The largest cryptocurrency in the world has something to celebrate. Lightning Network has successfully passed the 4,000 bitcoin (BTC) public resource mark, making $ 120 million worth of peer-to-peer payments.
The Lightning Network broke the 1,000 BTC barrier in August 2020 and the 2,000 BTC barrier in July 2021. Capacity increased in 18 months.
CoinCorner CEO Daniel Scott told Cointelegraph “initially we had slow and steady growth with the Lightning capability, but since January 2021 the upside has been strong. »
Danny Brewster, CEO of UK – based bitcoin exchange fast Bitcoins, told Cointelegraph that Lightning Network’s capacity probably exceeded 4,000 long ago, and the public does not have access to private channel metrics.
“That said, the steady growth of the Lightning Network was a great start and I look forward to continuing it into the future, as long as all stakeholders, from developers to entrepreneurs building businesses, continue to move forward. .
A level 2 payment protocol built on the base layer of Bitcoin, the Lightning Network allows transactions to be completed almost immediately. In the following video, Paco de la India – a globetrotter that only uses bitcoin as currency – buys shorts from Mozambican-based Bitcoiner Jorge using the Lightning Network:
Day 261
I got to buy a pair of shorts for #Bitcoin from Jorge and Tofo. Paid sits via # childish Lighting a @MuunWallet
Thanks to @BitcoinEkasi for pilling orange for him. Jorge miss you.
This is #btc adoption in Mozambique
surgeries,
paco#runwithbitcoin https://t.co/UqFtKZzfFL pic.twitter.com/JRMUel6twK—Paco de la India⚡ (@RunwithBitcoin) June 3, 2022
Day 261 I was able to buy a pair of shorts for #Bitcoin from Jorge in Tofo. I paid for it in seats via #paxful Lighting on his @MuunWallet. Thanks to @BitcoinEkasi for paying it in orange. Jorge miss you. This is the adoption of #btc in Mozambique. Thanks, Paco #carbureraubitcoin https://t.co/UqFtKZzfFL pic.twitter.com/JRMUel6twK – Paco de la India⚡ (@RunwithBitcoin) June 3, 2022
James Check, Glassnode On-Chain SEO Analyst with Cointelegraph, said, “The expansion of the Bitcoin Lightning Network seems to be moving beyond the ‘reckless’ step into a real-time early adopter experiment. »
Read also: Lightning Network Lunch: A Story About Contactless Bitcoin Payments
“As wallet design and user experience improve, new problems can be solved and the network matures. The continued growth in capacity and number of public Lightning channels is a reflection of this vote of confidence and increasing usage, ”he said.
Scott agrees and believes that this positive trend will continue “as more companies embrace Lightning and new use cases come to an end. »
“El Salvador’s acceptance of bitcoin seems to be a turning point for Lightning, which gave him confidence and created a real use case. »
Based on data from 1ML, the average and average transaction cost for sending satoshis (the smallest denomination of bitcoin) over Lightning is well under $ 0.01, proving that this technology payment has the potential.
Brewster concludes that “it’s a great start, but a long way to go. It’s still really early! »
