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About Lightspark
Lightspark is a Bitcoin payment infrastructure company. Its core business is the Spark protocol, a Bitcoin Layer 2 payment network compatible with Lightning, and the Grid platform, which provides stablecoin settlement, card issuance, and global payout APIs.
The market pain points it addresses are clear: traditional cross-border payments are slow, expensive, and opaque, while platforms that move money for users (such as marketplaces or gig economy apps) often lose revenue and user relationships to banks and payment intermediaries. Lightspark's narrative is to make Bitcoin a neutral, open "money transport layer" — like TCP/IP for value — so any platform can offer its users global dollar accounts, instant local payouts, and Visa debit cards without becoming a bank itself.
In the past six months (2026-03-07 to 2026-09-07), Lightspark launched Grid Global Accounts in April, allowing platforms to issue branded stablecoin accounts with Visa cards and payouts to 65+ countries. In July, its European entity obtained a MiCA license and an e-money license in Estonia. In late April, it announced a partnership with Visa to enable stablecoin- and Bitcoin-backed debit cards across 100+ countries.
One notable negative event: in August 2026, the Spark network experienced a service outage lasting about 4 hours, affecting wallets such as Blink and Wallet of Satoshi. It was later restored.
Lightspark was founded in 2022, initially focusing on the Bitcoin Lightning Network to make Bitcoin a fast, low-cost payment "TCP/IP for money." Its UMA protocol enables seamless cross-border payments within traditional financial institutions.
In August 2025, SoFi adopted Lightspark's UMA technology for real-time, low-cost international transfers via Lightning, marking adoption by a mainstream fintech.
That year, Lightspark strategically evolved from a Lightning payment company into a global accounts and stablecoin infrastructure firm. CEO David Marcus argued users should experience "dollar balances" rather than "Bitcoin," with Lightspark connecting local payment rails, stablecoin networks, and card networks like Visa.
In October, Lightspark launched Grid API and Grid Global Accounts in partnership with FDIC-insured banks, offering branded dollar accounts, Visa debit cards, and real-time settlement across 65+ countries, including delegated controls for AI agents. It also acquired Striga to strengthen open, compliant Bitcoin payments.
These milestones illustrate Lightspark's evolution from a payment protocol to open financial infrastructure.
Key progress in recent six months: In April 2026, Lightspark partnered with Visa to launch stablecoin- and Bitcoin-backed Visa debit cards across 100+ countries, with plans to become a Visa principal member. In August, it teamed with Lithic to issue USDC-settled Visa cards via Lead Bank, leveraging Authorization Intelligence for fraud control. At Bitcoin 2026, Lightspark unveiled Grid Global Accounts: branded dollar accounts, Visa cards, instant local fiat off-ramps in 65+ countries, native Bitcoin conversion, cross-chain interoperability, and AI agent bounded delegation. The non-custodial embedded wallets support Google/Apple/passkey login, enabled by regulatory clarity from the GENIUS Act and MiCA.
Future focus: expand to 75 countries and 100 Visa markets, deepen Spark-based stablecoin support, advance secure AI agent transactions, and complete global payment infrastructure.
David Marcus: Co-founder and CEO
Jai Massari: Chief Legal Officer
Alex Gillette: Vice President of Fintech
Recent team changes at Lightspark: Alex Gillette joined as VP, Fintech in June 2026, previously serving as Sales Director, North America at Ripple. Meanwhile, Chief Product Officer Alberto Martin departed in April 2026; he had joined in August 2025, previously serving as Director of Product Management, Web3 at Google.