Cash App Users Can Now Send, Receive Bitcoin Payments via the Lightning Network

Cash App users can now send and receive Bitcoin using the Lightning Network. Cash App Bitcoin Product Lead Michael Rihani announced the news today via Twitter and the platform's help page confirmed it. Until now, Cash App users could only send Bitcoin via the Lightning Network. But now they can also use the solution to receive the cryptocurrency, too. The Lightning Network is a "second-layer solution" that works to speed up Bitcoin transactions so the cryptocurrency can be used to make smaller purchases.

The Cash App website says that with Lightning there are "typically little to no fees involved, and it's used to send smaller amounts of Bitcoin." There is a $999 (roughly Rs. 82,185) limit every seven days with the Lightning integration, according to the site.

The process for transacting in Bitcoin through Cash App is simple. First, a user goes to the app, opens the “Money Tab”, selects Bitcoin, and then a QR code or link will be generated allowing users to transact with other Lightning-enabled wallets.

Currently, the feature is available across all of the US, except for the state of New York. Thus, as long as users are interacting with other Lightning wallets, Cash App users can choose to send or receive BTC from the app in the US, per a statement from Rihani. In order to use this new functionality users are required to update to the latest version of the app, which is supported on both Apple iOS and Android mobile devices.

Cash App is a popular mobile payment platform launched by fintech giant Block, formerly Square, a company run by ex-Twitter CEO and Bitcoin preacher Jack Dorsey. Despite the app being available only in the US and UK, the platform boasts of over 44 million monthly users.

In April, Block announced a "paid in Bitcoin" service for Cash App users, which allows people to receive all or a portion of their paycheck in cryptocurrency.