SoFi will roll out a Bitcoin-powered international money transfer service inside its consumer app, becoming—per Lightspark CEO David Marcus—“the first US bank to use Bitcoin and Universal Money Addresses (UMA) to offer 24/7, realtime, cheap global payments.” The integration uses the Bitcoin Lightning Network as the cross-border settlement rail and will debut later this year, with Mexico as the first corridor.

First US Bank Plugged Into Bitcoin Lightning

In its announcement on August 19, SoFi said members will be able to send funds abroad directly from the SoFi app “with lower fees and faster delivery compared to traditional remittance service providers.” Technically, dollars are converted to Bitcoin in real time, routed over Lightning, and reconverted instantly on the other side to loc

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