Substack Debuts Bitcoin Subscription Payments via the Lightning Network

San Francisco-based online publishing platform Substack has enabled support for bitcoin payments for subscriptions to publications through the use of the Lightning Network.

• Substack has collaborated with OpenNode, a bitcoin payment processor, for the BTC payment option. OpenNode made the announcement via a press release on Monday (August 23rd, 2021).
• With the latest development, readers would be able to pay with BTC for subscriptions on the Substack platform. However, this new payment option is available for a select number of cryptocurrency-focused publications.
• Furthermore, the online publishing company will accept the primary digital asset both on-chain and on the Lightning Network, thereby making payments cheaper and faster.
• OpenNode’s co-founder and CTO João Almeida said the partnership will see writers receive bitcoin and either retain or convert it to fiat. Almeida added, “writers and podcasters have flocked to Substack to regain creative and financial freedom, and Bitcoin is a natural fit.”
• Also commenting on the collaborative effort was Nick Inzucchi, Substack’s product designer, who said:

“We’re excited to be working with OpenNode to enable independent publishers on Substack to accept crypto payments. Having this option will give writers more flexibility and freedom, and we look forward to doing more in crypto to meet writers’ needs.”

• Meanwhile, Substack, which has over half a million subscribers, has become the latest company to accept payments in bitcoin.
• As reported by CryptoPotato earlier in August, the American movie theater chain AMC Theaters revealed plans to add BTC payment by the end of the year. The U.S. chain of convenience stores Sheetz is also set to accept bitcoin this summer.
• In July, the online retailer Wellbots announced that it has started accepting BTC and other crypto assets for its smart products.
• Meanwhile, there has been a growing number of transactions via the Lightning Network. According to current data on BitcoinVisuals, the node count is close to 15,000, while the capacity, at the time of writing, is north of 2,300 BTC.