Bitcoin Lightning Network Growth Soars 1,200% in 2 Years
Lightning Network’s Rapid Growth
In August 2021, the Bitcoin-only exchange River reported an estimated 1,212% growth in the Lightning Network over two years, with an estimated 6.6 million routed transactions. This is a significant jump compared with August 2021’s 503,000 transactions, despite a 44% fall in Bitcoin’s price and a decrease in online search interest.
Sam Wouters, a research analyst at River, stated that “’Nobody is using Lightning’ should now be a dead meme” in reference to Lightning critics. River’s 6.6 million figure is a lower-bound estimate, as it does not include private Lightning transactions or those between only two participants.
The Lightning Network is a layer 2 technology for crypto Bitcoin, and is a major component of the upcoming web 3.0. As crypto this week is increasingly adopted, exchanges such as Gemini crypto exchange are beginning to offer it, and many crypto gaming and media crypto platforms are being built on it. Web 3.0 search engines and social media are also being developed, and it is expected that when web 3.0 is released, the use of the Lightning Network will continue to grow.
Crypto Bitcoin and Web 3.0
K33 reported that in August 2023, Lightning had processed $78.2 million in transactions, a 546% increase from the $12.1 million reported in August 2021. According to Wouters, Lightning now accounts for 47% of Bitcoin’s on-chain transactions. He remarked that this was an interesting metric to monitor, and an indication of Bitcoin becoming more of a medium of exchange.
River estimated that in September, between 279,000 and 1.1 million users were active on the Lightning Network, with an average transaction size of 44,700 satoshis or $11.84. It was also noted that 27% of transaction growth was due to gaming, social media tipping and streaming.
The arrival of Web 3.0 is set to revolutionize the way we use the internet, and it is already making its presence felt in the crypto space. What is Web 3.0 explained? This new version of the web is set to bring a range of new features, such as improved search engine capabilities, media crypto, and social media crypto. Gemini crypto exchange and other crypto exchanges are also set to benefit from the new technology, as well as crypto gaming and other crypto activities.
Crypto Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are set to be at the heart of the new Web 3.0, and the crypto this week news is that it is already making its presence felt. When is Web 3.0 coming? Now crypto enthusiasts can look forward to the new version of the web arriving soon.
River reported that in August 2023, Lightning payments achieved a success rate of 99.7% across 308,000 transactions on its platform. The main cause of failure was when there was insufficient liquidity in the payment route to complete the transfer. The data set River used consisted of 2.5 million transactions, representing 29% of the network’s capacity and 10% of payment channels.
As we look ahead to the future, the crypto space is abuzz with anticipation of Web 3.0. Bitcoin and other crypto assets, such as Gemini crypto exchange, are quickly gaining traction in the media and in gaming. Web 3.0 promises to revolutionize the way we search and interact on social media. It remains to be seen when Web 3.0 will arrive, but in the meantime, crypto enthusiasts can keep up with the latest developments by following the news this week.