Brazilian digital bank Nubank, which has received investments from stock market guru Warren Buffett, announced on the 25th that it will collaborate with Bitcoin Lightning Network payment solution provider Lightspark. They will integrate the Lightning Network into the Nubank platform to provide services to its 100 million customers in Latin America.
In addition, Lightspark will integrate the Universal Messaging Address (UMA) standard with the Nubank platform. UMA is a payment system built on the Lightning Network that provides users with email-like addresses for transfers, making the transfer experience more convenient.
Thomaz Fortes, Executive Director of Nubank Cripto, stated that integrating the Lightning Network is part of Nubank’s plan to provide faster and lower-cost transfers through blockchain technology.
Lightspark, founded in 2022 by former PayPal President and former head of cryptocurrency and payment division at Meta, David Marcus, has been building Lightning Network infrastructure for businesses. The company aims to create an always-online, low-cost, and universal payment network.
Nubank, founded in 2013, is a digital bank based in Brazil and is the largest digital bank in Latin America. It focuses on pure online banking-related businesses and has over 100 million customers in Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia, with approximately 92 million customers in Brazil and the remaining 8 million customers in Mexico and Colombia.
Nubank has received investments from Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway twice, as well as from Tencent, DST Global, Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global Fund, and other well-known investors.
It is worth noting that Nubank is crypto-friendly, currently offering trading services for 14 cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin and Ethereum. In May 2022, the company announced the purchase of Bitcoin worth 1% of its balance sheet assets. It has also partnered with Circle and Polygon.
Given Nubank’s influence in Latin America, the adoption of the Lightning Network by Nubank could significantly promote the use of cryptocurrencies in the region and accelerate the embrace of digital financial payments throughout Latin America.