Lightning Network hits record capacity on crypto exchange adoption

The Bitcoin layer-2 solution, the Lightning Network (LN), reached a new record capacity of 5,606 BTC, surpassing its previous high set in March 2023, with analytics platforms reporting peaks near 5,637 BTC, valued around $490 million. This surge in capacity, following a year of declines, is attributed to more Bitcoin being deposited onto the network, notably by large crypto exchanges like Binance and OKX. While capacity is up, the number of nodes and channels remains below 2022 peaks, suggesting increased capital deployment rather than necessarily increased usage metrics. Furthermore, Lightning Labs released an upgrade for Taproot Assets (v0.7), a protocol enabling assets like stablecoins to be minted on Bitcoin and transferred over the LN with low fees and high security, aiming to establish Bitcoin as a multi-asset network capable of handling trillions of dollars.

(Source：Cointelegraph)