Here’s what’s spurring new highs for Bitcoin’s Lightning Network metrics

This time last year, debates about the Bitcoin Lightning Network were largely theoretical since there were fewer than 8,000 nodes in total. Fast forward to late September 2021 – 2.1 million people are using a Lightning Network-enabled wallet to send Bitcoin and Twitter has launched Bitcoin payments

What’s more, according to a recent update, Bitcoin Lightning Network metrics have been hitting new all-time highs recently.

The aforementioned metrics highlight not only the Lightning Network’s growth but also raises the pertinent question of whether it could support millions or even billions of users in the future.

What do these metrics say?

According to Glassnode’s latest data, the Lightning Network node count was 15,710, at press time.

Source: Glassnode

Meanwhile, the channel count was 72,636, with the same dropping slightly from its recently-recorded high.

Source: Glassnode

Finally, the channel capacity was over 2,926 BTC too.

Glassnode Insights called the growth “extraordinary” and stated,

“Total BTC capacity in LN channels has seen explosive growth over the last nine months, rising 170% in 2021 to reach 2,904 BTC (~$127M). 514 of these coins were added to LN channels in September alone.”

Glassnode Insights also noted how Twitter’s crypto-payment launch and Bitcoin adoption in El Salvador have both affected the Lightning Network’s growth over the past few weeks.

Unanimous highs?

In spite of the Lightning Network’s recent performance, however, not everyone is convinced.

Crypto-influencer Mr. Whale, for instance, has claimed that the Lightning Network is centralized, unable to scale to required sizes. It is also vulnerable to multiple kinds of attacks, he claimed/

In a recent blog post, the proponent had gone as far as claiming,

“As of now, the network can only process around 2,800 Bitcoin, which is around 0.0001% of Bitcoin’s total supply. With the billions worth of Bitcoin being transacted daily, this just isn’t realistic at all.”

Even so, other traders and analysts are certain that the Bitcoin Lightning Network will overtake payment giants.

The growth of the Lightning Network could also be linked to the price of Bitcoin itself. One estimate in Bitcoin Magazine, for instance, combined the market caps of the global remittance industry, the influencer marketing industry, and the digital payment markets worldwide with Twitter Tips included, to propose that the value of one BTC could cross $300,000.

Eyes on El Salvador

In El Salvador, President Nayib Bukele also shared some statistics from the Lightning Network-enabled state Chivo wallet. Despite the 65,437 transactions per second rate, however, President Bukele clarified

As more people use the Chivo wallet and the Strike API goes mainstream, analysts and investors will undoubtedly be watching the Lightning Network mark new highs.