Facebook David Chen has joined a new startup in the San Francisco Bay Area that is focusing on building on the Bitcoin Lightning Network. The new startup, called Lightspark, has already begun launching a crypto payments platform on the Lightning Network.
Ex-Facebook crypto chief launches new cryptocurrency payments startup on the Lightning Network
David Marcus, who was the head of Meta and PayPal’s mobile and crypto payments products, has launched a new startup. Known for his previous involvement with the Diem stablecoin, he’s now taking a shot at launching a crypto payments service. He has raised an estimated $175 million from investors including a16z, Paradigm, and Zeev Ventures.
Lightspark will be led by an ex-Meta executive and will provide backend services for the Lightning Network, the layer two protocol that will solve the problems associated with Bitcoin’s network capacity. It will also explore the burgeoning cryptocurrency market, namely the Bitcoin network.
The company also aims to expand the use cases of the bitcoin by offering a crypto payments service. To help out, they’ve hired a team of crypto enthusiasts, former Meta employees, and a few well known crypto investors.
Lightspark aims to build on the Bitcoin Lightning Network
Lightspark is a new venture from former Meta crypto executive David Marcus. It is a company aiming to build on the capabilities of the Bitcoin Lightning Network. A16z Crypto and Paradigm led a Series A financing round for the giveme5 startup. However, Lightspark has not revealed any details about its services or valuation.
The company will focus on leveraging the Lightning network to build a meaningful payment infrastructure. There are no plans to launch its own stablecoin. Instead, the company will build solutions on the Bitcoin Lightning network.
Previously, Marcus was the head of the crypto operations at Meta and served as the president of PayPal. In November, he resigned from the company to start Lightspark.
Now, Marcus has launched the startup with several members of the former Meta crypto team. He said the company would explore using the layer two Lightning Network for bitcoin payments. Several notable investors are also backing the project, including Thrive Capital, Matrix Partners, Coatue and A16z.
It will focus on building
Aside from the Lightning Labs eponymous sexy lady, the crypto space is abuzz with new ventures. Among them is the Lightspark (oh yeah, they got the namesake), a Lightning Network infrastructure company whose mission is to create a network of Lightning enclaves that will eventually yield a crypto payment solution worthy of the likes of PayPal and Visa. The aforementioned company, in its own right, has already snared some notable customers. Its most notably notable customer is Bitpay, which acquired Lightspark in a transaction that is still being played out in the courts.
Despite its modest ambitions, the company is a big hitter in the ol’ cryptospace. During the summer, Lightspark won the coveted prize at the Solana Hackathon, an all-encompassing competition with $5 million in prizes to be won by the best buddies of a harried participant.
It will explore and create on the Bitcoin Lightning Network
As the Lightning Network grows in popularity, we’ll start to see more wallet developers integrate support for the protocol. For now, though, users should consider buying a wallet compatible with Lightning.
Wallets can be purchased from exchanges, or users can purchase one of the many dedicated node wallets available. Nodes can be run by a single individual, or by a group of dedicated users. There are even custodians that provide services to users.
The lightning network has some advantages over the traditional payment methods. In particular, the network’s ability to facilitate micropayments, or nano-payments, is a big plus. However, the Lightning network does suffer from its own set of drawbacks. Among them, there are various offline transaction scams. Traders can also experience slow withdrawal times.
Lightning network is a layer atop the Bitcoin network, allowing traders to access smaller amounts of Bitcoin at a reasonable price. The protocol is a bit of a relic of the early days of the currency, but the company behind it, Lightning Labs, is pre-launching Lightning Network apps in beta.
It’s going to be based in San Francisco
Lightning Network is an extension to the Bitcoin protocol, which aims to make transactions faster and cheaper. While the network isn’t yet available to the general public, it has gained some serious traction in the past year. In fact, several prominent exchanges have announced support for it.
One of the key players in the development of Lightning is Lightning Labs. It’s based in San Francisco. This group of developers has worked hard to build on the open source codebase. They’ve raised $10 million from traditional investors, including Craft Ventures and Jill Carlson, a Forbes 30 under 30 alum.
The company plans to hire at least six more employees in the coming year. Currently, the group includes 11 developers. Their focus is on better tooling for developers and improved APIs.
