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.

(Transparent background image can be found here)

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.

The digital asset infrastructure company.

The latest

All News arrowRight icon

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.

©2025 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 Palo Alto, California. 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. You should consult with your own legal, tax, and investment advisor for questions about your specific circumstances.

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. The value of digital assets can fluctuate significantly and may become worthless. No BitGo communication is intended to imply that any digital asset services are low-risk or risk-free. BitGo is not a registered broker-dealer and is not a member 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. Custody and other digital asset services are subject to eligibility, jurisdictional, and regulatory restrictions. Availability of specific products and services may vary by location and entity.

BitGo endeavors to provide accurate information on its websites, press releases, blogs, and presentations, but cannot guarantee all content is correct, completed, or updated. Content is subject to change without notice. BitGo disclaims any obligation to update or supplement such information except as required by applicable law or regulation.

BitGo makes no representation that the information contained herein is appropriate for use in any jurisdiction where its distribution or use would be contrary to law or regulation or would subject BitGo or any of its affiliates to any registration or licensing requirements in such jurisdiction. Persons who access this information are responsible for complying with all applicable laws and regulations.