Recap on Bitcoin Scaling

Since its existence, there have been many various to scale the Bitcoin blockchain. In 2023, many of these scaling solutions have seen significant declines in total value locked (TVL) and on-chain activity owing to the ongoing bear market. This research piece recaps some of the notable scaling solutions and their relevant metrics over the past year. 

The Lightning Network is the largest scaling solution by TVL for Bitcoin, and this is in part due to its design, as well as its integration with Nostr. The Lightning Network TVL has more than tripled from approximately $85 million in January 2023 to nearly $200 million as of this writing. However, when measured in Bitcoins, the Lightning Network grew by almost 7% over the same period, from 5,000 to 5,346 Bitcoins, indicating that its TVL growth was primarily due to the appreciation of Bitcoin’s price.