A mobile phone payment processing app created by Block Inc. has added support for transactions via the Bitcoin Lightning Network. The new feature allows Cash App users to send and receive Bitcoin.
Lightning is ideal for small transactions, with near-instant processing times, compared with the minutes to hours required on the Bitcoin blockchain.
Cash App had already supported Bitcoin transactions on the Lightning Network in a limited capacity, with users limited to paying for invoices via scanning Lightning QR codes. Now, all Cash App transactions involving QR codes will default through Lightning unless otherwise specified. This new feature has a transaction limit of $999 every seven days and is only available to United States customers, excluding residents of New York state.
Cash App first implemented BTC trading in 2018 and soon became immensely popular in the U.S. and United Kingdom for Bitcoin transactions. Last year, 81% of the app’s $12.3 billion in revenue came from Bitcoin. The app has more than 44 million monthly active users.
Users can deposit $10,000 worth of Bitcoin every seven days and are provided a tax form for in-app accounting purposes. It is also possible to automatically invest a portion or all of one’s direct deposit into Bitcoin by using the “Paid in Bitcoin” feature with no fees. Otherwise, regular transaction fees are typically around 2%.
The Lightning Network currently has around 87,000 payment channels and 4,570 BTC locked in. However, adoption has been somewhat slow, with the number of coins on Lightning representing a tiny fraction of the 19 million BTC currently in circulation.
