Bitcoin processor OpenNode raises USD 20 mln

The Series A funding round also saw additional investment from Twitter, Fidelity Investments affiliated Avon Ventures and Bitcoin supporter Tim Draper. OpenNode operates a secure Bitcoin processing infrastructure for businesses that allows for payments and payouts, invoicing, conversion and settlements.

Using the platform, businesses can accept or pay using Bitcoin and establish it as a payment channel without worrying about its volatility during automatic conversion. The company’s services are used by 14,000 users in at least 120 countries, according to its website. Its integrations are used for ecommerce websites and plugins such as Shopify, OpenCart and WooCommerce.

One of the perks of using OpenNode is access to the Lightning Network, a Layer 2 scaling solution that makes transactions faster and cheaper on the Bitcoin blockchain. Using the Lightning Network scaling solution, it’s possible to provide almost instant settlement times with low-cost transaction fees.

OpenNode also provides developer-friendly application programming interfaces so its platform can be integrated into already existing software and apps with only 10 lines of code. The company said that it will use the funds to continue to build its payments infrastructure and focus on providing better onramps for merchants and businesses to accept and pay using Bitcoin.