Lightning Network Hits 1,500 BTC Capacity For the First Time as it Gains Traction in El Salvador

Bitcoin layer 2 payments solution Lightning Network that enables faster and cheaper transactions has grown to surpass the capacity of 1,500 BTC for the first time.

Between the period of March 2019 and May 2020, the Lightning network capacity has been pretty stagnant, keeping between 800 and 1,100 BTC.

But about a year back, it started seeing growth which started to record a serious uptrend only this year. In January, LN capacity remained above 1,000 BTC only to hit 1,200 BTC for the first time in April this year.

Besides network capacity, the number of channels is close to hitting 50,000, another new all-time high, which started to increase in August last year.

The number of nodes with and without channels is also on the same path, ready to hit 21,500 for the first time. Lightning nodes basically open payment channels with each other that are funded with BTC. When transactions are made across those channels, the channel balance is reflected without having it to be broadcasted on-chain creating a second layer on top of the bitcoin network and expanding its capabilities.

This growth can be attributed to El Salvador, which recently declared Bitcoin legal tender. Currently, Lightning-enabled wallets, Strike and Bitcoin Beach are the top free financial apps in the country followed by Binance and Crypto.com.

Interestingly, last week, Jack Dorsey hinted that Twitter will be integrating the payments network.

Lightning Network integration into Twitter or BlueSky is “only a matter of time,” said Dorsey in response to someone asking about the same after the Twitter founder appreciated Lightning Network-powered messaging app Sphinx Chat.

The long-term Bitcoin proponent recently also shared that his payments company Square is considering making a Bitcoin hardware wallet.