Bitcoin Lightning Nodes and Channels hit a record high

The number of nodes for Bitcoin’s leading Layer 2 solution, Lightning Network (LN), has risen to a record after increasing adoption.

According to online chain analytics provider Glassnode as of September 27th Week on the chain reported the number of Lightning Network nodes rose 160% in September to a record high of 15,600. Only 6,000 LN nodes were active at the end of August.

The report adds that the number of channels or links between different nodes in the LN has also peaked at 73,000, an average of 4.6 channels per node. Bitcoinvisuals currently reports an average of 9.3 channels per node (as of September 26).

“This is more than double the number of active channels between 2019-20, with most of that growth occurring since May 2021.”

According to Glassnode, the overall capacity of the Lightning Network has “grown explosively” this year. The index refers to the total amount of BTC that can be transferred with LN.

The network’s capacity is currently at an all-time high of 2,904 BTC ($ 123 million at current prices). This milestone marks a capacity increase of 170% since January, with around 22% or 514 BTC added to the network in September alone.

The average channel capacity, or number of BTC sent per channel, currently 0.04 BTC (about $ 1,670), represents another all-time high for the network. This is a 43% increase from the average channel size of 0.028 BTC in 2019 and 2020.

Related: OKEx Accelerates Bitcoin Transactions With Lightning Network

Lightning Network recently hit the headlines because popular social network Twitter incorporated LN to showcase the money on the country’s digital asset scene in addition to the network’s nationwide rollout in El Salvador.

Lightning Network was proposed in 2015 by two researchers, Thaddeus Dryja and Joseph Poon, to conduct bitcoin transactions out of chain to increase throughput and reduce costs.