Kraken Integrated The Lightning Network Officially: Report

Kraken integrated the lightning network officially today and the second layer protocol is growing and gaining importance as we speak so let’s find out more in today’s cryptocurrency news.

The traders now have an instant and cheap way to move BTC on and off the platform according to Kraken’s announcement. As Kraken integrated the Lightning Network, it Is important to know what exactly it represents. What can happen once the clientele tries out the LN transactions? The second layer solution can perform millions of operations per second for a fraction of a penny and offer the final settlements. In using it there are also privacy gains, huge innovation, and cash-like experience.

This also means, that you're able to instantly move the lightning payment you received to @krakenfx to exchange it for fiat, basically reducing the currency exchange risk to zero.
This completely changes the dynamic for fiat brick and mortar stores.https://t.co/bpNzKC7ZDL

— zero fee routing ⚡ (@zerofeerouting) March 31, 2022

The integration for Kraken came with a Lightning node of their own. To implement it, the company used LND by Lightning Labs and the reason for it is that they have the biggest user base with people having extensive experience with LND. It is proven to be easy to use and to be quite reliable, according to Pierre Rochard who said:

“Adoption is going to come from people who have fiat in their bank account, and they need to get it into Bitcoin. Kraken is providing an excellent venue for them to do that, and then they can top up their mobile Lightning wallet and use it as a medium of exchange. That’s clearly the next step in terms of Bitcoin’s evolution.”

Designed with this and the cash-like experience, Kraken limits the deposits and withdrawals to 0.1 BTC. This integration has been in the works for a while now. In 2020, Kraken stated:

“In 2021, we are committed to hiring a team to focus specifically on the Lightning Network, as part of our continuing effort to deliver the best possible experience for traders and investors.

We expect to allow clients to withdraw and deposit Bitcoin on Lightning in the first half of 2021, which will allow clients to move their Bitcoin instantly and with the lowest fees.”

It took a while but not Lightning Networks for Kraken is here. Kraken is the 23^rd exchange to support the LN and among the bigger ones, we can see OkCoin, OKEX, Bitfinex, BitMEX, Bitstamp as well as Boltz, Kollider, Buda, CoinCorner and BulBitcoin. The Lightning node operator which goes by “zero-fee routing” puts things in perspective which means that you are able to move the payment that you receive to Kraken for fiat which means you will get reduced risks, changing the dynamic for fiat brick and mortar stores.