Xapo Bank Becomes the First Bank to Offer Near-Instant Bitcoin Payments On the Lightning Network Powered by Lightspark

Xapo Bank is the first fully licensed bank in the world to integrate Lightning Network.

BANGKOK, THAILAND – Media OutReach – 9 March 2023 – Xapo Bank, a leading Bitcoin custodian and licensed private bank, has partnered with Lightspark and integrated with the Lightning Network to enable lightning-fast Bitcoin payments for its customers. Xapo Bank members can now instantly pay for small purchases of up to $100 USD at any vendor which accepts Lightning payments without suffering high transaction fees and long blockchain confirmation waiting times.

The Lightning Network enables scalable payments at millions of transactions per second across the network. This integration will reduce the time-consuming and costly experiences that often plague users who pay for small transactions in Bitcoin. Xapo Bank will be the first fully licensed private bank to offer near-instant Bitcoin payments, and its goal is to be the largest Lightning node, expanding the network’s use across a host of new users.

Seamus Rocca, CEO of Xapo Bank, said: “The average transaction confirmation time of one hour combined with potentially large fees during periods of high usage make the Bitcoin network unsuitable for small daily payments such as groceries. By integrating with the hyper-efficient Lightning Network, we are the first bank in the world to streamline this process and allow our members to pay for small purchases with Bitcoin without having to convert to USD first.

“Against a backdrop of hyperinflation, economic uncertainty and political turmoil, we are entering a world where digital money is ubiquitous, and we need integrations like this that open up access to Bitcoin payments. We are bringing together the benefits of fast, cost-efficient, and global Bitcoin payments with the security, privacy, and flexibility unmatched in the traditional banking industry.”

Founded in 2013, Xapo was the first institutional holder of Bitcoin and is one of the most trusted custodians in the industry, providing users with a secure platform to store and transact with their Bitcoin. It was the first crypto company in the world to obtain a banking licence, evolving into Xapo Bank, and has since expanded its offerings to include interest-bearing accounts for both USD and BTC and continues to develop its Wealth Management offering alongside other traditional banking services. Unlike other financial services businesses, members at Xapo Bank own and control their Bitcoin fully, meaning they can receive, hold and send it directly.

David Marcus, CEO and Co-Founder of Lightspark, said: “We’re thrilled to enable the first bank on the Lightning Network to offer instant, cheap Bitcoin payments to its customers. Xapo has been one of our early closed beta partners, and we’re delighted they chose Lightspark’s enterprise-grade solution to reliably send and receive payments on the Lightning Network without all the complexity and operational overhead that typically comes with running a node on it. We look forward to talking more about our solution in the months to come.”

To pay via the Lightning Network, Xapo Bank members will need to hold Bitcoin in the Xapo Bank App. After that, they can simply scan and pay an invoice at any merchant accepting Lightning Network payments. The network charges a small fee for each transaction, usually a few Satoshis. Xapo Bank has set a fixed payment fee for SAT 15 (less than $0.01 USD as of Feb 24th) to protect members from executing transactions with high fees.

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About Xapo Private Bank:

Xapo is an international private bank that accepts members who may apply and join the bank from anywhere in the world, digitally. Similar to other licensed banks in Europe and the UK, deposits at Xapo Bank are guaranteed for up to USD 100 000.00 under the Gibraltar Deposit Guarantee Scheme. It is currently paying 4.1% interest on USD, available on demand, with no lock ups.

Xapo is the first fully licensed private bank to offer total real-time transactability in USD, alongside investments in USDC and Bitcoin, through a single, secure, simple and user-centric account and app. The bank and its members are strictly protected by UK and EU standard laws in the trusted UK jurisdiction of Gibraltar, under the authority of the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission.

Led by the leading minds in traditional banking, fintech and future-forward crypto adoption, Xapo is a best in class banking platform from end to end. Xapo’s advisory panel includes former Citibank CEO and chairman John Reed and former US Secretary of Treasury Larry Summers (and included the late Visa founder Dee Hocks until his passing last year), and its C-Suite is comprised of global leaders in fintech and banking from companies such as PayPal, Libra, Standard Chartered, Credit Suisse and more. CEO Seamus Rocca was previously Group Head of Liquidity and Funding Risk at Standard Chartered Bank in London, and founder Wences Casares is a world renowned serial entrepreneur and Bitcoin pioneer who previously served on the board of PayPal.

Xapo’s distributed workforce across 42 countries brings unrivalled diversity of problem-solving talent to the world of private and decentralised banking. A tech company first and foremost, 65% of the bank’s staff are world class engineers who are developing its innovative technology platform.

The world’s first fully licensed crypto-native bank, Xapo was conceptualised and funded in Silicon Valley and uses best in class technology to safeguard its members’ and its own reserves. It holds one of the world’s largest distributed reserves of Bitcoin.

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About Lightspark

Lightspark is building infrastructure for the Lightning Network. Lightspark is in a closed beta, but services and tools will be available soon.

About Lightning Network

The Lightning Network is a decentralised network on the Bitcoin blockchain that enables instant, low-cost payments across a network of participants. The Lightning protocol makes use of the security and liquidity of the Bitcoin network to create a secure network of participants who are able to transact bitcoin at high volume and high speed with low cost and instant settlement.