Secure Digital Markets (SDM) has completed a $1
million Bitcoin transaction over the Lightning Network in a pilot settlement
with cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, marking what the firms say is the largest
publicly reported Lightning payment to date.
The transaction, executed on Jan. 28 and valued at $1
million at the time, reportedly settled nearly instantly and with minimal fees.
According to the official announcement, it was facilitated using enterprise Lightning
infrastructure from Voltage, a Bitcoin payments and infrastructure provider
focused on institutional clients.
Lightning is often viewed as experimental. It’s time to see it in production.We successfully sent $1,000,000 over the network.Here’s what that execution looked like.Big thanks to @krakenfx & @voltage_cloud pic.twitter.com/MoeBMDeRHV
— Secure Digital Markets (@SD_Markets) February 5, 2026
Pointing to Faster Settlement for Institutions
“We have moved past the era of questioning Bitcoin’s
institutional capacity. Now, the only remaining variable is how quickly lagging
institutions will abandon legacy systems,” said Mostafa Al-Mashita, Co-Founder
and Director of Sales & Trading at SDM.
While the network has been widely used for small consumer
payments, its suitability for large institutional settlements has remained an
open question.
Traditional Bitcoin transactions can take minutes or
longer to confirm and are subject to fluctuating fees, factors that complicate
treasury operations and inter-institution settlements.
SDM said the pilot demonstrated that Lightning could
support use cases such as internal treasury movements, large-value settlements,
and transfers between trading venues without the delays associated with
on-chain settlement.
Read more: Bitcoin Hit $74K and This BTC Price Prediction Suggests It Will Now Rebound to ATH
Kraken, one of the longest-operating crypto exchanges,
has supported Lightning for retail payments for several years. The firm said
the transaction reflects growing demand from institutional clients for faster
settlement options.
Cutting Reliance on Legacy Payment Rails
The transaction relied on Voltage’s managed Lightning
infrastructure, which provides liquidity management, node uptime, and
operational guarantees designed to meet institutional requirements.
Revolut Launches Bitcoin Lightning Payments in European MarketsDigital bank Revolut announced that it will cooperate with Lightspark to launch a payment function based on the Bitcoin Lightning Network in the UK and some European Economic Area countries. This move aims to use …
— Bpay News (@bpaynews) May 7, 2025
Lightning is a second-layer network built on Bitcoin
that enables faster and cheaper payments by moving transactions off the base
blockchain.
The network is getting a boost giant fintech
firms. Last year, Revolut announced a collaboration with Lightspark to enable
payments over the Bitcoin-based Lightning Network, aiming to streamline crypto
transfers for users in the UK and selected European markets.
Lightspark, founded by former PayPal executive David Marcus, positions itself as a gateway to the “Money Grid,” a decentralized network for instant global payments. Through this infrastructure, Revolut aims to upgrade its crypto services by enabling smoother Bitcoin transfers.
This article was written by Jared Kirui at www.financemagnates.com.
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