Second’s Bark Boasts New era of Bitcoin Payments, drawing in former Blockstream developers

Bitcoin Magazine Second’s Bark Boasts New era of Bitcoin Payments, drawing in former Blockstream developers Second, the Bitcoin development lab founded by ex-Blockstream executives including CEO Steven Roose and CTO Erik De Smedt, has unveiled Bark — its custom Ark protocol implementation promising self-custodial payments that are faster and cheaper than Lightning channels. This post Second’s Bark Boasts New era of Bitcoin Payments, drawing in former Blockstream developers first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Juan Galt .

6 April 2026 at 08:45 pm

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Second’s Bark Boasts New era of Bitcoin Payments, drawing in former Blockstream developers

Second, a new Bitcoin development lab founded by ex-Blockstream executives, has recently unveiled Bark, its custom Ark protocol implementation, promising self-custodial payments that are faster and cheaper than Lightning channels. This development has drawn attention from the cryptocurrency community, particularly as the company continues to attract former Blockstream employees, including Grubles, who has over 8 years of engineering experience at the company.

Grubles announced their departure from Blockstream on March 3, 2026, expressing gratitude for the opportunity to work with a world-class team. Despite leaving, Grubles expressed excitement about their new role at Second, where they will contribute to the development of a next-generation "Fast, low-fee, self-custodial" wallet. Alongside Grubles, other notable former Blockstream employees have joined Second, including Neil Woodfine as CMO, Steven Roose as CEO, and Erik De Smedt as CTO.

The Ark protocol, a layer two payments protocol, is gaining traction in the end-user Bitcoin wallet technology niche. Unlike the Lightning Network, the Ark protocol makes different trade-offs to deliver scalable self-custody and payments features at a low cost. Second's Bark is designed as a custom implementation of the Ark protocol, with a focus on interoperability with the Lightning Network.

In an exclusive interview with Bitcoin Magazine, Grubles explained that the technique used for Bark is different from payment channels in Lightning, but the two are actually very complementary. They emphasized that at Second, the team has chosen to build an Ark that is focused entirely on making Bitcoin onboarding and payments excellent.

Bark's website describes an Ark-to-Lightning bridge that allows users to pay Lightning invoices directly from an Ark balance without requiring channels, liquidity, or LSPs. The process is handled atomically, ensuring a seamless and secure transaction.

Grubles also shared that the company has raised $5.1 million from a private investor, with a team of 11 people working on the development of Bark. The project's deep technical documentation is available for those interested in understanding the intricacies of the new Ark protocol implementation.

As Second continues to attract talent from Blockstream and focuses on the cutting edge of end-user Bitcoin wallet technology, the unveiling of Bark represents a new era of Bitcoin payments. With a commitment to faster, cheaper, and self-custodial transactions, Second aims to redefine the user experience for Bitcoin adopters and further drive the adoption of the cryptocurrency. The company's focus on interoperability with the Lightning Network also highlights the potential for collaboration and innovation within the broader Bitcoin ecosystem.

In the competitive landscape of Bitcoin development, Second's Bark is poised to make a significant impact. By leveraging the expertise of former Blockstream developers and the potential of the Ark protocol, the company is well-positioned to deliver a next-generation wallet solution that addresses the challenges faced by current Bitcoin users. As the team continues to grow and the project progresses, the cryptocurrency community will be closely watching Second's efforts to reshape the future of Bitcoin payments.

Source: Bitcoin Magazine

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