According to a report from Bitcoin-only exchange River, the usage of Bitcoin’s layer 2 Lightning Network has experienced significant growth, with a 1,212% increase in routed transactions over the past two years. In August 2023, there were approximately 6.6 million routed transactions, compared to 503,000 in August 2021. This growth occurred despite a decline in Bitcoin’s price and less online search interest. River’s research analyst, Sam Wouters, emphasized that the notion that “nobody is using Lightning” should no longer be a prevailing belief. The report also highlighted that Lightning now processes at least 47% of Bitcoin’s on-chain transactions, indicating that Bitcoin is becoming a more effective medium of exchange. The average Lightning transaction size in August 2023 was around 44,700 satoshis or $11.84, and it was estimated that between 279,000 and 1.1 million Lightning users were active in September. The report attributed 27% of transaction growth to the gaming, social media tipping, and streaming sectors. River’s data set consisted of 2.5 million transactions, representing 29% of the network’s capacity and 10% of payment channels.
