Lightspark hopes Bitcoin Lightning payment standard will strike interest

Lightspark is aiming to break down global payment barriers, throwing its weight behind a new standard intended to make payments as easy as sending an email

article-image

bumbumbo/Shutterstock, modified by Blockworks

share

Bitcoin Lightning network-based business payments service Lightspark threw its support for the new Universal Money Address (UMA) standard on Monday, positioning it as a game-changer in making global payments as “easy as sending an email.”

The open-source initiative facilitates real-time settlement while incorporating compliance messaging and foreign exchange capabilities for fiat currencies.

Launched last week, UMA is being touted as an extension of LNURL, a standard protocol designed to simplify the process of making payments, according to its GitHub repository.

UMA boasts secure transactions and open payments in any currency, leveraging bitcoin’s global liquidity, for cost-effective solutions, Lightspark said in a statement on Monday.

According to UMA’s documentation, the standard’s operation is delineated into four key steps:

  1. The sender’s Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) contacts the receiver’s VASP using the recipient’s UMA, gathering essential information like the receiver’s preferred currency and applicable legal regulations.
  2. The sender then specifies the amount to send in the receiver’s currency, incorporating all requisite legal and compliance data.
  3. Following this, money is transferred using standard Lightning Network procedures. An invoice is generated by the receiver’s provider, which the sender settles.
  4. Finally, the transaction is logged with a compliance provider for record-keeping and any subsequent analysis.

Led by David Marcus, known for his previous involvement in Meta’s unsuccessful Libra stablecoin and as a former PayPal executive, Lightspark is hoping to attract business users by solving the oft-criticized user experience pain point associated with digital asset applications. 

Lightspark operates within a competitive arena alongside established projects like Ripple and Stellar, both of which already offer cross-border payment solutions.

Unlike Strike, Lightspark targets enterprise users and is not available for individuals’ personal use.

To bolster adoption, Lightspark said it is offering enterprise-grade SDKs in multiple programming languages, such as Go, Rust, JavaScript/typescript, Python, and Kotlin+Java. 

Bitnob, an Africa-focused cross-border payments company, has already jumped on board, becoming the region’s first to adopt UMA as part of the company’s own growth and activation program.

Additional adopters are expected to include industry players like Coins.ph, Foxbit, Ripio, and Xapo Bank, focusing primarily on cross-border transactions.

Meanwhile, infrastructure platforms Bakkt and Zero Hash have announced plans to incorporate UMA into their service offerings, extending the standard’s reach further, Lightspark said.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Unlocked by Template (11).png

Research

Union’s technical design brings measured improvements to crosschain interoperability. By combining a consensus-verified hub with novel constructs like state lenses and ZK proofs for client updates, Union achieves an interoperability protocol that is highly performant, trust-minimized, and scalable.

article-image

“Diverse opportunities emerge alongside macroeconomic tailwinds,” zondacrypto CEO says

article-image

Commerce plans transparent, tamper‑resistant data distribution via blockchain for economic metrics

by Blockworks /
article-image

It’s unclear whether the celeb ever knew about the account made using his name

article-image

Sharps Technology raised $400 million in PIPE offering

article-image

Offchain Labs’ Tandem will work exclusively with Succinct on a zkVM

article-image

Fundstrat’s chief investment officer may be the apex bull