February 9, 2023
Lightning Strikes: The Rapid Growth of the Bitcoin Lightning Network Payments
In April 2022, BitPay added support for the Lighting Network as a cheap, fast and scalable solution to making Bitcoin payments. Since then, we’ve seen explosive growth in the number and volume of payments made over the Lightning Network.
Quick recap on the Lightning Network
The Bitcoin Lightning Network is a secondary layer on the Bitcoin blockchain that allows users to create payment channels for off-chain transactions. These payment channels enable users to make a large number of cheap transactions per second, which can be recorded on a separate ledger. When the payment channel is closed, the transactions within it are consolidated and broadcast to the main blockchain ledger. The Lightning Network is fast, cheap, and scalable, and has the potential to facilitate everyday micropayments in Bitcoin. See our full breakdown of the how the Lightning Network works.
Bitcoin Lightning Network payment growth
Excited about the Lightning Network for Bitcoin? We are too! Check out these awesome stats on Lightning Network usage.
Monthly Lightning Network payments processed by BitPay grew 238% since April 2022
Muun, Wallet of Satoshi and Cash App were the top Lightning Network wallets used by BitPay consumers
Why are users turning to Lightning Network payments?
Bitcoin users are more regularly leveraging Bitcoin Lightning Payments for a variety of reasons.
Speed
The Lightning Network can handle hundreds of thousands of transactions more per second than the traditional Bitcoin blockchain.
Low fees
Lightning Payment transaction fees are typically lower than traditional Bitcoin payments, making it a more efficient payment method for low-cost items and everyday purchases.
Wide support by wallets
Dozens of wallets support Lightning Network transactions, offering crypto consumers an abundance of options in making payments.
Thousands of merchants
BitPay connects thousands of merchants already accepting crypto with the millions of crypto users looking to pay with Bitcoin in a cheap, fast and scalable way.
Backed by Bitcoin
The Lightning Network makes Bitcoin payments even faster, cheaper and more scalable – all while maintaining the security and spending power of traditional Bitcoin.
