Faster than lightning. The Lightning Network (LN), which is Bitcoin's second-layer (L2) solution, has just reached a new peak in terms of capacity. This record was particularly driven by the growing adoption of this technology by major cryptocurrency exchange platforms.
Key points of this article:
Bitcoin's Lightning Network has reached a new capacity peak of 5,637 BTC, surpassing half a billion dollars.
This growth has been fueled by the increased integration of the Lightning Network by major exchange platforms such as Binance and OKX.
A record capacity for the Lightning Network, which surpasses half a billion dollars in BTC
According to data from Bitcoin Visuals (see chart below), the capacity of the Lightning Network reached 5,637 BTC this week, thus surpassing its previous records from 2023. The second layer solution of Bitcoin thus exceeds 500,000 million dollars in valuation on its network.
On the other hand, the number of nodes and channels remains stable on the L2 of the BTC blockchain. Indeed, there are currently 14,940 nodes and 48,678 exchange channels, numbers that have not varied significantly for several months.
Capacity of Bitcoin's Lightning Network (number of BTC in orange and valuation in dollars in blue). – Source: bitcoinvisuals
The second layer solution of Bitcoin benefits from the arrival of crypto exchanges
This increase is partly due to the growing integration of the Lightning Network by crypto giants like Binance or OKX. These centralized exchange platforms (CEX) have indeed deposited more bitcoins on the LN network this month.
As reported by AMBOSS on X, these BTC additions are not isolated but rather a global trend, and they have certainly contributed to the Lightning Network reconnecting with its capacity records from 2023.
“It’s not just one company injecting more bitcoins into the Lightning network, it’s a widespread phenomenon. (…)”
X account ambosstech
As the Lightning Network continues to break records, it becomes clear that this second layer solution plays a crucial role in the evolution of Bitcoin. By reducing fees (to almost zero) and increasing transaction speeds (almost instantaneous), the LN makes Bitcoin more accessible and practical for small everyday transactions, as well as for large crypto exchanges, which can thus offer BTC transactions with little to no fees.
