The Lightning Network: A Glimpse into 2023's Soaring Growth
Posted about 1 year ago by LN+
The Lightning Network, a second-layer solution to Bitcoin's scalability challenge, has shown exponential growth in 2023. Here's a comprehensive review of its performance, based on a detailed report by River:
Transaction Volume: A Staggering Leap
Transaction Count: An estimated lower bound of 6.6 million routed Lightning transactions was recorded in August 2023. This figure could be just the tip of the iceberg due to the inherent privacy features of the Lightning Network.
Growth Rate: A mind-blowing 1,212% growth was observed since August 2021, where the transaction count was 503k. This growth defied the odds, even in the face of a 44% drop in Bitcoin's price.
Transaction Speed: The Lightning Network processed an average of 2.5 transactions per second (TPS), outpacing Bitcoin's on-chain average of 4.4 TPS and marking a significant leap from the 0.2 TPS recorded in August 2021.
Estimated Growth between 2021 and 2023
Dominant Use Cases
Gaming, social media tipping, and streaming have emerged as the key use cases, accounting for 27% of the transaction growth on the Lightning Network.
Financial Metrics: On the Rise
Routed Amount: The Lightning Network publicly routed around $78.2 million, utilizing 5,000 BTC in capacity in August 2023.
Annual Volume: This translates to a whopping $936 million in annual volume, utilizing $133 million in capacity. The activity on the Lightning Network even outpaces Bitcoin's on-chain velocity.
Expanding the Utility of Bitcoin
With an average transaction size of 44.7k satoshis (equivalent to $11.84), the Lightning Network proves its worth by facilitating low-value payments that would otherwise be unfeasible on the Bitcoin blockchain.
Lightning Network Industry 2023
User Adoption: A Growing Force
Monthly Active Users: An estimated 279k to 1.116 million users were actively transacting on the Lightning Network as of September 2023.
Wallet Downloads: A staggering number of Lightning-compatible wallets, between 1.8 to 3.7 million, were downloaded, indicating the rising interest and adoption of this technology.
The Global Picture
The Lightning Network is witnessing a more global and evenly distributed activity pattern, a refreshing change from the previous year.
Industry Dynamics
Steady Infrastructure: The number of nodes, channels, and capacity on the Lightning Network has remained consistent.
Funding: A hefty sum of $530.93 million was funneled into 39 Lightning companies between 2018 and 2022, with $428.46 million raised just in 2022.
River's Performance
River, a significant player in the Lightning Network ecosystem, reported a 99.7% success rate for its Lightning payments in August 2023 across 308k transactions.
Looking Ahead
The Lightning Network's future seems promising with more exchange adoption, technical upgrades, and the interest of non-Bitcoin businesses.
In conclusion, the Lightning Network is not just a promising solution but a rapidly evolving ecosystem driving Bitcoin's utility to new heights. The data from 2023 underscores its increasing importance in the cryptocurrency space.
