This is huge! Kraken now supports Lightning Network deposits and withdrawals. The suddenly popular Second Layer protocol continues to grow and gain importance. “Finally, traders have a direct and inexpensive way to move bitcoin to and from the platform,” Kraken said in a statement their official announcement† However, the Lightning Network is much more than that.
What will happen when Kraken’s vast clientele tries Lightning transactions? Will the phenomenal experience change the way they see bitcoin? The second-tier solution can process millions of transactions per second and all operations cost pennies and provide a final bill. There are also privacy gains in using it. However, the huge innovation is the cash experience.
The Kraken integration comes with a Own Lightning Node† The company used Lightning Labs’ LND to deploy the node. The reason is that “they have the largest user base and we have a lot of people on the network who have a lot of experience with LND. So it is user-friendly and also proved to be very reliable.” That’s according to Kraken’s bitcoin product manager, Pierre Rochard, who also said to Bitcoin Magazine†
“Adoption will come from people who have fiat in their bank accounts, and they have to get it in Bitcoin. Kraken provides them with an excellent location to do that, and then they can top up their Lightning mobile wallet and use it as a medium of exchange. is clearly the next step in Bitcoin’s evolution.”
Designed with this and the cash experience in mind, Kraken limits deposits and withdrawals to 0.1 BTC.
BTC Price Chart for 04/02/2022 on Binance | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com
Kraken Announces Lightning Network Integration in 2020
While this may seem like it magically happened, the integration had been in the works for a while. in 2020, Kraken declared his intentions†
“In 2021, we are committed to hiring a team dedicated to the Lightning Network as part of our ongoing effort to deliver the best possible experience for traders and investors.
We expect customers to be able to withdraw and deposit Bitcoin on Lightning in the first half of 2021, allowing customers to move their Bitcoin instantly and at the lowest cost.
It took a while, but it’s finally here. As for the market, will this move the needle in bitcoin’s favor? Will the world notice too? According to to this listKraken became the 23rd exchange to support the Lightning Network. Among the giants on board are Bitfinex, OKEx, OKcoin, BitMex, and Bitstamp. Among the emerging, BullBitcoin, Buda, CoinCorner, Kollider and Boltz.
This also means that you can transfer the received lightning payment directly to @krakenfx to exchange it for fiat, effectively reducing the exchange rate risk to zero.
This completely changes the dynamics for brick-and-mortar stores.https://t.co/bpNzKC7ZDL— routing at no cost ⚡ (@zerofeerouting) March 31, 2022
And since we’re on lists, Kraken gave Lightning wallet recommendations in their announcement:
“For instance, BTCPay server enables Lightning payments for merchants, greatly improving the bitcoin checkout flow. For consumers, Breez† phoenix and muun bring Lightning to mobile with a modern user experience.”
As for the importance of the move to markets and businesses, a pseudonymous Lightning node operator working with “zero fee routing” puts everything in perspective. “This also means that you can immediately move the lightning payment you received to Kraken to exchange it for fiat, effectively reducing the currency risk to zero. This completely changes the dynamics for brick-and-mortar stores.”
Attacking the ESG FUD head-on
The increase in Lightning Network adoption also brings a great opportunity. The community could clean up the disgusting ESG-based narrative enemies of bitcoin that have been planted in the mainstream media. On this, Kraken’s Pierre Rochard said in the interview already quoted:
“With Lightning, you can send a payment off-chain that is much more energy-efficient, not only because you don’t add up the miner fees and therefore the electricity consumption by miners, but also because that payment only has to be made. saved and shared by the two parties in that channel.”
To do Greenpeace and Ripple not knowing that most bitcoin transactions will be off-chain in a few years? Don’t they know that the Lightning Network is only taking bitcoin out of the conversation its enemies have carefully crafted? Kraken knows for sure. And taken action.
Speaking of Kraken, CEO Jess Powell has been on the news lately. He recommended buy bitcoin under $40K† During the Canadian crisis, he advised bitcoiners to get their money from centralized exchanges† And he voluntarily refused to ban Russian userswhich gives a compelling reason to justify Kraken’s actions.
Featured image by Ferhat Deniz Fors On Unsplash † Charts by Trading Display