One of the world’s largest payment gateways, CoinGate, announced yesterday that all merchants can now process transactions over the Lightning Network. This step advances adoption further.
The Lightning second-layer payment protocol has grown significantly in importance in recent months within both the Bitcoin and Litecoin networks. It already supports over 6,000 nodes, transaction volume is rising daily, and usage and distribution are expanding. At the time of writing, data from 1ML.com show roughly 150 Litecoin nodes with a capacity of 100 LTC active.
CoinGate’s integration will greatly increase adoption of the Litecoin Lightning Network. CoinGate’s marketplace now includes more than 4,500 merchants using its payment solution. A notable merchant partner is Surfshark, a VPN provider that has enabled Lightning for Litecoin, allowing customers to make near-instant transactions at very low cost.
CoinGate was one of the first payment gateways to integrate the Bitcoin Lightning Network, helping to boost its acceptance and spread. Now Litecoin support will follow (translated):
Since launch we have processed over 30,000 orders via Lightning, which is a strong signal that both our customers and the crypto community are highly interested in this development. Seeing the enormous potential, we decided to expand the feature — this time for Litecoin.
CoinGate is once again demonstrating leadership and innovation in the industry.
Great news! We are finally enabling #Litecoin #LightningNetwork payments to all our 4,500 merchants! So, feel free to use #LiteningNetwork for making purchases online, or accept LTC Lightning payments with your business. Go $LTC! @SatoshiLite @litecoin @LTCFoundation pic.twitter.com/j5Zrd8KXtz
— CoinGate (@CoinGatecom) February 8, 2019
Litecoin.com also reports that CoinGate plans to introduce atomic swaps between Bitcoin and Litecoin on its platform next. Atomic swaps would enable even smoother exchanges between different cryptocurrencies, adding another element to the ecosystem.
Litecoin has likewise announced plans to introduce privacy features, though recent statements indicate these will be optional. Developers are actively working on privacy enhancements to be integrated using MimbleWimble technology. According to founder Charlie Lee, the expanded privacy features will be available via a simple opt-in and will not require a hard fork.
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