You Can Now Buy Lightning-Powered Bitcoin With a Credit Card

Payments startup Breez has unveiled a new feature allowing lightning-based bitcoin purchases directly from its mobile app.

AccessTimeIconSep 10, 2019 at 7:15 p.m. UTC
Updated Sep 13, 2021 at 11:25 a.m. UTC
10 Years of Decentralizing the Future
May 29-31, 2024 - Austin, TexasThe biggest and most established global hub for everything crypto, blockchain and Web3.Register Now

Payments startup Breez has unveiled a new feature allowing lightning-based bitcoin purchases directly from its mobile app.

The feature, made possible thanks to a partnership with fiat-to-crypto broker MoonPay, is available to users in 35 countries. According to the company, it simplifies the currently long-winded procedure for lightning payments.

A "Layer 2" payment protocol that operates on top of a blockchain, lightning is seen by many in the blockchain industry as solving bitcoin's scalability issues. But it remains experimental technology and users can potentially lose money during transactions due to undiscovered bugs, say security experts.

While buying lightning directly with a credit card sounds like a simple feature, Breez claims this functionality hasn’t been possible before now.

Breez CEO and co-founder Roy Sheinfeld told CoinDesk:

“Breez is not just a wallet. It's a lightning payment service that aims to provide a holistic experience. Breez’s goal is to take the lightning technology and infrastructure and expose it in an experience regular folks could use with compromising on the bitcoin values. Other [lightning] wallets are less UX focused.”

Previously, if users wanted to buy lightning, they would need to buy bitcoin, move that bitcoin to a wallet that supports lightning, then wait for that transaction to go through (the industry standard is to wait for roughly an hour to make sure the transaction is final). Buying lightning directly within a wallet allows them to skip a step.

Breez's new feature is part of a growing effort to make lightning payments less arcane for average folks.

“Going into a website and going through cumbersome process just to top up your wallet with a hundred bucks is not the UX we want to provide. We aim to provide a UX that is at least on-par with fiat,” Sheinfeld said.

Developers are still ironing out security problems with lightning — for example, by developing third party "watchtowers" that monitor for suspicious on-chain activity.

Breez doesn't require users to provide personal information for monthly purchases up to a total of 150 euro. But for amounts larger than that, it requires users to prove their identity under Know Your Customer (KYC) laws meant to outlaw money laundering and other criminal acts.

Lightning image via Shutterstock

Disclosure

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.


Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk's longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.