Travala.com, a global travel company, is now accepting bitcoin payments on the Lightning Network using OpenNode, according to a press release.
Travala CEO Juan Otero said in the release the move is a “significant and much-needed step” toward increased crypto adoption around the world.
“At Travala.com, we’re constantly exploring ways to further bridge the gap between blockchain and travel, so working with OpenNode to enable bitcoin payments on the Lightning Network was a natural fit for us to continue innovating toward the future of travel,” Otero said in the release.
Travala had already been accepting bitcoin, but the integration will allow Travala to accept bitcoin payments instantly and for less of a cost, according to the release.
OpenNode Head of Marketing Ryan Flowers said in the release the partnership “can showcase that bitcoin can act as a medium of exchange and improve payments for the entire travel industry. The travel industry suffers from the downfalls of traditional currencies such as chargeback fraud, long settlement times and high processing fees, and with bitcoin payments on the Lightning Network, we can solve all of these issues.”
In other news, bitcoin saw a decrease in price for the second day in a row, which positions the coin for a fifth consecutive week of declines, Bloomberg reported.
The popular crypto fell around 4.3% to $46,501, according to the report. Bitcoin was down around 32% from its all-time high of almost $69,000 on Nov. 10. However, the coin has gained around 60% this year.
Ether, also coming off a record high from November, continued to fall for the second day in a row, the report stated.
Central banks around the world have made fighting inflation as a top priority. Monetary settings are getting stricter, causing investors to consider if cryptos are about to see a rougher season, according to the report.
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