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For the untrained eye, Bitcoin is just a store of value, but hard data tells a different story. Join us as we explore the Breez report, the current Lightning Network ecosystem, and analyze the most interesting companies using it and building on it.
Through the Lighting Network, Bitcoin is already a growing medium of exchange. The future is now; the transition is well underway. That’s the main conclusion of Breez’s “Bitcoin Payments - From Digital Gold to Everyday Currency” report. Send it to altcoiners who have to convince themselves that the Lightning Network is a failure because it renders their favorite project useless. Or send them this shorter article, in which we’ll cover the report’s highlights and greater hits.
To a seasoned Bitcoiner the document might seem basic, but we’re not its target audience. This report is mainly for businesses curious about Bitcoin and the Lighting Network but unsure if it’s the right time to make a move. These companies will be ecstatic to know Bitcoin provides internet-native payments, cheaper transactions, real-time settlement, an open network, and global access.
Through several use case studies and providing real-life data, the authors make a phenomenal case for what Lighting Network companies already know: the Bitcoin economy is heating up and sats are constantly flowing.
Before quoting and analyzing the report, we have to thank the Breez team for including Blink in the “Custodial Wallets” category.
Considering Bitcoin’s medium of exchange era is just starting, the numbers are staggering. However, the headline here is real demand alone put the Lightning Network at these many people’s grasp:
“The Lightning Network now reaches over 650 million users; driven by integrations with mainstream products, new developer tools, and growing merchant adoption. But unlike traditional payment networks, its adoption has been largely organic, growing from the grassroots level. No one dictated that OKX, Kraken, Binance, or Coinbase integrate Lightning, nor was Cash App or Nubank required to support it. Instead, businesses adopted Lightning in response to real demand — laying the foundations for a truly global, open payment network.”
As with Bitcoin before, Lightning Network adoption has been and will be completely voluntary. Assembling the castle might be slower than we want, but the foundations are stronger and the building will be harder to knock down. Plus, the tools that weren’t ready for prime time keep getting better and better.
“The same way [someone] pays for a cup of coffee in New York City is the same way [they] can now casually send $10 back home in Nigeria.”
Nowadays, both remittances and everyday payments through the Lightning Network are trivial and taken for granted. This was not the case as soon as three years ago.
Never forget Bitcoin adoption will forever be an uphill battle. Even though the regulatory situation is slowly progressing around the world, many jurisdictions make the transition to a medium of exchange extra difficult.
“In jurisdictions like the US, bitcoin is considered an intangible asset and therefore subject to capital gains tax like any investment in property or commodities. This treatment adds considerable friction to payments, as each use of bitcoin triggers a tax event. Further, it is complicated to determine the tax basis for gains if bitcoin spent was purchased at different prices. This approach furthers the perception in these jurisdictions that bitcoin is a store of value and unsuitable for payments, like gold.”
Another way of looking at the situation is that, despite all these outdated laws still in place, Bitcoin is slowly advancing. Nothing can stop the honey badger. Let’s hope the world takes a page from the Czech Republic’s book and eliminates capital gains taxes on Bitcoin.
Capital gains taxes on Bitcoin don’t make any sense. Bitcoin is a new breed of animal. It might be property and a commodity, but it’s also money as Breez’s report clearly shows.
"Most of our users don't even know they're using bitcoin," because OSMO allows users to hold and send fiat currency from one country to another, with OSMO handling conversion to and from bitcoin behind the scenes. "Traditional bank transfers can take five days and cost you an arm and a leg. Bitcoin wasn't just better money; it was also the infrastructure that could let us move value instantly across borders with minimal cost."
Using Bitcoin as rails to transfer value at light speed around the world, that’s a move straight for Jack Maller’s playbook. Another extremely valuable use case for the Lighting Network. Expect many companies to use similar techniques to create new and improved financial services.
The Breez report showcases diverse projects from all over the world: PubKey (US), Proton (Switzerland), Mercari (Japan), Pick n Pay (South Africa), Mondo Convenienza (Italy), Bitnob (several African countries), Imperia (all Europe), and worldwide entities like Namecheap and The Water Project. All of them integrated the Lightning Network in an interesting way.
Breez also highlights luxury merchants like Tag Heuer, Hublot, Ferrari, and Balenciaga, who “are demonstrating that bitcoin isn’t just for smaller transactions — it’s also being used to buy everything from designer watches to supercars.” Those stories are not as interesting as the following, though.
