Bitfinex added backing for withdrawals and deposits in bitcoin through Lightning Network, and as a result becoming one of the first major exchanges to offer services on that platform. With the new feature, customers can withdraw and deposit bitcoins on the exchange instantly through LN.
In an interview with The Block, Bitfinex CTO Paolo Ardoino said the company is also working to bring its USDT stablecoin and Tether Gold to the network. According to Ardonio, the exchange has good expectations about Lightning Network and hopes to bring the protocol to the general public.
“We believe that Lightning Network can revolutionize our industry because it allows P2P micropayments with small rates and high transfer speed. Its P2P nature carries the unstoppable force of the bitcoin. Still, it requires more awareness, understanding and adoption from the community. A large exchange supporting this will accelerate this adoption process”, Ardoino said.
Initially, the exchange is running an LN node and the user can connect and open a payment channel through this link.
How Lightning Network works
LN is like a second layer to the blockchain. Thus, instead of registering all transactions on the blockchain, transactions can be carried out off-chain (out of chain). The user opens a payment channel between the parties, which can transact several times before the transaction actually completes and sent to the blockchain.
Recently, Lightning Network’s number of nodes reached the 10,000 mark and registered a new record after growing 3.11% in the last thirty days.
