- Revolut partners with Lightspark to enable instant Bitcoin transactions via Lightning Network for users in the UK and selected European countries.
- Lightning integration boosts real-world Bitcoin use, including tap-to-pay cards and over 1,000 Swiss retailers accepting BTC payments.
Revolut has finally stepped into the faster world. The global fintech company with over 50 million users has officially announced the integration of the Bitcoin Lightning network into its services.
More than just a patchwork of features, this decision marks Revolut’s real steps to change the way users interact with digital assets, especially in terms of the speed and efficiency of sending Bitcoin.
Revolut Officially Partners with Lightning Network, Bitcoin Becomes More Agile
By partnering with Lightspark, Revolut opens the door to more agile Bitcoin transactions. Lightning Network technology allows transactions to be carried out off-chain, meaning you no longer have to wait for confirmation on the main blockchain.
The result? Bitcoin transfers can be done almost instantly and at a very low cost—far from the impression of “slow and expensive” that is often attached to Bitcoin. Just imagine, sending BTC to your friend can be faster than sending a WhatsApp message to a family group.
Tap-to-Pay Transactions and Real-World Cases
Furthermore, this technology is not just a brochure claim. At the Bitcoin 2025 Conference to be held in Las Vegas, the organizers plan to break the GUINNESS world record for the most Bitcoin point-of-sale transactions in 8 hours. They will be giving away 4,000 Bolt cards that support tap-to-pay payments via the Lightning Network.
On the other hand, Revolut’s move can be said to be increasingly convincing that Bitcoin is starting to have a place in the real world. Last April, CNF reported that the Spar supermarket chain in Zug, Switzerland, began accepting Bitcoin payments via the Lightning Network.
And it’s not just them—more than 1,000 businesses in Switzerland have apparently accepted similar methods. So if anyone says Bitcoin is only for storage, they probably haven’t shopped for snacks in Switzerland using Lightning.
While Revolut is taking care of speed and cost, there are also developments on the technical side that are no less interesting. On April 11, researchers from StarkWare and the Weizmann Institute introduced ColliderVM—a system that allows complex smart contracts to be run on the Bitcoin network. It’s like upgrading a calculator to a smartphone. That way, Bitcoin-based applications will likely be much more flexible in the future.
However, it’s not just Bitcoin that benefits. At the end of January, Lightning Labs also injected Tether (USDT) into the Lightning Network. They use the Taproot Assets protocol, which has a clear goal: to make stablecoin transactions faster and more practical. This is proof that Lightning is not just for Bitcoin, but can also be used in other broader financial schemes.
Revolut has not revealed the exact launch date for this feature. But if we refer to the existing developments, it seems that users in the UK and several European countries will be the first to feel the benefits.
Meanwhile, as of press time, BTC is swapped hands at about $99,098.97, up 2.71% over the last 24 hours and 4.45% over the last 7 days.
