Industry startups have been destroyed by the current crypto downturn, with many closing their doors. However, the Lightning Network is still going strong. This off-chain system designed to facilitate low-cost, instant and scalable BTC transactions keeps improving.
Right now, the Bitcoin Lightning Network went over the 600 BTC capacity level. This happened only weeks after going over the previous 500 BTC milestone. The current system can actually facilitate transactions of up to 628 BTC when running at full capacity.
Industry critics and skeptics criticized the fact that Lightning was not as adopted as envisioned, but others say this is normal. Lightning is working so skepticism is not actually justified.
Eric Conner from Ethereum, was among those that criticized low-level adoption. He claimed that 2 million ether is locked in finance protocols that are decentralized. As a response, Lightning Labs’ Elizabeth Stark declared that the current system is in beta phase, with different channels being limited in order to facilitate the low BTC sum. Cryptocurrency programmer Udi Werheimer went one step further and said Conner’s statements are “idiotic” while using “stupid metrics”.
Bitcoin-centric content creator, Marty Bent, was sent on Twitter saying:
Crazy to think that someone from Singapore just sent me $90 (2.6M sats) instantly, with basically no-fee, no intermediary, and no chance of being censored. Bitcoin is inevitable. Most of the world doesn’t realize this. You have an edge if you do.
Bent is clearly talking about the long-term potential of BTC use, a sentiment that is now shared by many in the industry. As BTC price went up and new positive news appear in the industry, some even think that a price surge is now inevitable.
