BitGo, a digital asset infrastructure company, announced that it is now offering Bitcoin Lightning Network access directly from its qualified custodian platform. The move makes it one of the first companies to provide Lightning payments to institutional custodians.
The service aims to provide customers with faster and cheaper Bitcoin transactions while keeping institutional security standards intact. It builds on BitGo’s previous self-service Lightning solution.
The new offering is powered by a partnership with Voltage, a Lightning Network infrastructure provider. Clients can now use Lightning without running their own nodes or managing keys. BitGo and Voltage handle infrastructure, channels, liquidity and key management.
Through simple APIs, customers can create wallets, send payments, generate invoices and track transactions. The platform fully integrates with BitGo’s existing wallet infrastructure, policies and permissions.
Businesses using Lightning typically face challenges such as maintaining nodes, channels, liquidity, and keys. BitGo removes these obstacles. Institutions can now access Lightning with minimal setup and zero operational costs.
BitGo, along with Ripple, Circle, Fidelity Digital Assets and Paxos, received conditional approval from the OCC to become federally chartered national trust banks.
This shift from state to federal oversight allows them to offer nationwide management and custody services for digital assets, increasing regulatory clarity, institutional trust, and the mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies.
The Lightning Network hits an all-time high
This move comes as Bitcoin’s Lightning network hits a new all-time high of 5,637 BTC in capacity, largely driven by institutional inflows, even as wider user adoption and node growth lag.
Data from AMBOSS shows that the surge, concentrated in November and December, surpasses the previous peak from March 2023, signaling renewed confidence among major exchanges such as Binance and OKX, which have added significant BTC to Lightning channels.
Despite increasing capacity, the network’s number of nodes and channels remains below historic highs, highlighting a gap between capitalization and widespread use.
The increase coincides with ecosystem developments, including Tether’s $8 million investment in Lightning-focused startup Speed ​​and Lightning Labs’ release of Taproot Assets v0.7, enabling reusable addresses, auditable asset supplies, and larger, more reliable transactions.
These upgrades position the Lightning Network as more than a micropayment system, offering the potential for higher-value transfers that leverage Bitcoin’s security, speed, and low fees while expanding real-world financial applications on the network.
“By offering institutional access to Lightning directly from the repository, we allow our customers to focus on innovation instead of infrastructure,” said Mike Belshe, BitGo CEO and co-founder. “We combine the speed and lower transaction costs of Lightning with the trusted security of BitGo to make bitcoin practical for everyday payments.”