Brazilian neobank Nubank has partnered with the payment platform Lightspark to offer the Bitcoin Lightning Network to its 100 million customers in Latin America.
Lightspark said on June 25 that it is working with Nubank to start the Lightning “integration, mapping, and building potential products” and would have “more to share in the future.”
Lightspark will also integrate the Universal Money Address standard, a payment system built on top of Lightning that gives users an email-like address to transfer money.
Nubank Cripto’s executive director, Thomaz Fortes, said in a statement that the integration is part of the neobank’s plan to offer higher-speed, low-cost transfers via blockchain.
Lightspark has been building Lightning Network infrastructure for enterprises since it was co-launched in 2022 by former PayPal president David Marcus.
Lightspark said the Nubank integration was a “significant milestone” for the Lightning Network, as it would “dramatically impact overall network usage at a time when it’s most needed.”
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Nubank is backed by Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway and allows the trading of 14 cryptocurrencies. It partnered with stablecoin issuer Circle to expand access to its USD Coin (USDC) in November 2023.
Its cryptocurrency services were launched in May 2022, coinciding with the announcement that it would allocate 1% of its net assets to Bitcoin (BTC).
Around 92 million of Nubank’s customers are based in Brazil, with the remaining eight million mostly based in Mexico and Colombia.
Most cryptocurrency trading volume is facilitated in Brazilian real trading pairs, followed by the Mexican, Argentine and Colombian pesos, Kaiko Research data shows.
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