Accept Lightning Payments From Coinbase Users

Yes, where the feature is enabled. Coinbase added Lightning Network support through Lightspark in 2024, and a business that accepts Lightning through the Amboss Payments API can receive from those users directly. As of April 2025, about 15 percent of Bitcoin transactions on Coinbase moved over Lightning, per Lightspark's one-year milestone post.

Does Coinbase support Lightning?

Partly, and on a rolled-out basis. Coinbase integrated the Lightning Network with infrastructure provider Lightspark, so in supported regions a Coinbase user can choose Lightning instead of the Bitcoin base layer to send or pay. To pay you, they select Lightning, scan your invoice, and confirm. Availability is not universal, so treat it as enabled per account.

Lightspark's launch announcement describes the integration directly:

Coinbase customers can instantly send, receive, or pay with Bitcoin on Lightning directly from their Coinbase account and benefit from fast, cheaper transfers.

The rollout was deliberately phased. Reporting from Decrypt on the launch noted the regional limits at the time:

Canadian and New York residents will not be able to take advantage of the Lightning Network function for now.

That is why a Coinbase user should confirm Coinbase Lightning is enabled for their account before relying on it. Decrypt's report on the rollout covers the launch in full.

How do you receive payments from Coinbase users?

You do not build a Coinbase integration. You accept Lightning once and any Coinbase user with the feature enabled becomes a potential payer. The flow is four steps:

1. Integrate the Amboss Payments API and create a Lightning invoice for the order amount.
2. Show the invoice to the customer as a QR code or a copyable string at checkout.
3. The customer chooses Lightning inside Coinbase, scans the invoice, and confirms the send.
4. The payment routes over Lightning and settles to you in seconds. You fulfill the order.

The payer sends bitcoin over Lightning and you accept the Lightning payment, with no account or partnership required between you and Coinbase. Live network capacity and routing data are published on the Amboss Space Lightning explorer.

How do you integrate Coinbase receiving into checkout?

Receiving from a Coinbase user is the standard Lightning receive flow: create an invoice, then confirm settlement. A Lightning invoice is a self-contained string defined by the BOLT 11 payment-encoding specification, so the same code path accepts Coinbase, Cash App, Strike, and any other Lightning sender.

The Amboss Payments API is GraphQL. A single create_receive mutation returns the BOLT 11 invoice you show the customer:

mutation CreateReceive {
  payment {
    transaction {
      create_receive(
        input: {
          wallet_id: "your-wallet-id"
          amount: "50000"
          description: "Order #1234"
        }
      ) {
        status
        payment_request
        payment_hash
      }
    }
  }
}

Send it to the https://rails.amboss.tech/graphql endpoint with your x-api-key. The payment_request field is the lnbc... string you render as a QR code, and you confirm settlement with the payment.completed webhook, as documented in the Amboss Payments API documentation. Lightning settles atomically, so there is no pending state that reverses a week later.

Where does Amboss Payments fit?

Lightning is an open standard, which is why a single integration receives from every wallet and exchange that supports it. Amboss Payments gives you that integration as a managed API on the Lightning Network, with no node to operate, so accepting a Coinbase customer is the same work as accepting anyone else. If you want to talk through volume, settlement, or pricing, contact the Amboss team.