The Bitcoin Lightning Network surpassed an estimated $1 billion in monthly transaction volume in November 2025, according to a new report from Bitcoin financial services firm, River.
River’s analysis shows the layer-2 Bitcoin payment network processed about $1.1 billion worth of transactions across roughly 5.2 million payments during the month.
At the same time, the Lightning network overall grew by ~400% in 2025.
According to Sam Wouters, Director of Marketing at River, this milestone was reached even as Bitcoin’s price declined throughout November 2025 and largely remained flat in 2025. The firm said the growth in Lightning usage was driven in large part by,
Exchange activity and
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A rising number of businesses accepting Bitcoin payments.
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How Lightning is Used
The report covers both the total transaction volume and the number of transactions on Lightning, an off-chain network designed to move Bitcoin payments quickly and with lower fees than on-chain transactions.
River noted that overall monthly transaction counts so far in 2025 remain below the peak levels seen in 2023 when Lightning saw about 6.6 million transactions in August of that year, a period River attributed to experimental micropayment activity in gaming and messaging.
The average lightning transaction in November 2025 was $223.
Today, the most common use case for Lightning transactions is sending funds from and to exchanges. These transactions are typically done in larger amounts.
https://bitcoinke.io/2023/10/lightning-network-growth-stats/
Exchanges and Institutional Use
By December 2025, total Lightning Network capacity reached 5,606 BTC, reflecting continued growth in liquidity on the network as more companies and institutions made use of it.
River also highlighted a notable institutional payment in February 2025, when Secure Digital Markets sent Kraken a $1 million transfer using Lightning, underscoring that the network can handle large-value transactions between professional parties.
Looking ahead, the report suggests further increases in Lightning usage could occur as individuals and businesses explore emerging use cases like AI-driven payments on the network.
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