Key facts:
Nodes and payment channels also had significant increases in the last 12 months.
Growth in capacity, nodes, and channels denotes widespread adoption of Lightning.
It is already known that the adoption of bitcoin (BTC) continues to grow, especially when it is supported by its micropayment solution, the Lightning network. The increase in technology in the last year has been almost 200%, as a sign of the growing community around the new economy.
According to analytics firm Messari, the capacity of the public channels of the Bitcoin Lightning network has increased by 198% in the last 12 months. This, as a result of the combination of increased adoption and Lightning integrations on exchanges and other payment services, as was the case with Bitpay, for example. That’s what they said in Twitter.
Therefore, the capacity measured in bitcoin in the channels reached a maximum of 3,624 BTC, according to Messari. In US dollars, that’s at least $143 million, based on current BTC prices.
However, at the close of this note, that figure already reaches a value of 3,681 BTC, a rise of 2% compared to what was registered yesterdayin accordance with 1ML.
The capacity of public channels is understood as the value of bitcoins that are blocked or deposited within a contract, in order to obtain liquidity in the micropayment network. In this case, this increase is determined by the total value of all contracts that are currently locked.
Since the beginning of 2022, Lightning network capacity has hit two all-time highsboth reported by CriptoNoticias.
The first was registered on February 15, when the capacity of the network was over 3,518 bitcoins. At the time, this was equivalent to USD 150 million, since the cryptocurrency was trading above $40,000.
The second was almost a month later. At that time, the Lightning network allowed to exchange the value that the Bitcoin network reached after 3 years, reaching a capacity of 3,534 BTC.
As at that time, what promotes the growth of these channels is the adoption of cryptocurrency and the Lightning network, which has been perceived in recent months. with announcements of important companies in the ecosystem integrating Lightning services, for example.
According to a report by Arcane Research, reviewed by CriptoNoticias, 80 million people had access to Bitcoin Lightning payments in March, validating the narrative of sustained growth in this network.
They also explained in the report that the value of payments made on the Lightning network grew by 400%measured in US dollars, something that has been evidenced in the months that have passed since El Salvador made bitcoin a legal tender.
Increased Lightning Nodes and Channels
messari too projection the increase in Lightning nodes and channels that are operational and that, until April 2022, reported growth of 58% and 92%, respectively. This count is used to gain insight into the growth of the network.
Returning to the data provided by 1ML, it can be seen that the node with the highest capacity of the Lightning network can host 333.98 BTC, and is the node of the Bitcoin exchange, Bitfinex.
The second also answers to Bitfinex and has a capacity of 268.92 bitcoins. The third, meanwhile, is from ACINQ, a technology company based on Bitcoin, whose capacity is 253 BTC.
Kraken, which recently integrated Lightning Network services to its platform, is currently the fourth largest capacity node at 123 BTC.
Wallet of Satoshi, for its part, is ranked fifth among the Lightning nodes with the most capacity, with 123 BTC.
Among the most used Lightning channels, those of ACINQ are the first, with some 2,853 of these enabled gateways. They are followed by Wallet of Satoshi, with 2,411 channels and, by third parties, those offered by 1ML.com, which has about 2,046 channels.
CoinGate, meanwhile, ranks fourth among the most used channels in the Lightning network, with 1,945 of these and lastly, there is gameb_1, which has 1,194 active channels available.
The data seen shows that the Lightning network is in full swing, that far from suffocating, rather it is more established in the community.
As more companies and services add Lightning Network services, more people could participate in the network and they would make it consecrate as the first option to take when paying with cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.