Sofi to become the first American bank to integrate Bitcoin Lightning

Digital Bank Sofi Technologies should become the first American bank to take advantage of the Bitcoin network and the universal monetary address – allowing Americans, Mexicans and others to send money via the Lightning network.

Sofi has teamed up with Bitcoin (BTC) Payments Infrastructure Lightskar to launch its international monetary transfer service fed by the blockchain, which will be posted later this year, from Mexico, Sofi said in an ad Tuesday.

“For many Sofi members who regularly send money to international beings, the possibility of quickly transferring money to low cost is not only a convenience, it is a significant improvement for their daily financial life,” said Anthony Noto on X.

According to Noto, users will be able to send money internationally directly from the SOFI application. It participated in a global market on crowded funds, which was estimated at around $ 740.5 billion in 2024.

Sofi reveals how the Bitcoin Uma solution will work

The new international monetary transfer service from SOFI to UMA will allow customers to convert US Dollars into Bitcoin in real time and complete funds through borders via the Bitcoin Lightning network, where funds are delivered directly to the beneficiary’s bank account in the currency of their country.

The Lightspark UMA allows users to transfer money with an email type address while taking advantage of Bitcoin Lightning. The company was founded in 2022 by David Marcus, the former president of Paypal.

Sofi said the costs will be “lower than the current national average” and that the exchange rates and the costs will be shown to the members before hitting the shipment to “ensure total transparency”.

The service will be available at any time of the day, every day, for the 11.7 million members of Sofi.

Source: David Marcus

The Bitcoin Integrated Lightpark Bitcoin Infrastructure last year

This occurs a year after Coinbase has deployed the support for the LightNing Lightning solution in Lightspark to allow instant and low cost transfers in April 2024.

He experienced a strong adoption in the first 12 months, with 15% of Bitcoin transactions on Coinbase moving on Lightning Rails via Lightspark, said Bitcoin infrastructure company in April this year.

In relation: Thailand to launch the crypto payment sand for tourists

Slow Brazilian bank to deploy Bitcoin solutions from Lightspark

Brazilian Neobank Nubank joined Lightspark in June 2024 to provide Bitcoin Lightning payments to its 100 million customers in Latin America.

However, Nobank has not confirmed that the payments powered by Bitcoin have been further integrated for full use.

Review: Solana Seeker Review: Is the $ 500 cryptographic phone in your trouble?