BlockBeats news: On July 8, the prediction market platform Polymarket announced support for instant, self-custodial deposits via the Bitcoin Lightning Network, powered by the Spark protocol. Compared to the previous on-chain deposit method, which required 3 to 6 block confirmations and took approximately 10 to 60 minutes, the new solution enables near-instant settlement while lowering deposit barriers and transaction costs.
According to the information provided, Spark can perform checks for double-spending risk, transaction fees, and Replace-by-Fee (RBF) during transaction broadcasting, enabling "zero-confirmation" settlements. It also supports on-chain, Lightning Network, and stablecoin payment channels without requiring the platform to operate its own Lightning Network node.
Polymarket stated that this move will further improve the capital efficiency for Bitcoin users and strengthen its competitiveness against rival Kalshi.