Matt Corallo claims that a relevant percentage of payments in Bitcoin already occur on the Lightning Network.
Data from the LN reflect a slight rebound in its adoption, after a negative period.
Developers of the Bitcoin ecosystem are discussing the technology and role of the Lightning Network (LN), the second layer (L2) network that allows faster and cheaper processing of off-chain payments.
The discussion revolved around whether the future of global protocol adoption It will rely, or not, on that L2.
The debate ignited after a bitcoiner, known on X as BTCBreadMan, published a controversial statement on November 7:
Lightning is not real bitcoin. You can’t send it over the Bitcoin network, but it represents real bitcoin locked in on-chain channels. You can’t send Lightning satoshis ‘over the Bitcoin network’ directly, but you can always redeem them 1:1 for BTC on-chain by closing the channel. Technically it is not real bitcoin. It is backed 1:1 by real bitcoin.
BTCBreadMan, bitcoiner.
His I propose points to a key feature of LN: your transactions are executed off the main chain through payment channels, while the funds remain anchored to Bitcoin through on-chain transactions.
The answer came from Bitcoin Core contributor Matt Corallo, who anchored his position on the adoption of the LN:
In the real world, a significant (double-digit) percentage of Bitcoin transactions are already Lightning and almost all new wallets, and many existing ones, support Lightning.
Matt Corallo, Bitcoin Core contributor.
With that phrase he pointed out that the use of LN is already It stopped being an experiment and is part of the daily operations of users, especially at the level of minor expenses and frequent payments.
The developer also warned about a point relevant to the health of the ecosystem:
Trying to stick your head in the sand and pretend that Lightning isn’t increasingly how people interact with bitcoin means being disconnected from reality.
Matt Corallo, Bitcoin Core contributor.
Callebtc, one of the most vocal Bitcoin developers, also participated with a brief but compelling message: “Lightning is Bitcoin.”
A user responded: «No, it is not. It just adds another layer of complexity without solving the core problem: privacy. “Bitcoin isn’t more private with Lightning, it’s just faster surveillance.”
This statement summarizes a concern: while Lightning reduces costs and speeds up payments, its channel architecture requires that the nodes involved know part of the payment routewhich gives that user concerns about privacy.
In response to Callebtc, Peter Todd, another Core client contributor, chimed in with a technical clarification:
Every Lightning transaction is literally a Bitcoin transaction: the underlying HTLC is implemented by offering the counterparty a signed Bitcoin transaction that would allow them to collect the funds on-chain if necessary.
Peter Todd, Bitcoin developer.
Todd express that Lightning is not a separate system, but rather a construct that uses Bitcoin contracts to enable payments off-chain.
In this case, the HTML (Time Lock and Hash Contracts) are contracts that lock funds with one condition: the recipient must prove a secret (the hash of a preimage) within a certain time.
If you do, you get paid; If not, the funds return to the sender. These mechanisms are what allow Lightning payments to work securely without each transaction having to be recorded on the chain, maintaining final settlement capacity on-chain.
Thus, for Todd, Lightning is based on Bitcoin transactions, which would reinforce its legitimacy as a natural extension of the protocol.
What does the Lightning Network data say?
In this context, historical Lightning metrics show a prolonged fluctuation processwith variations in nodes, channels and capacity.
In the case of nodes, the LN registers a maximum of over 20,000 in mid-2022. Since then, the figure has decreased until stabilizing in a range close to 15,000–16,500 public nodes.
However, the number of nodes in decline does not necessarily denote less use of Lightning.
It may mean that certain operators (people or companies that run nodes) decided to close channels that had no traffic or turn off “secondary” nodes that did not add value.
Lightning allows you to operate nodes that are not publicly announced or that concentrate liquidity in fewer, better-optimized channels. In other words, the infrastructure is reorganized.
Second, channels (connections between two Lightning nodes through which liquidity is locked in bitcoin so that instant payments can be sent and received off-chain) They reached values close to 85,000 in 2022.
Since then, similar to what happened with the nodes, the data reflects a sustained declinewith current levels around 46,000–50,000.
This reduction could be linked to the closure of low capacity channelsthe migration towards more efficient connections and the concentration of liquidity in higher volume operators.
Lastly, the total capacity (the total amount of bitcoin locked within Lightning channels to facilitate payment routing) shows a more nuanced curve.
After a period of constant growth between 2021 and 2023, exceeding 5 billion satoshis (more than 500 BTC), the indicator fell back in 2024. In recent months, the capacity of the LN reflects partial recoverydriven by the opening of larger channels.
Altogether, the graphs reflect a LN that does not seem to be currently recovering its adoption statistics, after a time in which they showed a slowdown in the use of Bitcoin’s L2.