> the number of bitcoins in Lightning channels appears to have stopped growing That is misleading in two respects: Funds in lightning have high velocity, so

> the number of bitcoins in Lightning channels appears to have stopped growing That is misleading in two respects: Funds in lightning have high velocity, so it doesn't necessarily take a lot of funds to support a lot of economic activity. Channels were originally all public, but now most channels are private, so no one really knows how much funds are involved in lightning channels. People who use lightning generally describe it very positively. The bigger impediment to making small frequent payments is Bitcoin's tax treatment: E.g. in the US every single purchase made with Bitcoin requires line item reporting to the IRS and cost basis tracking.