Twitter announced that it would integrate the Lightning network into its mobile apps to allow users to tip others using Bitcoin in September 2021. This is the first adoption of Lightning by a major company since the network was proposed in 2015. As this may be the first mention of Lightning in some time for some of our readers, this may be a good time to provide an update on the state of the network and the shape of things to come.
The Lightning Network experienced rapid growth throughout 2021, seeing a threefold increase in BTC capacity from 1059 BTC in January to 3151 BTC in November, according to Bitcoin Visuals. Multiple exchanges have moved to integrate Lightning, such as OKEx, BitFinex, Paxful, and Bull Bitcoin, showing that the high-fee environment during 2021 is forcing businesses to move to Layer 2 solutions.
Read the full version of the State of the Lightning Network here.
