One of Bitcoin’s most promising new technologies is coming to one of its oldest exchanges.
The Kraken exchange announced today it will add support for the Lightning Network in 2021, which adds it to a small (but growing) list of exchanges that support the scaling technology thus far. Kraken is hiring a team to manage the feature, which it anticipates will be open for client use sometime in the first half of 2021
https://www.coindesk.com/kraken-exchange-integrate-bitcoin-lightning-2021“The Lightning Network has matured to a level where it can be used by Kraken. It really comes back to what our users are asking for. They want instant and efficient payment – the ability to deposit and withdraw bitcoin without having to wait for confirmations and without high withdraw fee withdrawals,” Pierre Rochard told CoinDesk, saying Krak
Regarding what aspects of Lightning have “matured” to make Kraken comfortable with supporting the technology, Rochard said two Lightning tech advancements in 2020, wumbo channels and multi-path payments (MPPs), paved the way for the integration. Wumbo channels allow users to send larger transactions on the Lighting Network that are larger than a few hundred dollars, while MPPs allow users to break up large payments into smaller amounts to make them easier to send.
en anticipates that it will behoove traders looking for arbitrage opportunities between exchanges.Rochard told CoinDesk the rollout will be an “API-first launch” with only withdrawals initially enabled. This launch will only be “the first of many iterative developments with the Lightning Network” for Kraken though, Rochard continued, adding that the exchange may even allow users to set up payment channels (Lightning’s transaction avenues) directly with the exchange.
