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Litecoin has officially selected CoinGate as an accredited payment processor. In addition to promoting Litecoin as a valid cryptographic payment method, CoinGate will also perform some of its transactions on the Lightning network.
CoinGate recently announced the decision of the Litecoin Foundation on Twitter and shared some of the details of the partnership:
We are thrilled to announce it #LitecoinFoundation CoinGate credited as an official, trustworthy #Litecoin Payment processor! With the trust of the Foundation, we continue our work on the next Litecoin #LightningNetwork. More information on this soon! pic.twitter.com/gRhOwftlsJ
– CoinGate (@CoinGatecom) November 9, 2018
How CoinGate works
CoinGate has been operational since 2014, making it a fairly well-established encrypted payment platform. It allows customers to pay merchants with cryptocurrency, as well as allowing merchants to cash in their crypt in the form of US dollars or euros.
Sellers can integrate CoinGate with their business in different ways. E-commerce site vendors can add web plugins to their accounts and independent vendors can add payment buttons to their website. In the meantime, real-world vendors can accept encryption via a & r; app point- of-sale.
Although CoinGate originally supported Bitcoin, it now provides its services to over 50 altcoins. CoinGate has been supporting Litecoin for some time, but this new development will deepen the relationship between the two projects.
Suggested reading : Take a look at the best Litecoin wallets from 2018.
The Rise of Payment Platforms
The encrypted world has long been lacking in convenient payment methods, since the seamless conversion between fiat and crypto is not a new feat. Now, a growing number of platforms are trying to fill that niche. CoinGate is not alone: BitPay is a leading merchant service and PundiX is gaining ground as a viable payment tool. Meanwhile, the main Coinbase exchange introduced a WooCommerce plugin.
Supporters of decentralization are cautious on these platforms. CoinGate and many other cryptographic platforms are centralized: services contain coins on behalf of their users. This reduces the amount of control users have on their coins and introduces the potential for frozen accounts. However, some people defend centralization, noting that the convenience of centralized services facilitates adoption and generates value.
The integration of CoinGate with the Lightning network can make the platform less centralized. Lightning is a completely decentralized payment network that relies on peer nodes to make payments. CoinGate is already starting to use the Lightning network with Bitcoin, and this could add a decentralization element not seen on most payment platforms. On the other hand, this may not change things much, since the lightning itself risks becoming centralized.
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