Leading Latin American cryptocurrency exchange Bitso has partnered with Lightspark to integrate the Bitcoin Lightning Network onto its platform. This will deliver faster and cheaper Bitcoin transactions to Bitso’s user base of over 8 million retail customers and 1,700 institutional clients.
Bitso will leverage Lightspark’s infrastructure to enable Lightning transfers. Lightspark will host the nodes while Bitso retains control of the private keys in a remote signing setup.
This integration comes as Lightning Network adoption spreads globally, making Bitcoin payments faster, smoother, and less expensive.
According to research by Bitso, 53% of crypto wallets in Latin America hold Bitcoin. Trading pairs against local fiat currencies are also widely used. Therefore, Lightning is a natural choice to upgrade Bitso’s existing infrastructure.
“We are thrilled to partner with Lightspark to bring Lightning to our platform. This furthers our mission to make cryptocurrency useful by offering faster, more cost-effective, and more transparent money transfers,” said Daniel Fogel, co-founder and CEO of Bitso.
With Lightning technology, Bitso can offer near-instant Bitcoin transactions for a fraction of the cost of regular payments over the Bitcoin blockchain. This opens the door to potential new payment and remittance solutions for both retail and corporate customers.
“Bitso shares our vision of building open payments for the internet,” said Lightspark CEO David Marcus. “This brings us closer to that goal. We know people across Latin America want this solution.”
As a leading exchange in Latin America with millions of users, Bitso’s integration with Lightning represents a milestone in the growing adoption of Bitcoin.