Former Head of Payments David Marcus stated that Bitcoin is set to become the most critical network to take payments to a new era. Marcus believes the global payment infrastructure is absolute and will benefit from integrating with the cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin Lightning, A Solution For Today’s Payment Problems?
In an interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box, the former Facebook and PayPal executive spoke about his new project, Lightspak. This company was created to provide payments settled on Bitcoin’s second-layer solution, the Lightning Network.
This payment solution improves the Bitcoin network scalability by allowing users to send money “off-chain.” In that sense, Marcus and his company want to turn the cryptocurrency into a “ real global payment network.”
The objective is to financially connect all individuals regardless of nationality, access to legacy payment rails, and other factors. The former Facebook executives claim that this is the last border to allow people to connect just as they do with email, text, and other forms of communication supported by the internet.
Marcus stated the following about what the company attends to solve and why they are building on top of the Bitcoin network:
If you were to stop one of them (a tourist visiting the US), wanting to communicate with them you could ask them for their email address, and you can email them easily the next minute. You can text them, you can them to a group video chat, but if you were to send them money (…) then you wouldn’t be able to do that. So, we are still in the fax era of payments and that’s what we are attending to solve.
Marcus believes that the world lacks a universal protocol for money and that Bitcoin and the Lightning Network are the solution. The current payment rails are complicated, and people have to overcome several obstacles to transfer money between countries or between each other.
If Lightspark and other companies building on the Lightning Network can provide the public with a simple solution. In that case, Marcus believes they can enter a trillion-dollar sector and take market share from SWIFT and other international payment networks.
Bitcoin Lightning Network On The Rise
While the value of Bitcoin has been on a downtrend since reaching an all-time high of $69,000 in 2021, the Lightning Network has been growing. Data from crypto analytics platform mempool.space indicates that the second layer solution has increased its payment capacity to over 4,700 BTC.
The chart below shows that this metric has risen since October 2020, when payment capacity was well below 1,000 BTC. If the trend continues, the Lightning Network could double its payment capacity in the next two years.
Cover image from Unsplash, chart from Tradingview