Industry leaders encouraged Coinbase to integrate Bitcoin Lightning Network

Brian Armstrong has announced that Coinbase will implement the Lightning Network. Jack Dorsey and Michael Saylor had both encouraged the move.

Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, acknowledged on Twitter that “Bitcoin is the most important asset in crypto”, and stated that his exchange would be integrating the Lightning Network, adding that customers should be “patient”, given the time that would probably be taken for the integration.

The team did a great job digging into this, and we've made the decision to integrate Lightning. Bitcoin is the most important asset in crypto and we're excited to do our part to enable faster/cheaper Bitcoin transactions. Will take some time to integrate so please be patient. https://t.co/FneeXkLI25

— Brian Armstrong 🛡️ (@brian_armstrong) September 13, 2023

Victor Bunin, Protocol Specialist at Coinbase, has been investigating the potential for a Lightning Network integration for the leading exchange, and replied to Armstrong’s announcement tweet, saying that he would be happy to receive any insights on various features for the implementation.

The Lightning Network, often hailed as a "Layer 2" solution, addresses Bitcoin's congestion woes by enabling off-chain transactions and the creation of payment channels. These channels efficiently manage numerous transactions without burdening the primary blockchain.

Armstrong's vision for Coinbase revolves around transforming Bitcoin into a user-friendly payment system suitable for everyday transactions. By incorporating the Lightning Network, Coinbase users can experience swift and cost-efficient Bitcoin transactions, making it a viable option for minor purchases.

Over time, both Coinbase and Binance, two of the biggest crypto exchanges, had both appeared to not be particularly enamoured with the Lightning Network layer 2 solution, but Binance completed its integration in mid-July this year, and now Coinbase has started its own implementation.

Michael Saylor and Jack Dorsey, CEO of Microstrategy and ex-CEO of Twitter respectively had questioned Armstrong on how he stood with the Lightning Network. Armstrong replied to a Dorsey tweet accusing him of “ignoring Bitcoin and Lightning”.

We’re looking into how to best add Lightning. It’s non-trivial, but I think worth doing. I’m all for payments taking off in Bitcoin.

Not sure why you think we’re ignoring Bitcoin - we’ve onboarded more people to Bitcoin than probably any company in the world.

Let’s build it… https://t.co/9dFGYd6XZt

— Brian Armstrong 🛡️ (@brian_armstrong) August 2, 2023

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.