Moon Launches Lightning-Powered BTC Payments For E-Commerce Sites
Moon, a crypto payments processing startup is launching a web browser extension that allows e-commerce shoppers to use their Lightning Network (LN) bitcoin (BTC) wallets for purchases on sites like Amazon.
Though Moon’s regular Chrome browser extension is already available on the Chrome web store, the startup tweeted to note that the lightning feature update is still under review, and is expected to launch imminently.
The bitcoin Lightning Network is a second-layer solution to bitcoin’s scalability limitations, opening payment channels between users that keep the majority of transactions off-chain, turning to the underlying blockchain only to record the net results.
Now with Moon serving as intermediary, e-commerce sites like Amazon notably will not handle or process the crypto directly. Rather, Moon will process users’ lightning payments and convert them into fiat currencies, before settling the transaction with a given e-commerce merchant.
Ken Kruger, Moon CEO and founder underscored to the crypto media outlet that “there’s no direct merchant integration” with e-commerce sites such as Amazon, outlining that:
“We’re integrating with the Visa and Mastercard networks and we get a cut of the interchange fees that merchants pay every time they receive a credit card transaction.”
In a discussion of the extension’s functionality, Kruger revealed that at checkout, users will be provided with a QR code that contains the lightning invoice. Having made their payment, they will be redirected back to the regular payments confirmation page of the e-commerce site.