From the macro perspective, Bitcoin Lightning Network’s capacity has consistently been inclining. In the beginning of Q4 last year, it surpassed the 5k mark, while it now stands at 5,220.59 BTC.
For context, in January 2021, the capacity was hovering around 1k BTC. This means, the growth to the current $108.6 million mark has been achieved in just two years. Like shown below, the capacity acceleration picked up pace in mid-2022 when Bitcoin was attempting a recovery. Even though Bitcoin failed to progress on the price front, the Lightning Network kept growing, making the case for increased adoption.
In the most basic essence, the Lightning Network aids users to send and receive Bitcoin faster with lower fees. The higher capacity, the better, for it connotes to more liquidity.
Alongside the depicted growth, people from the space have been bullish on Bitcoin’s L2 technology. A couple of weeks back, the Executive Chairman of MicroStrategy, Michael Saylor, revealed that his firm’s planned to release Bitcoin Lightning Network-powered software and solutions in 2023.
Read More: MicroStrategy To Unveil Bitcoin Lightning Solutions In Q1 2023: Saylor
Bitcoin on Avalanche surpass LN capacity
The Bitcoin community has time and again acknowledged the Lightning Network’s growth. However, this time, the Avalanche network has achieved an illustrious feat. A recent tweet by Avalanche revealed that the the number of BTC bridged or sent from the Bitcoin blockchain to the Avalanche smart contract blockchain surpassed 5.7k BTC. These were aggregately valued at $120.5 million.
Evidently, the mentioned number is higher than the current number of coins held on the Lightning Network.
Worth recalling here is that Avalanche added Bitcoin support in its cross-chain bridge in mid-2022. Doing so gave asset holders a way to transfer coins to Avalanche. Essentially, BTC.b on Avalanche is a token representing BTC on Avalanche that’s bridged from the Bitcoin blockchain via the Avalanche bridge. The price of BTC.b is a more or less a reflection of Bitcoin’s price.
Unlike wrapped BTC, or wBTC, BTC.b allows users to bridge coins for a relatively “minuscule” cost. Other than simply sending or receiving BTC quickly and cost effectively, users can also earn yield passively on their holdings, or borrow against them with the help of BTC.b on Avalanche.
In terms of adoption as well, BTC.b has made a few notable strides. Highlighting recent integrations, Morgan Krupetsky, the Director of Business Development at Ava Labs, wrote in a blog post,
“… at this point, several notable dApps within the Avalanche ecosystem have integrated BTC.b into their protocols–AAVE, Benqi, and Platypus just to name a few.”