OpenNode

About OpenNode

OpenNode operates as a Bitcoin payment processing and infrastructure provider, focusing on leveraging the Bitcoin Lightning Network to facilitate instant and low-cost transactions. The company was established in 2018 by co-founders Afnan Rahman, Brandon Lewis, and Joao Almeida. The founding team brought together experience as active contributors to the Bitcoin ecosystem, having previously collaborated on the open-source Lightning Network wallet, Zap. This background in Bitcoin development directly informed the creation of a platform aimed at simplifying cryptocurrency adoption for businesses.

The firm's core business revolves around providing merchants with the tools to accept Bitcoin as a form of payment. Its business model is primarily based on a 1% transaction fee. OpenNode targets a wide array of clients, including e-commerce businesses, retailers, freelancers, and non-profit organizations, by offering solutions that address common barriers to crypto adoption. The platform is engineered to mitigate the risk of Bitcoin's price volatility for merchants by offering an option for automatic conversion of Bitcoin payments into various fiat currencies like USD, EUR, and GBP at the time of the transaction. This ensures businesses can receive the exact invoiced amount in their local currency without being exposed to price fluctuations.

OpenNode's product suite includes a variety of integration options designed for ease of use. It offers no-code, hosted checkout pages, e-commerce plug-ins for platforms like Shopify and OpenCart, and APIs for custom integrations, which can be implemented with minimal lines of code. The key feature is its utilization of the Lightning Network, a second-layer protocol that enables faster and cheaper transactions compared to on-chain Bitcoin transactions. This allows for nearly instant settlement and eliminates the issue of chargebacks, as all transactions are final.

Since its inception, OpenNode has achieved significant funding milestones. In December 2018, the company secured a $1.25 million seed investment from venture capitalist Tim Draper. This was followed by a major Series A funding round in February 2022, where OpenNode raised $20 million at a $220 million valuation. The Series A round was led by Kingsway Capital and included participation from notable investors such as Twitter and Avon Ventures, a venture capital fund affiliated with Fidelity Investments. These funds were earmarked for global expansion, team growth, and further development of its payment infrastructure.