Block to use bitcoin holdings to bolster Lightning Network reliability

TBD, the bitcoin-focused division of Block ( NYSE: SQ ), said Thursday it will tap Block's bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) reserves to make the Lightning Network more reliable for all users, according to a release viewed by Seeking Alpha. The Lightning Network is bitcoin's ( BTC-USD ) layer 2 protocol that was designed to scale the token by making BTC payments faster and cheaper than processing a transaction directly on the blockchain. "Connecting to the Lightning Network requires liquidity in the form of bitcoin," the release said. "Today, the network is still growing and transactions frequently fail due to a lack of liquidity." In a bid to improve the routing and thus overall liquidity of Lightning, TBD has rolled out a so-called Lightning Service Provider dubbed c=, which will build infrastructure using bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) from Block's ( SQ ) treasury. In November 2021, TBD published a whitepaper on its liquidity protocol named tbDEX. During its fourth quarter, Jack Dorsey's Block ( SQ ) generated $1.83B of bitcoin revenue vs. $1.76B Q3 .