Gibraltar-licensed private bank Xapo Bank has announced a partnership with Lightspark, a company led by former crypto boss at Facebook David Marcus.

The goal of the partnership is to expand the usefulness of bitcoin and the Lightning Network. Xapo has stated that it is the first fully licensed private bank to offer payments through the Lightning Network, which was revealed on Thursday.

Xapo Bank customers can now make small purchases of up to $100 USD at any vendor that accepts Lightning payments, without facing high transaction fees and long blockchain confirmation waiting times. This integration will establish Xapo Bank as the first fully licensed private bank to offer Lightning payments.

Bitcoin's Lightning Network is a second-layer solution that enables faster and cheaper transactions. It is built on top of the Bitcoin blockchain and allows users to create payment channels with each other, enabling them to make multiple transactions without having to write each transaction to the blockchain. By using these channels, users can send and receive small amounts of Bitcoin instantly and without incurring high fees. The Lightning Network is considered to be a scaling solution for Bitcoin, as it can handle a large number of transactions per second, making it more viable for everyday use as a means of payment.