WhiteBIT Integrates Lightning Network for Fast, Cheap Bitcoin Transactions
Key Takeaways
- •WhiteBIT announced on October 8 that it has integrated the Lightning Network for faster, lower-cost bitcoin deposits and withdrawals, with the capability powered by infrastructure provider Voltage.
- •Lightning-based deposits on WhiteBIT carry a 0.25% fee and withdrawals a 0.15% fee, with transfers initiated through a QR code or standard payment details.
- •The exchange's percentage-based fee structure differs from Bitcoin's base layer, where transaction costs fluctuate with network demand.
- •WhiteBIT, based in Zug and ranked as the 17th largest exchange by transaction volume according to CoinGecko, cites use cases including remittances, exchange funding, merchant QR payments, and compatibility with Lightning-enabled wallets.
- •The integration reflects a sharp rise in Lightning Network transaction volume this year, driven largely by exchanges such as Coinbase and Kraken that already use the second-layer protocol to move funds.
Crypto exchange WhiteBIT announced on Thursday, October 8, that it has integrated the Lightning Network, enabling users to deposit and withdraw bitcoin quickly and at low cost.
The Swiss exchange said the new capability is powered by Voltage, a Bitcoin infrastructure provider. WhiteBIT now joins a group of major trading platforms — including Coinbase and Kraken — that have adopted the second-layer scaling solution in recent years, a protocol that operates on top of Bitcoin's blockchain rather than on its base layer.
The company announced the launch in a post on X:
Lightning Transactions are now on WhiteBIT! Faster $BTC transactions via the Lightning Network — using a QR code or payment details. Deposit fee: 0.25% Withdrawal fee: 0.15% Move $BTC at Lightning speed. Learn more: pic.twitter.com/WHfmRKT6QI
— WhiteBIT (@WhiteBit) October 8, 2026
According to the announcement, Lightning deposits carry a 0.25% fee, while withdrawals cost 0.15%. Deposits and withdrawals over the network can be initiated with a QR code or standard payment details. The percentage-based fee structure stands in contrast to transfers on Bitcoin's base layer, where fees fluctuate with network demand — one reason exchanges have increasingly routed routine fund movements through Lightning.
"WhiteBIT's mission is to make blockchain technology accessible and widely adopted by delivering practical, user-friendly solutions for digital assets," WhiteBIT Founder and CEO Volodymyr Nosov said in a statement. "Adding Lightning support brings us closer to this goal as we are making Bitcoin faster and more useful for customers who want to top up accounts, send and receive funds, and use Bitcoin across more real-world flows."
Zug-based WhiteBIT, the 17th biggest exchange by transaction volume according to CoinGecko data, added that the launch supports a faster Bitcoin rail with use cases for "remittances, exchange funding, merchant-style QR payments, and interoperability with Lightning-enabled wallets and applications."
The integration comes amid a sharp rise in transaction volume on the Lightning Network this year. The shift is driven broadly by exchanges, which increasingly rely on the network to move funds because it is cheap and fast. That adoption wave has pulled Lightning out of its early niche and into the operational backbone of a growing set of trading platforms, with Coinbase and Kraken among the earlier movers.
Launched in 2018, Lightning was initially promoted for smaller transactions such as tipping or buying a cup of coffee The network also offers more privacy than Bitcoin's main chain: because Lightning payments are settled off-chain rather than recorded on the public blockchain, individual payments are harder to trace.
This article is based on reporting by Mathew Di Salvo, first published on Bitcoin Magazine.
