The Lightning Network may have just gotten its first business-to-business (B2B) payment channel.
Two of the most prominent Bitcoin companies in the space are collaborating: Bitfinex users can now shop at Bitrefill, straight from their trading environment on bitfinex.com[1]. With access to the entire Bitrefill catalog, Bitfinex customers can use their account balance to buy a wide range of gift cards or to top up their prepaid phone credit. And, enabling the transfer of funds between Bitfinex and Bitrefill, the two companies have established a customized Lightning channel.
“As far as I know, this is the first time Lightning is used for B2B,” Bitrefill CCO John Carvalho told Bitcoin Magazine. “I never heard of anyone else setting up dynamic settlement.”
Closing the Loop
Bitfinex — one of the biggest Bitcoin exchanges in the world by trading volume — just recently, on November 28, 2019, launched the option for users to deposit and withdraw funds over the Lightning Network. As the first major exchange to offer this feature, Bitfinex has immediately taken a step further and integrated the Layer 2 protocol into its backend as well.
“Bitcoin’s use as a means of payment represents an important milestone in the inevitable journey towards mass adoption,” said Bitfinex CTO Paolo Ardoino in statement. “This is why the Lightning Network is so important. As an exchange, Bitfinex is at the forefront of developing solutions utilizing this technology.”
The way Bitfinex and Bitrefill see it, this integration means that the Lightning Network is one step closer to “closing the loop” toward a circular economy: a system that doesn’t depend on fiat currency or even on-chain Bitcoin transactions for settlement. In this case, Bitfinex accepts Lightning deposits. From their funded account, it lets customers purchase a wide range of products and
