Bitcoin's Lightning Network is growing again, with both the number of network nodes and payments channels on the rise over the last 30 days.
At its core, the Lightning Network is a decentralizeddecentralized system for instant and high-volume BitcoinBitcoin micropayments—with payments as low as 1 satoshi (worth
According to data site 1ml, the number of lighting nodes has increased by 3.5% to reach an all-time of 9,863–these are computers plugged into the network that help to keep it running.
Payment channels are also seeing substantial growth on the Lighting Network. These are, in essence, connections between nodes that help bitcoins get from one person to another. The total number of channels is up over 16% to 36,271. Now, 60% of all nodes on the network have active payment channels.
Tippin brings bitcoin tipping to iOS and Android
Sending bitcoin tips to people on Twitter is about to get way easier. tippin.me a platform that enables micropayment in bitcoin, via the Lightning Network, is launching on mobile, it announced in a tweet. An Android, alpha version of the platform will be released for public testing this week, and will include a mobile Lightning Network enabled wallet. Although currently only available on Android, Tippin has also promised an iOS version “soon” but included a demo of the service on Twitter. 📲...
The growth of nodes with active channels is an especially positive development for the network–it demonstrates that people are not just setting up and running network nodes—but they are also opening and closing payment channels regularly. This helps the network to rout transactions and earns the node owner some fees for the transactions they process.
It's not all good news, however, as the total number of Bitcoin locked-up in the network today stands at 828 BTC ($8.3 million). This number has been on a downtrend over the last 2 months when the total lock up reached a high of 945 BTC, worth $11.2 million in July.
Will the network news have any effect?
