One of the important attributes for measuring the success of BTC is by how widely adopted it is not just in terms of wallets, but also in the number of use cases that it fulfills. However, perhaps because of a lack of trust or education, many companies refuse to experiment with this technology, forcing users to pay with fiat without caring to even try possibly better alternatives.

A clear example of this reality is Amazon. The e-commerce giant remains faithful to its anti-crypto policy, even though the number of users clamoring for the ability to buy using cryptocurrencies grows every day.

However, recently, a startup created by 3 young Americans made the dream of many enthusiasts and Bitcoin fans around the world a reality: They developed Moon, a plugin that allows using BTC to pay on Amazon thanks to Lightning Network.

To achieve this “integration”, they created an extension that connects the user’s LN wallet to an LN channel provided by the company, which in turn is connected to a payment processor that immediately performs the crypto-visa transaction on behalf of the customer.

The payment procedure is quite simple. By how Moon CEO Ken Kruger explains it, the process seems to be practically the same as any traditional transaction in cryptocurrencies:

[ The extension] will pop up a QR code and it will have the lightning invoice, which you could also copy and paste if you can’t use the QR code for some reason, and you’ll be able to pay with your favorite lightning wallet.

Moon’s team explains that in reality, Amazon has absolutely no stake in the transaction. Amazon demands a fiat amount and receives a fiat amount. It is Moon who takes care of the whole process behind the conversion from BTC to fiat.

There’s no direct merchant integration, we’re integrating with the Visa and Mastercard networks and we get a cut of the interchange fees that merchants pay every time they receive a credit card transaction

Thanks to the Lightning Network, the transaction is almost immediate and practically free, with minimal fees and all the security offered by blockchain technologies.

Moon’s
extension is currently under Google review. They expect that in the coming
days, Google will place this extension in its store and that in the coming
months will add compatibility with other online shopping services such as
AliExpress, ebay, Etsy and Target.