One of the most noteworthy use cases featured in Breez’s report is Mercari, “Japan’s leading online marketplace with over 23 million users.” They started with a Bitcoin trading service that was popular from the get-go:
“In just 12 months, the service attracted over 2 million users. To build on this momentum, in February 2024, Mercari introduced bitcoin as a payment method on its marketplace. And like the trading service, it was also a success. In the first month of release, Mercari saw over 100,000 bitcoin payments on their marketplace.”
That’s right folks: Bitcoin is big in Japan.
You might’ve heard about this one through the grapevine, Pick n Pay’s story is popular in Bitcoin circles and frequently comes up in social media as an example of Bitcoin as a medium of exchange:
“Pick n Pay (PnP) became the first major African retailer to accept bitcoin payments in February 2024. Through a partnership with MoneyBadger, customers can pay for goods, utilities, and clothing using bitcoin directly at the register.”
In our article about Blink and MoneyBadger, we discussed how their system used to need a secondary app to complete purchases with Bitcoin, however:
“Blink has improved this experience through a new integration. Now, users can scan the QR code directly from their Blink wallet, which simplifies the payment process significantly.
Instead of navigating through a second app and selecting Bitcoin manually, the wallet can interpret the scanned QR code as a Lightning Invoice. This means that the payment can be processed instantly and seamlessly, enhancing the overall user experience.”
The Lightning Network’s interoperable ecosystem is highly collaborative, everybody does their part and the whole world benefits.
Let’s shift the focus to Europe’s gaming giant Imperia, “their flagship title Imperia Online is a multiplayer, online, real-time, strategy game of medieval warfare and politics.” The company’s Bitcoin-related numbers are steadily growing:
“Since implementing bitcoin as a payment method, the company has seen a 284% increase in transaction volumes from 2022 to 2023, followed by an additional 4% increase in 2024, showing growing adoption and continued interest in bitcoin among their player base.”
The fusion between gaming and Bitcoin will be one of the developments to watch in the following years. Read Breez’s report for stories about the pioneer gaming services: THNDR, ZBD, and pnkfrg.
The document also highlights Nostr clients Primal and Damus; streaming services Wavlake and Fountain; and crowdfunding platforms Geyser and Thunder Funder. Plus, reward and gift cards services Fold, Satsback, and Bitrefil; and payment processors BTCPay, Zaprite, Coingate, and MoneyBadger.
“Lightning payments are currently the fastest payment method at the till, comparable to ‘tap-to-pay’ card payments, with lower fees than credit or debit cards.” He added that there are customers who “prefer shopping at Pick n Pay because they can now pay with bitcoin.”
Not too long ago, the popular perception was that Bitcoin was incredible but could never scale enough to compete on transaction volume with Visa and Master Card. Nowadays, through the Lightning Network, it leaves those museum pieces in the dust. Effortlessly.
In Breez’s “Bitcoin Payments - From Digital Gold to Everyday Currency” report’s conclusions, we go back to the original premise: Bitcoin is already a growing medium of exchange. Why don’t more people know about that?
“Perhaps bitcoin’s success has been so easy to miss because there is no Bitcoin Inc., no marketing department. Though millions adopt bitcoin each year as their currency of choice, there are no press releases or signing ceremonies. But this is not a weakness. Bitcoin adoption is often invisible because, like the currency itself, it’s decentralized, spreading rapidly through countless new interactions and use cases.”
We’re early still, but the future is now and nothing can stop this train. Bitcoin and the Lightning Network are already a medium of exchange and adoption will keep growing, but we’re in stealth mode until the world awakes to that fact. That lack of PR might be beneficial for the network because we can use the time to improve the software and services, and to create new ones.
When the people come, the network will be ready to receive them.
People out there expect Bitcoin to one day challenge credit card companies but have no idea it’s already a superior medium of exchange. Bitcoin is “an internet-native bearer instrument, payments over Lightning typically settle within milliseconds, making the funds instantly available.” That’s something the world had never seen.
Credit card networks can’t compete, because “from the consumer perspective, payments are authorized near-instantly, but the actual settlement for the recipient can take days or weeks depending on the countries and intermediaries involved.”
Not only that, “traditional payment rails, like credit card networks, are unsuitable for micropayments and streaming payments due to high fees and inefficiencies. Flat and pro-rata costs often exceed the value of small transactions, while slow settlement times make real-time payments impractical.” Bitcoin and only Bitcoin solves micropayments over the Internet.
People out there don’t know any of this, and Bitcoin is already winning and achieving medium of exchange status.
Can you imagine what’s going to happen when they find out?
