Bitcoin Lightning Network Statistics 2026: Capacity, Nodes and Payment Growth
BTC when published $81,614Now $80,601 ▼ −1.24% since it was published
Bitcoin’s Lightning Network is handling more payment value than ever. Some of its best-known infrastructure numbers, such as node and channel counts, are below earlier peaks. Public capacity reached a record 5,637 BTC in December 2025. It has since fallen to about 4,900 BTC. Mempool.space data shows around 17,400 nodes and 41,000 public channels. Usage tells a different story. River estimates Lightning processed about $1.17 billion in payments in November 2025, more than four times the $286.5 million estimated a year earlier. This article covers the main Lightning Network statistics for 2026. It looks at capacity, nodes, channels, payment volume, fees and new moves from Square and Lightning Labs. The table below sums up the main figures from recent network and payment data. Network figures come from mempool.space unless stated.
First reported by Blockonomi. This page is a short excerpt; the full text is theirs.
