Cloud mining platform and hashpower marketplace, NiceHash, has gone live with integration of Lightning Network, a widely adopted scaling solution in the crypto payments space.

With over 1,800 weekly payouts, NiceHash is leveraging one of the oldest and highest-performing Lightning nodes globally, which holds 2.2% of the network’s total capacity.

NiceHash’s marketplace facilitates the rental of mining power, connecting miners with users looking to mine specific cryptocurrencies. The introduction of Lightning payouts simplifies the payment process, upgrades infrastructure and offers a better experience for both miners and users.

“A few weeks after introducing Lightning payouts, it’s clear that our users are loving this feature. We’re proud to be one of the top supporters of the network both in terms of operating nodes, and now in terms of driving usage as well. Lightning lends itself very well to making small and regular payments, and we will be pushing adoption even more in the future,” said Vladimir Hozjan, CEO of NiceHash.

Since introducing Lightning mining payouts, users have been actively engaging with the feature, creating over 700 Lightning addresses each week and receiving an average of 1,800 payouts weekly. Additionally, the platform reported 1,136 deposit transactions amid a growing interest in using the Lightning network from both buyers and sellers in the marketplace. 

Since establishing its node, NiceHash has processed over 350,000 Lightning transactions and more than 1,500 BTC in transaction volume.

While the private nature of the Lightning network precludes the total transaction count, initial comparisons suggest that NiceHash users are transacting nearly twice as much on a weekly basis compared to the early figures from Kraken’s Lightning integration in 2022.

Looking ahead, NiceHash plans to launch NiceHash Pay, a payment solution for merchants to accept via the Lightning Network, drawing on its extensive operational experience.

Founded in 2014, NiceHash bills itself as the largest hashpower marketplace worldwide, with over 250,000 daily active miners and more than 1 million users across 190 countries. The platform acts as an intermediary between sellers and buyers of hashpower.