Bitcoin Suisse will use the Lightning Network to make Bitcoin (BTC) transactions both cheaper and faster. It will be the first cryptocurrency payment processor in Switzerland to integrate the technology, according to a press release dated Tuesday.
Armin Schmid, head of Bitcoin Suisse Pay, praised the decision, noting that Lightning transactions will play a significant role in scaling crypto apps and driving mass adoption.
“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.”
With the launch of this cutting-edge second-layer Bitcoin technology, consumers and merchants using Bitcoin Suisse and Worldline will be able to conduct faster transactions with lower blockchain costs. The announcement further says that the decision is a significant step forward in Bitcoin Suisse’s efforts to “promote the broader adoption of crypto technology.”
The Lightning Network is a decentralized network built on Bitcoin’s second layer that employs smart contract technology to construct a secure network and allow small value transactions at faster speeds and lower costs. In 2015, Joseph Poon and Thaddeus Dryja proposed the Lightning Network protocol in an effort to address Bitcoin’s scalability issue.
Worldline, the European counterpart of Bitcoin Suisse, will be able to process transactions made using the Lightning Network. As such, customers and merchants will benefit from the ease of crypto transactions as a result of the Lightning Network integration.
The Lightning Network has attracted attention in recent weeks as a result of Twitter’s use of it for tipping, along with the network’s nationwide rollout across El Salvador.
As reported by Cointelegraph, the total capacity of the Lightning Network has seen “explosive growth” in 2021. In September, the network’s capacity reached an all-time high of 2,904 BTC, a rise in capacity of 170% since January. The network capacity will likely increase even more now that the biggest cryptocurrency broker in Switzerland has incorporated it.