Lightspark launches Grid API for banks and developers, enabling real-time cross-border payments powered by Bitcoin

Lightning Network infrastructure firm Lightspark has launched Grid, a new API platform designed for banks, wallets, and developers to move money globally in real-time using Bitcoin as the underlying settlement layer.

"With Lightspark, we have real-time connectivity to and from 65 countries, connecting over 14,000 banks, mobile money providers, and wallets, serving 5.6 billion people across a combined $93 trillion in GDP," the firm said in a statement shared with The Block, explaining that transactions are settled "invisibly" over Bitcoin, meaning that in most cases, payors and payees don't even know they're using Bitcoin to move value on the internet.

The launch marks the next phase of Lightspark's efforts to modernize cross-border payments following its Universal Money Address (UMA) standard introduced 18 months ago. UMA allows banks to offer real-time fiat-based payments, and Grid builds on that foundation by adding support for stablecoins and bitcoin. The result is a single programmable interface for developers and financial institutions to move value instantly across currencies and systems, the team said.

A unified layer for internet-scale payments

Lightspark describes Grid as a modular, developer-first platform that enables scalable fiat-to-fiat, fiat-to-stablecoin, fiat-to-bitcoin, stablecoin-to-bitcoin, stablecoin-to-stablecoin, and bitcoin-to-bitcoin transactions. The platform includes full fiat on- and off-ramps, allowing institutions that prefer not to hold crypto to still benefit from Bitcoin-native rails.

Grid is designed for a range of use cases, including moving liquidity between global bank accounts in seconds, not days, instant global payouts to contractors or creators, treasury rebalancing between fiat and digital assets, and cashback or rewards programs using bitcoin or stablecoins. By offering real-time settlement and interoperability across financial systems, Lightspark said the platform reduces friction, delays, and costs in global money movement.

"It's the connective tissue between the closed systems of the past and the open financial internet we're building," Lightspark said. "Grid connects financial systems that were never designed to talk to each other and makes money move like data."

Lightspark is led by CEO and co-founder David Marcus, known for his prior leadership roles at PayPal and Meta, including the latter's shuttered Diem stablecoin project. Coinbase, Xapo Bank, and Revolut have all partnered with Lightspark over the last couple of years to enable Lightning Network support. Neobank SoFi also tapped Lightspark for parts of its upcoming international money transfer service in August.