Kraken is thrilled to announce its support for Bitcoin’s Lightning Network, which is now live for all clients. Finally, traders have an instant and inexpensive way to move bitcoin on and off the platform.

Why use Lightning?

While regular BTC transactions are limited by block times and can face high transaction fees, Lightning Network enables instant settlement and lower fees when you transfer BTC to or from your Kraken account.

More about Lightning

The Lightning Network can process millions of transactions per second thanks to its system of payment channels that are opened and closed on the Bitcoin blockchain. While open, these channels do not publish intermediate transactions to the blockchain, holding them “off-chain” to enable instant and efficient value transfer. These off-chain channels remain secured by the Bitcoin blockchain’s multisig and timelocking features.

The Lightning ecosystem is quickly evolving and there are numerous open-source and free Lightning wallet solutions. For example, BTCPay Server enables Lightning payments for merchants, greatly improving the bitcoin checkout flow. For consumers, Breez, Phoenix and Muun bring Lightning to mobile with a modern user experience.

Want to learn more about the Lightning Network? Check out What is the Lightning Network? at Kraken’s Learn Center.

How do I deposit bitcoin on Lightning?

1. Navigate to Funding > Deposit and select Bitcoin (BTC)
2. Select Lightning Network
3. Enter the amount of satoshis* you want to deposit
4. Hit Generate deposit request 
5. Copy and paste the generated invoice into your Lightning wallet, or scan the QR code
6. Send the payment
7. Enjoy lightning-fast deposit times and lower fees!

*A satoshi is one hundred millionth of a bitcoin. In other words, 1 sat = 0.00000001 BTC.