- The alliance is now operational and a significant step toward widespread BTC use.
- Robinhood, Kraken, and Bitpay have integrated the Lightning Network.
Zap creator Jack Mallers has announced that his Lightning Network wallet, Strike, has teamed with Shopify, NCR, and Blackhawk Network, bringing Bitcoin back to its fundamentals. Bitcoin’s Lightning Network may now be used to handle payments on Shopify-based websites, according to Mallers. The alliance is now operational and a significant step toward widespread Bitcoin use.
Some of America’s largest merchants, such as McDonald’s, Walmart, Home Depot, and Best Buy, were on a slide during the presentation. On their websites, Blackhawk and NCR also claim to provide services to Starbucks, Chipotle, El Corte Ingles, Lowes, Staples, Woolworths, and a wide range of other stores.
Layer 2 of the Bitcoin Blockchain
We’ll have to wait for additional information before figuring out precisely when and how some of these shops will begin taking Bitcoin payments. According to Maller, there are currently over 400,000 merchants that take Bitcoin over the Lightning Network.
Robinhood, Kraken, and Bitpay have integrated the Lightning Network in several weeks. Layer 2 of the Bitcoin blockchain, the Lightning Network, employs smart contracts to settle payments rapidly and at low rates. For this reason, it encourages people to think about Bitcoin as actual money rather than just digital gold. As a result, Bitcoin has received much attention for its potential use as a gold substitute and inflation hedge.
In order to compete with all of the world’s fiat currencies, the Lightning Network permits Bitcoin to grow in size. However, it isn’t easy to compete with the ability to settle payments with close to 0% costs instantly. With this announcement, Maller has taken a huge step toward making cryptocurrency payments the norm. Support for Mallers’ presentation has been strong, with Twitter’s Jack Dorsey openly expressing his support for the presenter.
