BTC Lightning network usage is increasing even further than expected according to a research paper from the margin trading platform on the market, BitMEX so let’s find out more about it in the latest Bitcoin news.
More than 60,000 lightning network channel closures were recorded and about 6,000 BTC was spent to do so. The BTC lightning network usage is increasing as the network is a second-layer scaling solution that allows the users to transact using bitcoin with low fees. Just as the customers are able to purchase something and pay all of it in one bill, the users on the lightning network can also do the same and can initiate many transactions and close the channel once the transactions are completed. The channel closure happens on-chain on the Bitcoin blockchain network which is immutable and it allows for secure settlement of many BTC transactions at once:
“Our database illustrates that non-cooperative channel closures are relatively common and that lightning network usage is higher than expected.’’
The report by BitMEX shows how the usage of the network has surpassed the expectations in the past year and the growing usage of the second-layer scaling solution is extremely important for BTC’s long-term growth trend. For many of the networks mainly that use the proof of work consensus algorithm, the capacity of the on-chain transaction is limited. Most of the blockchain networks can handle up to 50 transactions per second and getting past that is often a good result but will end up in higher fees. The successful implementation and usage of the second layer solutions are very important for the blockchain network overall:
“The findings may indicate that experimentation with mobile lightning wallets (which often produce private channels) may be more common than many expected. The data may also indicate that non-cooperative closure types are more common relative to the cooperative closure type than the community thought.’’
The increased usage of the second-layer solutions is one of the most important fundamental factors for the long-term trend of Bitcoin. Some of the other factors include a continuous rise in hashrate but also high developer activity and rising in the number of unique addresses on the network. The scarcity of BTC as a store of value will likely decline following the scheduled block halving in May.
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