Brazilian bank Nubank has partnered with payment platform Lightspark to offer a network

Brazilian lender Nubank has partnered with payments platform Lightspark to offer the Bitcoin Lightning Network to its 100 million customers in Latin America.

Lightspark said on June 25 that it was working with Nubank to begin “integrating, mapping and building potential products” for Lightning and would have “more to share in the future.”

Lightspark will also integrate the Universal Money Address standard – a payment system built on Lightning that gives users an email-like address to transfer money.

The integration is part of the new bank’s plan to offer fast and low-cost transfers via blockchain, Nubank Cripto CEO Thomas Fortis said in a statement.

Lightspark has been building Lightning Network infrastructure for businesses since its joint launch in 2022 by former PayPal CEO David Marcus.

Lightspark said the Nubank integration was a “significant milestone” for the Lightning Network as it “will have a significant impact on overall network usage at a time when it is needed most.”

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Nubank is backed by Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway and allows trading in 14 cryptocurrencies. It partnered with stablecoin issuer Circle to expand access to its USDC currency in November.

It rolled out its cryptocurrency services in May 2022 and announced that it would allocate 1% of its net assets to Bitcoin.

About 92 million Nubank customers are in Brazil, while the remaining 8 million are in Mexico and Colombia.

Data from Kaiko Research shows that the majority of cryptocurrency trading volume is facilitated by Brazilian reals trading pairs, followed by Mexican, Argentine and Colombian pesos.

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