Revolut partners with Lightspark to add Bitcoin Lightning for UK and EEA users

Revolut partners with Lightspark to integrate Bitcoin's Lightning Network into its payment infrastructure for UK and select European Economic Area users. This integration allows Revolut users to send crypto instantly and with lower fees, significantly accelerating and reducing the cost of digital payments.

This initiative aims to decrease network costs and transaction times, leveraging what Lightspark terms the "open Money Grid." Emil Urmanshin, Revolut's GM of Crypto, stated that this integration aligns with the fintech company's broader objective of providing faster and more affordable financial services.

Revolut recently launched Revolut X, a mobile crypto exchange app available in the UK and European Economic Area. This app allows trading of over 400 crypto pairs and 220 tokens, expanding on its earlier desktop launch and furthering the company's European growth plans announced in November 2024.

Lightning Network

Bitcoin's Layer 2 protocol, the Lightning Network, facilitates scalable, real-time transactions. Its adoption is growing among fintech platforms seeking to enhance their crypto payment capabilities.

Lightspark CEO David Marcus hailed the partnership as representative of the future of finance, contrasting traditional banking systems to "dial-up" in a "5G" world. Lightspark's infrastructure also supports Universal Money Address, simplifying crypto payments by linking email-like identifiers to wallet addresses.

Revolut joins numerous global fintech companies adopting Lightning Network to improve user experience and efficiency. This integration underscores a movement towards real-time, borderless financial transactions, overcoming the slow settlement times and high costs traditionally associated with blockchain payments.