By Susie Violet Ward · Forbes · 13 September 2023
In September 2023, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong confirmed on Twitter that the exchange would integrate the Lightning Network, describing bitcoin as “the most important asset in crypto” and asking customers to be patient while the work was done. Victor Bunin, a protocol specialist at Coinbase who had been assessing Lightning, invited suggestions on features for the implementation.
The announcement followed a challenge from Jack Dorsey in July 2023, when he asked Armstrong why he continued to ignore bitcoin and Lightning. The article explains that the Lightning Network was developed to address bitcoin’s scalability by moving transactions off-chain through payment channels, allowing fast, low-cost payments. It notes support for Lightning from Dorsey, Michael Saylor and Cathie Wood, Binance’s integration in mid-July 2023 and David Marcus’s plans at Lightspark, and presents these moves as steps towards bitcoin’s use in everyday payments.