The crypto market has been in a bear market for most of H2 2022 and Q1 2023. The collapse of firms such as FTX, Three Arrows, and Celsius, brought huge losses for users and investors alike.
One of the effects has been a drop in the trading volume of NFTs from Q3 to Q4 of 2022. Although Q1 2023 witnessed an increase, the market outlook is yet to fully boom compared to the last bull run. What would likely make this boom come on?
Michael Saylor, who is currently the Executive Chairman of MicroStrategy and is also a popular figure in the industry with a focus on Bitcoin and Lightning Network, said at the Bitcoin and Lightning for Corporation event that the interest of VCs in Lightning Network will give rise to the next bull run.
Lightning Network is a layer-2 payment solution built on top of the Bitcoin blockchain that enables fast and low-cost transactions on Bitcoin. The six-year-old project saw a surge in usage in Q1 2023 despite the price of Bitcoin being lower than $20,000 at the end of 2022. The network currently has 16,475 nodes and a network capacity of over 5,000 BTC.
FAANG and Lightning Network
Talking about how Lightning and Bitcoin are gaining popularity, Michael said that top firms such as Facebook, Apple, Google, Amazon, and Microsoft are beginning “to notice Lightning” and Bitcoin alike. Also, he revealed and projected that as more crypto VCs become aware of Lightning, they will begin to finance companies that are integrated with it.
“You’ll see tech investors getting involved, and as they get involved, they’re going to be investing in Bitcoin,” he said. “That kind of energy from mainstream investors and technical investors [will] drive us on the next bull run.”
Michael has also been outspoken about how corporations can adopt the technology and why they should as well. He believes that for Bitcoin in particular, corporations can use it to stand against inevitable inflation, just as the company he leads, MicroStrategy has done for years.
He emphasized that, especially for firms in the payment industry, Lightning Network is a unique product that can enhance all of their services in terms of speed and the cost of running transactions.
Read also;
See the Enterprise applications MicroStrategy is building for Lightning Network
MicroStrategy plans Bitcoin Lightning services in 2023
