In an article on X, River Monetary’s director of promoting, Sam Wouters, revealed that the Bitcoin Lightning Community processed an estimated $1.17 billion in quantity in November 2025, an all-time excessive.
https://t.co/5Kmor1eA1n
— Sam Wouters (@SDWouters) February 19, 2026
This huge surge indicators a important shift in community utilization from experimental micropayments to substantial institutional settlements.
Key Takeaways
- The Milestone: Month-to-month quantity hit an estimated $1.1 billion throughout 5.2 million transactions in keeping with River Monetary information.
- The Shift: Common transaction measurement practically doubled year-over-year to $223, pushed by alternate settlements somewhat than small retail purchases.
- The Catalyst: Safe Digital Markets executed a singular $1 million switch to Kraken in below a second, proving high-value efficacy.
Why The Migration to Bitcoin’s Lightning Community?
Bitcoin is rising out of its “digital gold” narrative. As on-chain charges fluctuate successfully pricing out smaller transfers, the Lightning Community supplies the mandatory throughput for scalable commerce.
This utility is important as macroeconomic headwinds and potential fee hikes drive merchants to hunt capital effectivity.

The community is not only a playground for builders testing one-satoshi funds. It’s changing into monetary infrastructure.
Whereas whole transaction counts are literally down from the 2023 peak of 6.6 million, the financial worth settled has exploded. The market is maturing, prioritizing high-value pace over low-value quantity.
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Breaking Down the Numbers
River Monetary’s newest evaluation paints a bullish image of Layer-2 adoption. The estimated $1.17 billion in November quantity represents a roughly 400% improve year-over-year. Knowledge signifies the community is efficiently capturing industrial circulate.
Safe Digital Markets highlighted this capability by partaking a sending $1 million to crypto alternate Kraken through the lightning community earlier this yr. The settlement was on the spot.
Community capability, the overall cash locked to facilitate these funds, reached a report 5,606 BTC in December 2025, in keeping with information by Bitcoin Visuals.
This liquidity depth is important for stopping cost failures on bigger transfers. Node operators like ACINQ and specialised infrastructure suppliers are stabilizing the grid, making five-figure transfers dependable.
What Does This Imply for Bitcoin Adoption?
The narrative is shifting from hypothesis to settlement. Sam Wouters forecasts the subsequent main quantity surge will come from AI brokers using Lightning for automated, high-frequency machine funds, opening a completely new financial system of autonomous monetary actors.
We’re seeing a broader pattern of financializing Bitcoin’s utility layers. Simply as Ledn is scaling Bitcoin-backed bonds for yield, Lightning is scaling Bitcoin for velocity.
The funds panorama is quickly integrating these Layer-2 options, evidenced by Ether.fi shifting client card merchandise to Layer-2 networks to bypass mainnet congestion.
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The submit Bitcoin Lightning Community Exceeds $1B in Month-to-month Quantity – A Main Layer-2 Win appeared first on Cryptonews.

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