The Bitcoin (BTC) Lightning network is a layer2 scalability network on the Bitcoin protocol. This scaling solution network is designed to make BTC transactions faster and cheaper.
As industry players realize the effectiveness of the network in reducing blockchain congestion, the adoption increases. As opposed to about 100,000 users of the Bitcoin Lightning network the last Summer, the estimated number of user accounts now is about 40M.
The exponential increase is expected to push Bitcoin usage to the mainstream and stabilize the price.
Why BTC Lightning Network Users Increased?
The Bitcoin network is slow and always congested. However, the lightning network makes it faster. Payment platforms that want to improve scalability on Bitcoin exchange and transactions use this layer2 scalability solution.
Cash App, a mobile payment processing platform, recently added the BTC Lightning network to support transactions. Micheal Rihani tweeted the step-by-step guide to receiving Bitcoin using CashApp.
This integration allows Cash App users to send and receive Bitcoin on the faster lightning network. Recall that in 2018, CashApp formally integrated Bitcoin trading in the UK and US.
By 2021, the payment platform had recorded 81% totaling about $12.3 billion of its revenue from Bitcoin. As BTC transactions were increasing on CashApp, it was necessary to make it faster.
This necessitated the full integration of the BTC Lightning support in 2021. Until recently, the Bitcoin lightning support on Cash App was limited.
Users could only pay for invoices by scanning the QR codes displayed by the Lightning network. The full support now allows Cash App users to deposit up to $10,000 BTC every seven days.
Another reason for the recent surge in the Bitcoin lightning network is Salvador’s adoption as a legal tender. After the September 2021 adoption, the country has recorded more users and holders of BTC.
On the 12th of October, the lightning payment wallet was launched to improve BTC transactions. The chivo wallet is Salvador’s national lightning wallet and has prompted more people to use the network.
There is also the Bolt card for tap-to-pay card patents, which has made easier and daily BTC transactions possible.
Experts regard the layer two lightning infrastructure as the future of crypto payments and will encourage more usage.
Conclusion
CashApp leads the driver of growth for the BTC lightning network. Followed by Salvador’s policies.
Since the introduction of the lightning network in Salvador, retail payment has seen a pump in BTC transactions. Salvador recorded over $52 million in remittances by BTC wallets in the first two quarters of 2022.
More integration of the scalability network by payment platforms will be expected to increase its usage. Industry players expect the users to jump to 80Million by the end of the ongoing bear market.
