additionally, retail consumers, as well as business clients working with Bitcoin Suisse and its associate Worldline, would both stand to benefit from the LN network’s faster transactions and cheaper costs.

Armin Schmid, Head of the Bitcoin Suisse Payment division, stated,

“Lightning transactions enable higher throughput per second at the price of a fraction of a cent – making them a game-changing innovation for crypto applications. Lightning transactions will thus play a vital role in scaling crypto applications and driving their transition to a mainstream application.”

On the same line, Sascha Münger Product exec of Worldline Crypto payments described the integration as a logical step moving forward against a common vision of enabling accessibility of crypto assets to its audience. Lauding the LN network for its ability to facilitate quick and cost-efficient transactions, the exec went on to add that by ‘aggregating transactions before getting mined on the blockchain, it significantly reduces energy costs per transaction and thereby supports Worldline’s ambition to lead the industry by example in introducing technological innovations to improve sustainability.’

Lightning network [LN] working principle

Developed by Thaddeus Dryja and Joseph Poon in 2015, the Layer 2 payment protocol a.k.a Lightning network utilizes Bitcoin’s primary chain to carry out smaller transactions between users, away from the base layer of the blockchain. The principle of smart contracts aids in the final settlement of payments with full confidentiality. The users with the help of the payment channels can exchange with faster transactions and reduced wait times.

Lightning network in recent times

Interestingly, following the announcement, total value locked [TVL] reached a new all-time high of $219k at the time of writing, according to the analytics platform, defipulse.

The scalability solution has gained a lot of traction in recent times as a result of Twitter’s announcement of its usage for tipping.