Lightning Network Capacity Reaches New Dollar High

The total value of cryptocurrency locked in Bitcoin’s Lightning Network (LN) micropayment system has reached a record $312.4 million.

Over the past 30 days, amid a rally in digital gold, this figure has increased by approximately 30%.

In physical terms, the number of bitcoins in L2 network channels has decreased by ~5% during this period, down to 4566 BTC. This is about 17% less than the peak reached in April 2023.

The number of nodes in LN has remained relatively stable in recent months, fluctuating between 16,000 and 18,000.

Meanwhile, the number of channels is steadily declining, with the share of reused ones consistently below 10%.

In September 2023, Lightspark CEO and former head of Meta’s blockchain division, David Marcus, stated that LN could resolve the resource-intensive process of sending money across borders and bring global payments out of the “fax era.”

Back in October, Bitcoin Core developer Antoine Riard left the LN team, citing a critical network vulnerability. He urged his former colleagues to “wake up” and address security issues.