Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has completed the integration of the Bitcoin Lightning Network on its platform for BTC withdrawals and deposits.
The development has been confirmed by Binance in a July 17 blog post, where they noted that Binance users can now use the Layer 2 scaling solution for BTC withdrawals and deposits.
When users now choose to withdraw or deposit Bitcoins, they will now be able to select “LIGHTNING” as an option. Other options include BNB Smart Chain (BEP20), Bitcoin, BNB Beacon Chain (BEP2), BTC (SegWit), and Ethereum ERC20.
Binance first hinted at integrating the Lightning Network in May after having to temporarily suspend BTC withdrawals due to a flood of pending transactions caused by “the recent increase in BTC network gas fees.”
The explosion in transaction fees has been widely attributed to the creation of memecoins on Bitcoin in the form of BRC-20 tokens – a new token standard on the network.
#binance completed Bitcoin integration ( #BTC ) on the Lightning Network and deposits and withdrawals are now open.
More details here https://t.co/aIofPdtAGY
— Binance (@binance) July 17, 2023
Binance later confirmed that it was working on integrating the Lightning Network on June 20, shortly after users spotted Binance’s own Lightning nodes.
Related: What is the Bitcoin Lightning Network and how does it work?
Binance joins Bitfinex, River Financial, OKX, Kraken, and CoinCorner as the other top exchanges to adopt the Lightning Network.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong also signaled his intention to integrate the Bitcoin Layer 2 network on Coinbase in April. However, he did not give a timeline as to when that might happen.
The Lightning Network aims to make Bitcoin transactions faster and cheaper by allowing users to create off-chain transaction channels.
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