Cryptocurrency exchange, OKCoin is pushing further for mainstream adoption of the Lightning Network, which was introduced earlier in 2018 to solve Bitcoin’s scalability problem.

The global platform said today in a blog post that it will integrate the Bitcoin Lightning Network in Q1 of 2021, which allows users to deposit and withdraw more money faster, as well as send larger transactions.

OKCoin emphasized that the scaling technology will drive significant improvements in speed and fees, claiming that its customers will be able to confirm transactions within a few seconds instead of up to an hour currently required for three confirmations on the Bitcoin blockchain.

Additionally, the integration will allow OKCoin’s minimum withdrawal / deposit to be reduced from 0.001 bitcoin ($35) to 0.000001 bitcoin ($0.04). There is currently a maximum limit per transaction of 0.05 BTC ($18,000), the exchange noted.

OKCoin handled $64 million in cryptocurrency trading in the last 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap. Its crypto-to-crypto entity, OKEx, is ranked the world’s 13^th largest cryptocurrency exchange by adjusted trading volume, currently trading around $5.2 billion over a 24 hour period.

Users Can Go Beyond the Limits

“As part of our analysis of the technology, we assessed the strength and quality of the nodes and now feel the network is strong enough to participate as an exchange with a high volume of withdrawals and deposits a day. We hope other blockchain companies follow suit and lift the whole industry up by speeding up bitcoin payments and look further to working further with the Lightning Labs team to advance this strategically important layer 2 addition to Bitcoin for more utility and wider adoption,” said Hong Fang, OKCoin CEO.

The Lightning Network integration allows crypto dealers to benefit from larger transactions and higher volumes, which helps decrease fees that build up with having to open many small channels.

The Lightning Network was first proposed by Thaddeus Dryja and Joseph Poon to create a layer on top of the original blockchain, in order to increase transaction speed while significantly reducing costs. In its early days, Lightning developers intentionally added the limitations to protect users from pouring too much money into the nascent network.