- Lightning processed US$1.17bn across 5.22 million transactions in November 2025 despite weak Bitcoin price action.
- Exchange flows and merchant adoption drove growth, based on aggregated node data covering over 50% of network capacity.
- Average transaction size rose while total count remained below 2023’s micropayment-driven peak, with AI experimentation seen as a potential catalyst.
Bitcoin’s Lightning Network recorded more than US$1 billion (AU$1.41 billion) in monthly transaction volume in November 2025, according to new figures released by River. River estimated that the network processed US$1.17 billion (AU$1.65 billion) across 5.22 million transactions during the month.
The milestone was reached even though Bitcoin’s price declined throughout November and showed limited movement more broadly in 2025. River’s Director of Marketing, Sam Wouters, stated: “Lightning adoption happened despite the price declining all of November and generally not doing much in 2025.
The adoption was largely driven by exchanges, as well as a growing number of businesses accepting bitcoin payments.
Sam Wouters, Director of Marketing, RiverRiver compiles its estimates by aggregating anonymised data from major Lightning node operators, removing overlapping channels and extrapolating to parts of the network not directly observed. Contributors included ACINQ, Kraken, Breez, Lightspark and LQWD, together covering more than 50% of total network capacity.
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Transaction Count Falls from 2023 Peak
Although November’s activity exceeded US$1 billion (AU$1.41 billion), total transactions were lower than the 6.6 million monthly peak recorded in August 2023. River attributed the earlier spike to experimentation with micropayments in gaming and messaging applications, which did not achieve sustained product-market fit.
The average Lightning transaction in November 2025 was US$223 (AU$314), compared with US$118 (AU$166) a year earlier. River linked the larger average size to exchange-related transfers, while forecasting renewed experimentation, particularly involving AI-powered payments.
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