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- Bitcoin Lightning Network adoption rate and growth analysis is too complex
- Although it’s tough to quantify the actual stats, OKEx has shared few insights regarding the growth of the network
- Following the current situation, it seems like the Lightning Network will eat up a more significant chunk of the gaming industry this year
Bitcoin Lightning Network, the solution for scaling the blockchain of Bitcoin, is observed growing steadily. BTC transaction fees had achieved their all-time highs in 2018. Since then, the interest in the Lightning Network has calmed down considerably. However, OKEx, a crypto assets exchange, has shared an insight article observing the Lightning Network’s growth over time. And also on how the blockchain’s design complicates analysis.
The crypto exchange focused on the small but rapidly growing Bitcoin Lightning Network gaming sector. Observing the sector, the exchange deemed how the monetization of video games could drive both Bitcoin’s Lightning Network and its adoption.
Bitcoin Lightning Network is complicated to analyze
Bitcoin Lightning Network payments occur in channels away from the main chain, which is unlike Bitcoin’s public transactions. The transactions used for funding and closing channels are updated to the leading network. According to a Norwegian University of Science and Technology study, only the node operator can see the exact volume of transactions flowing via its channel.
However, the main reason complicating the analysis is the visibility of nodes. All the nodes of the Lightning Network do not remain visible. While a node looks to route payments, it is required to advertise its presence and capacity to the rest of the network. However, the operators of the nodes are only allowed to transact and set up private channels.
Lightning Network’s adoption is complex to quantify
Like the analysis, measuring the adoption of the Bitcoin Lightning Network is parallelly challenging. While not providing the actual stats, data from OpenNode, revealed that more than 120k Lightning Network transactions had node-routed since its establishment. Among them, approximately 37% were involved in either BlueWallet or Satoshi’s wallet. However, the stats were old, but the total channel capacities of such public nodes operated by leading custodial wallets may offer more updated adoption clues. Moreover, such large capacity nodes are not always indicating the high-user count.
What are the propelling factors of the network’s adoption?
According to the study of the OKEx exchange, three factors are driving the adoption rate of the Bitcoin Lightning Network. Such factors include improved security functionality, improved accessibility, and different ways of using the blockchain network. It is known that the reason behind such improvements on the network is the ongoing updates. Such updates have brought a range of new services.
Although it is impossible to quantify the actual measurements on the network, it seems like the gaming sector is able to revive interest. Moreover, if the network’s latest features continue to win, new fans this year might witness absorbing a chunk of the gaming industry’s market worth.
