Cryptocurrency exchange OKCoin has announced the integration of Lightning Network to speed up bitcoin (EXANTE: Bitcoin) transactions and support the Bitcoin ecosystem in Q1 2021. With the "layer 2" payment protocol, BTC transactions will be confirmed within a few seconds instead of up to an hour, the exchange added.
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"It will also reduce our current minimum withdrawal/deposit from 0.001 bitcoin or 100k satoshis (~$35) to 0.000001 bitcoin or 100 satoshis (~$0.04)," an announcement says.
By supporting the Lightning Network, the exchange will also operate as a node within the network. Hong Fang, OKCoin Chief Executive, says that the Lightning Network requires a network of nodes and adoption of the technology "to perform to the best of its capabilities."
"As part of our analysis of the technology, we assessed the strength and quality of the nodes and now feel the network is strong enough to participate as an exchange with a high volume of withdrawals and deposits a day," Fang highlighted.
As iHodl reported, crypto exchange Kraken will also add support for Lightning Network in 2021. The exchange said it will hire a special team focused on the Lightning Network.
Kraken plans to integrate withdrawal and deposit feature for bitcoin on Lightning in the first half of 2021.
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