Global-scale Bitcoin payments to Coinbase users
Coinbase integrated the Bitcoin Lightning Network using Lightspark Node – enabling instant, low-cost Bitcoin payments for millions of their users. The solution fit seamlessly into Coinbase\u2019s existing infrastructure, reducing transaction costs and latency, and set up the platform for long-term scalability.
“Coinbase is committed to making the global financial system faster and more efficient. We’re excited to partner with Lightspark to eliminate payment barriers and enable faster and cheaper Bitcoin transactions through support for the Bitcoin Lightning Network.”
— Shan Aggarwal, Chief Business Officer, Coinbase.
The opportunity
As a leader in making digital assets easy, secure, and accessible, Coinbase has consistently sought ways to expand the possibilities of Bitcoin. While the Bitcoin network is trusted and safe, it wasn’t designed for instant, low-cost transactions at scale. These are limitations that stood in the way of broader everyday use.
Coinbase saw an opportunity to remove those barriers, giving millions of customers the ability to send, receive, and pay with Bitcoin instantly and at a fraction of the traditional cost. Achieving this required a faster and more efficient payment layer — one that could maintain Bitcoin’s security while dramatically improving speed and affordability.
That’s where Lightspark Node came in.
This wasn’t about replacing what worked. It was about adding a powerful new capability to an already world-class infrastructure.
The collaboration
Our shared goal was clear: help Coinbase integrate Lightning in a way that would enable near-instant settlement, lower transaction fees, and operate seamlessly at global scale without disrupting Coinbase’s existing systems or adding friction to users.
This wasn’t about replacing what worked. It was about adding a powerful new capability to an already world-class infrastructure. Lightspark Node provided Coinbase with a clean, scalable path to Lightning, enabling them to integrate Lightning infrastructure without compromising their security model or internal controls. Lightspark managed the operational complexity of the Lightning Node, allowing Coinbase to move quickly while maintaining high standards for safety and performance.
Performance at scale. We collaborated closely with Coinbase’s engineering teams to design a system that consistently delivers settlements in ~3.4 seconds, even under peak loads. This required smart transaction routing, flexible liquidity controls, and system-wide monitoring.
Infrastructure and reliability. Lightning infrastructure needs to be robust and self-sustaining. We deployed high-availability node clusters with health checks and built-in redundancy to reroute traffic in the event of infrastructure issues.
Risk and volatility management. With Node, Lightspark handles liquidity management on behalf of customers. For Coinbase, this meant Lightspark maintained channel liquidity, monitored network conditions, and optimized routing paths behind the scenes. Coinbase benefits from performance and cost-efficiency gains without needing to manage channel operations or capital deployment actively.
Seamless integration. Our teams are aligned across engineering, infrastructure, product, compliance, and support. The rollout was fast and friction-free, with the solution going live in under two months.
Phase 1, planning and alignment. In the first two weeks, Coinbase brought together teams across product, design, engineering, infrastructure, and compliance. Together, we scoped the technical requirements, aligned on success metrics, and validated that Node would meet Coinbase’s scale, custody, and security expectations.
A critical part of this phase was designing an enhanced security model tailored to Coinbase’s needs. Lightspark built a new type of Lightning node in which Coinbase retained complete control of its private keys and remained in the critical path for signing every operation. This approach ensured Coinbase never ceded control of key management, while still gaining the speed and efficiency of Lightspark’s infrastructure.
Phase 2, design and experience. The design and product teams mapped user flows, defined in-app UX for sending and receiving Bitcoin over Lightning, and they worked closely with engineering to ensure the experience met Coinbase’s standards for clarity, trust, and responsiveness. Early prototypes helped guide integration requirements and align cross-functional teams around key interaction points.
Phase 3, integration and testing. Over the next month, Coinbase engineers integrated Node, performed rigorous testing in staging environments, and collaborated with Lightspark on monitoring, alerting, and failover readiness.
Phase 4, rollout and optimization. By week eight, Lightning support was rolled out to a controlled cohort. Coinbase monitored performance in real time and was able to confidently scale to full production without requiring significant support from Lightspark.
The results
Bitcoin payments that once took hours now settle in seconds. Fees dropped to a fraction of their former cost for customers. Infrastructure strain eased. Users noticed the difference immediately, and adoption followed quickly.
In less than a year after launch, 15% of all Bitcoin transactions are now processed by Lightspark. What began as a high-potential infrastructure upgrade has become a core component of how Bitcoin operates on one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges.
For Coinbase customers, Lightning means near-instant Bitcoin transfers, ultra-low fees, and global reach: embedded directly into their existing experience without extra steps or complexity.
Together, Coinbase and Lightspark have shown that Bitcoin can be more than a store of value. It is a true utility for fast, affordable, borderless payments.