As noted by Binance, “By enabling most transactions to be processed off-chain, the Bitcoin Lightning Network alleviates congestion on the Bitcoin blockchain, allowing for a higher number of transactions per second.”
Crypto exchange Binance has completed the integration of Bitcoin (BTC) on the layer-2 protocol Lightning Network to enable faster Bitcoin deposits and withdrawals for its clients.
Earlier in May, Binance suspended Bitcoin transactions on two separate occasions due to network congestion caused by the sudden demand for Bitcoin Ordinals. A few days later, the exchange announced its plans to add support for the Bitcoin Lightning Network to prevent such issues in the future.
In a recent blog post, Binance claimed that using Bitcoin Lightning Network will allow users to settle transactions instantly at much lower gas rates. It added,
“Transactions on the Bitcoin Lightning Network typically have significantly lower fees compared to Bitcoin network transactions. This makes microtransactions economically viable.”
Binance clients who wish to use this feature will have to pick BTC-Lightning as the network every time they deposit or withdraw Bitcoin assets.
Besides Binance, several other crypto exchanges, including Kraken, OKX, and Bitfinex, have integrated support for Bitcoin Lightning Network. Similarly, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, earlier announced his plans to integrate the Lightning Network on the exchange. However, Armstrong has yet to reveal a roadmap detailing when exactly the exchange will allow users to carry out BTC transactions via the layer-2 protocol.