Today, I'd like to share some thoughts on the current state of the Lightning Network.
Why? I've just noticed that the capacity is increasing again, and it appears we will soon reach all-time highs. While channel counts have stabilized and are not yet increasing, I wonder if this development is a positive sign or a cause for concern due to the decreasing or stabilizing number of channels. What do you think? A bit less decentralized, less people using it, but better overall capacity? here is a screenshot from mempool.space (I'm ignoring all those spikes in the chart) https://m.stacker.news/40632
In my opinion, the total capacity is also an important metric, indicating greater liquidity and confidence in the system's functionality. Overall, I believe the situation isn't as negative as some might think. Why? Let's consider the number of nodes as well, where the picture becomes clearer. Since its inception, there has been a steady upward trend in node numbers; however, during the latest bear market, the number of nodes began to decline, but not really much if you look at the while picture. I view this period more as a stability phase rather than an indication of a changing trend. https://m.stacker.news/40633
The Lightning Network is here to stay for the long term. What are your thoughts on this? I don't see other L2 solutions having much success.
Long live Lightning Network? Or not?Long live Lightning Network? Or not?
Keep stacking! Quark
Public capacity is a bad metric, stability is ok since we know the network is growing... but public growth is suboptimal
Stable to down means existing capacity is becoming efficient, and new capacity is more private
Cashu will become the norm on nostr Lightning will be the tissue that bridges other layers to bitcoin .......Something like that
Maybe. I have not really started to study cashu so I have no idea. I see new solutions to scale but all need some kind of trust.
Every time someone says scaling and cashu in the same sentence, Satoshi Nakamoto is rolling in his hypothetical grave and @calle wonders what he has done
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Not as a scaling solution
Why cashu and not fedimint?
You'll notice that the average channel capacity is increasing while the channel count is decreasing.
This trend with the increase in capacity means that the network is pruning and increasing allocations to certain nodes.
This represents concentration of capital towards more important node peers instead of many connections to less important peers.
The network is maturing. Maybe the reality of making money running a routing hobby node led to the number of overall channels going down but if we have a crazy bull market with low to moderate fees I can see people trying to spin up nodes and earn routing fees again
I would say that all of this surge is due to Stacker News?
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Looks like exchanges or something stacking up more wumbo channels driving up capacity,
Long live Lightning Network!
Thanks for sharing! When you state total capacity is increasing indicating greater liquidity, does this mean that channel sizes are increasing (more volume of satoshis going through the same or reduced channels)?
The lightning network will always be good for small fast transactions. But I would rather keep my wealth on the main blockchain.
This is quite good