Lightspark vs OpenNode

Lightspark is a payments infrastructure company founded by David Marcus (formerly of PayPal, Meta, and Diem) in 2022. They aim to build what they call the "Money Grid," a global, open payment network using Bitcoin as a neutral settlement layer and leveraging Lightning for high-speed transfers.

Their target audience includes enterprises—digital banks, fintechs, wallets, exchanges—that need to move money across currencies and jurisdictions instantly and cheaply, as well as developers building Bitcoin-native payment applications or self-custodial wallets that need scalable infrastructure.

What sets Lightspark apart is their end-to-end product integration, combining seamless liquidity management, intelligent routing, compliance-ready infrastructure, and human-friendly Universal Money Address (UMA) tech. This abstraction lets banks, wallets, exchanges, and businesses effortlessly send and receive fiat or crypto globally without having to manage Lightning channels, cross-border FX, or complex on-chain details. These tools have already seen traction with big regulated partners and typically involves KYC via the partner.

Looking forward, Lightspark's vision is to scale the Money Grid globally—connecting all real-time payment systems and making Bitcoin native rails for everything from everyday consumer transfers to B2B fiat-fiat flows. Spark aims to resolve key Lightning limitations like self-custody economic scalability and lacks native token support. By building Spark open-source and fully backward compatible with Lightning, they hope to decentralize stablecoin issuance on Bitcoin and finally realize high-velocity, global Bitcoin-based payment settlement.

OpenNode is a Bitcoin-first payment processor that empowers businesses to accept and send Bitcoin—either on-chain or via Lightning—using simple plugins, hosted checkouts, or its developer-friendly API. Organisations that want a turnkey, compliant solution—especially mid-sized to large enterprises—can onboard easily with KYC and achieve global scale without building complex node infrastructure.

It offers instant, low-cost microtransactions with a focus on liquidity management, channel operations, and protocol support. For merchants, this means accessing Bitcoin payments both instantly and economically, alongside automatic settlement options in fiat or BTC. By abstracting away technical complexities like node handling, liquidity, and channel balance, OpenNode allows businesses to plug-and-play and scale efficiently.

It holds US regulatory licenses, manages KYC requirements, and maintains automated fiat conversions and payouts. This makes it ideal for businesses—especially blue-chip and enterprise-level—that require solid legal and financial backstops.

Their long-term vision is to see global businesses and platforms integrate Bitcoin payments as seamlessly as credit cards—secure, censorship-resistant, and frictionless—while pushing forward broader adoption of Bitcoin as a unit of exchange across borders and cultures.