Key Takeaways

  • BitGo now offers institutional-grade access to the Bitcoin Lightning Network directly through its qualified custody platform, enabling clients to leverage faster, cheaper, and private bitcoin transactions.

  • The service eliminates the operational overhead and administrative burden for clients by managing the complex necessary infrastructure, including running Lightning nodes, securing keys, and managing channels and liquidity.

  • The new functionality is secured by BitGo's robust infrastructure and implemented through a strategic partnership with Voltage for automatic node and liquidity management, providing clients with simple APIs for wallet creation and payments.

Continual advancements of the Lightning Network bring with them very exciting opportunities. And now, BitGo clients can access the speed and efficiency of Lightning directly through our institutional-grade custody platform.

Institutional-Grade Lightning, Simplified by BitGo

Building on the release of self-custody Lightning from earlier this year, BitGo is excited to now offer Lightning availability directly from qualified custody.

Building and managing the necessary infrastructure for enterprise Lightning adoption—including running nodes, securing keys, and managing channels—can be complex and carry significant operational overhead. 

BitGo removes that complexity.

With this expansion of service, BitGo clients can now leverage all of the advantages of Bitcoin’s Lightning Network with reduced administrative burden. 

Leaning on BitGo’s proven qualified custody, utilizing Lighting Network means:

  • Access to your own lightning node without the operational overhead

  • BitGo securely manages private keys, so you don’t have to

  • High Lightning node uptime, leaning on BitGo’s expertise 

Lightning Network in Partnership with Voltage

Through a strategic partnership with Voltage, a leading provider of Lightning Network infrastructure, we’ve fully integrated Lightning directly into the BitGo platform. Our clients can now access Lightning Network functionality through simple APIs without needing to integrate with additional partners.

With BitGo, You Get:

  • Simple APIs to create wallets, send payments, create invoices, and retrieve transaction histories.

  • Webhooks that instantly notify you of new payments.

  • Full integration into BitGo’s wallet infrastructure, including institutional-grade transfers, policies, and user permissions.

  • Automatic node, channel, and liquidity management handled by Voltage.

  • The choice between Self-Custody and Custody solutions to meet your specific use case.

Feature

Custody (Simple)

Self-Custody (Advanced)

Key Control

BitGo controls the key.

Client controls their own key.

Setup

Single API call.

Advanced setup.

Signer Node

No custom infrastructure needed.

Run Lightning Signer Node and other services in your own infrastructure.

Overhead

BitGo manages all operational overhead.

Client manages operational overhead.

What is the Lightning Network?

The Lightning Network is a Layer 2 network built on top of Bitcoin, engineered to deliver faster, cheaper, and private transactions.

It accomplishes this by establishing secure, off-chain payment channels between parties. Within these channels, multiple payments can occur rapidly and inexpensively without the need to record each individual transaction on the main Bitcoin blockchain.

Lightning Network Flow Chart

Key Benefits of Lightning:

  • Speed: Payments have near-instant finality because they occur off chain and are independent of block processing.

  • Low Cost: Transactions are not subject to the same network miner fees as onchain Bitcoin transactions.

  • Scalability: It’s optimized for a high volume of small-value transactions, making it ideal for micropayments, streaming payments, or retail activity.

Important Note: The Lightning Network is a liquidity network, not a blockchain. It relies on pre-funded payment channels, making it perfectly suited for frequent, small-to-medium payments, rather than large, infrequent transfers.

Getting Started with Lightning from Custody

By combining the speed and low cost of the Lightning Network with BitGo’s institutional-grade security, process controls, we are making Bitcoin practical for everyday, global payments.

Get in touch to implement the simplest and most secure way to leverage the Lightning Network, directly from your qualified custody solution.

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About BitGo

BitGo is the digital asset infrastructure company, delivering custody, wallets, staking, trading, financing, and settlement services from regulated cold storage. Since our founding in 2013, we have been focused on accelerating the transition of the financial system to a digital asset economy. With a global presence and multiple regulated entities, BitGo serves thousands of institutions, including many of the industry's top brands, exchanges, and platforms, and millions of retail investors worldwide. For more information, visit www.bitgo.com.

©2026 BitGo, Inc. (collectively with its parent, affiliates, and subsidiaries, “BitGo”). All rights reserved. BitGo Bank & Trust, National Association (“BitGo Bank & Trust”) is a national trust bank chartered and regulated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). BitGo Bank & Trust is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BitGo Holdings, Inc., a Delaware corporation headquartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Other BitGo entities include BitGo, Inc. and BitGo Prime LLC, each of which is a separately operated affiliate of BitGo Bank & Trust. BitGo does not offer legal, tax, accounting, or investment advisory services. The information contained herein is for informational and marketing purposes only and should not be construed as legal, tax, or investment advice. Digital assets are subject to a high degree of risk, including the possible loss of the entire principal amount invested. Past performance and illustrative examples do not guarantee future results. BitGo Holdings, Inc., BitGo Bank & Trust, BitGo, Inc. and BitGo Prime LLC are not registered broker-dealers and are not members of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (“SIPC”) or the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”). Digital assets held in custody are not guaranteed by BitGo and are not subject to the insurance protections of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) or SIPC. This communication contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include all statements that are not historical facts. These statements may include words such as “aim,” “anticipate,” “assume,” “believe,” “contemplate,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “foreseeable,” “guidance,” “intend,” “likely,” “may,” “objectives,” “outlook,” “plan,” “potentially,” “predict,” “project,” “seek,” “should,” “target,” “will,” “would,” or variations of these terms and similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, there are or will be important factors that could cause actual outcomes or results to differ materially from those indicated in these statements. These factors include but are not limited to those described under “Risk Factors” in BitGo Holdings, Inc.’s registration statement on Form S-1, as amended, relating to the initial public offering. These factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with the other cautionary statements that are included in the registration statement. Although BitGo believes that the expectations reflected in its forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot guarantee future results. BitGo undertakes no obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as required by law.