Stacked launches self-custody Bitcoin app in New Zealand

Lightning Pay has rebranded as Stacked and launched a mobile self-custody Bitcoin platform for New Zealand.

The move expands the brand beyond its earlier focus on Lightning Network payments. The business now offers Bitcoin exchange, bill payments, recurring purchases and merchant services, arguing that the old name no longer reflected the platform's broader scope.

Based in Queenstown, Stacked says it has served thousands of customers in New Zealand over the past two years. Founded in 2023, it operates as a Bitcoin-only platform, setting it apart from larger crypto services that offer a wider range of digital assets.

The rebrand comes amid a change in New Zealand's crypto market. Easy Crypto, previously one of the country's largest crypto platforms, was sold to Australian exchange Swyftx and later shut down. Sharesies has also entered the market, offering Bitcoin and crypto through a third-party custodian.

Against that backdrop, Stacked is positioning itself as a locally owned alternative focused on self-custody. It says its new mobile wallet is the first Bitcoin wallet built in New Zealand and gives users control of their private keys rather than leaving custody with the platform.

That approach reflects a broader debate in the digital asset market over how consumers should hold cryptocurrencies. Some platforms keep customer assets on their behalf, while self-custody services place the keys and direct control with users. Supporters say that it reduces dependence on intermediaries, though it also gives customers more responsibility.

Figures cited by Stacked show 227,000 New Zealanders were active crypto investors in 2025, with growth running at up to 20.7% a year. In the same financial year, New Zealanders transacted about NZD $7.2 billion in cryptocurrency, with Bitcoin accounting for the largest share, according to the company.

Shift in focus

Simon Collins, Co-founder and Chief Revenue Officer, said the rebrand reflects how customers have used the platform since launch.

"We built Lightning Pay to make Bitcoin payments easy in New Zealand, but our customers quickly showed us they wanted much more than that. Most people were using us to buy and sell Bitcoin, pay bills, set up recurring buys - Lightning Pay just didn't capture what we'd become. Stacked is a name that fits us now, and will suit us well into the future," Collins said.

The new mobile product is built around self-custody, allowing customers to save, spend and use Bitcoin while retaining direct ownership. Stacked says the platform is designed to simplify what has often been a technically demanding process for mainstream users.

Brandon Bucher, co-founder and chief executive, linked that design to the company's Bitcoin-only position.

"Stacked is built around a simple idea: Bitcoin is better money. Most platforms still treat it as something to trade, our job is to make that idea real for people. The new mobile platform does exactly that, giving customers a way to save, spend, and use their Bitcoin while still holding it themselves - owning it, not just accessing it," Bucher said.

Local market

New Zealand's digital asset sector remains relatively small by global standards, but retail interest is growing. Data referenced in the company's background materials projects that local digital asset market revenue will exceed USD $200 million in 2026.

Stacked's products include exchange services, a self-custodial wallet, merchant point-of-sale tools, bill payments and auto-buy functions. The company also uses Open Banking providers to fund customer accounts and the Lightning Network to speed up Bitcoin transactions.

Rob Clarkson, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, said the wallet was built to address practical barriers that have limited wider use of Bitcoin.

"The promise of Bitcoin was peer-to-peer money that anyone can use. The reality has been confirmation times, confusing addresses, and clunky interfaces. Stacked Wallet is our solution to that problem, a smooth and intuitive app for people who want easy access to the full power of the Bitcoin economy," Clarkson said.

Existing Lightning Pay customers will move to the Stacked brand without changes to their accounts or services. The transition is expected to be seamless as the business shifts all operations under the new name.

Collins said the company sees an opening in a market where some providers have closed, and others rely on offshore custody arrangements. "The New Zealand Bitcoin space is going through a real shake-up. Platforms are closing, others are outsourcing custody overseas. We think Kiwis deserve a locally owned platform where they actually hold their own Bitcoin - and that's exactly what Stacked is," he said.