As Bitcoin adoption rises, businesses and institutions hold Bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset, diving deep into infrastructure like the Lightning Network to gain competitiveness.
Lightning Network is a Layer 2 scaling solution for Bitcoin. Designed to deal with slow transaction speeds and high rates in the Base Bitcoin network. Large companies such as Amazon and Google have emerged as major operators within this network.
Amazon and Google operate 45% of Lightning nodes
According to Mempool Space data, approximately 45% of Bitcoin’s Lightning Network nodes are currently running on Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud. This reflects the growing role of tech giants in supporting blockchain infrastructure.
Top 100 ISPs hosting LN nodes. Source: Mempool
Amazon alone is responsible for almost 30% of all lightning nodes. This level of involvement has led many investors to believe that Amazon can quickly make Bitcoin payments possible on its global e-commerce platform.
“It’s also interesting to see that Amazon is one of the biggest Lightning node operators. Lightning bolt payments on future Amazon,” commented the investor Bitcoin Nurse.
Unlike a complete Bitcoin node, a Lightning node is server software that performs specific tasks. Open and manage lightning payment channels, root transactions over the Lightning network, chain off-chain transactions, and balance updates.
To make it clear: If a bitcoin node acts as the backbone of the network and ensures that it follows all the rules, lightning is like muscles and nerves. This allows for fast, low cost and flexible payments over private channels.
Lightning payments offer speeds and low prices and are becoming increasingly popular. The number of lightning nodes has increased from below 3,000 in 2019 to over 16,000 in 2025. This solution paves the way for companies to recruit. Companies such as Tether, Uber, Revolut, Nubank and Steak’N Shake are exploring lightning payments, as are countries like El Salvador, which have accepted Bitcoin.
Jamie Coutts, CMT for RealVision and chief analyst at Crypto, reported that blockchain transaction fees have fallen 50% from the end of last year. This decline could encourage businesses and governments to move towards future payments on the chain.
“While blockchain fees have dropped by 50% from their fourth quarter peak, the historic liquidity cycle suggests that on-chain activity is set to explode. Lower transaction pressure costs per total fee, offset by a surge in volume.
Additionally, the US Senate passed the Genius Act on June 17, 2025. The law could accelerate stubcoin growth to $3.7 trillion by the end of the decade. When that happens, on-chain activity can rise significantly, as analysts predict.
