The Praia Bitcoin experiment set a record with P2P transactions occurring every three seconds.
On February 18, 2023, a new world record for peer-to-peer (P2P) bitcoin transactions was set using the Lightning Network. The Praia Bitcoin Experiment, a Brazilian non-profit social project, was able to perform 71 P2P bitcoin transactions in just 3 minutes and 33 seconds, making it the largest number of P2P bitcoin transactions via Lightning to occur in the shortest amount of time.
Kits are distributed to students and residents of the village of Jericoacoara, containing a piggy bank, a t-shirt and a Bitcoin debit card (Bolt Card), and using this, payments are made every three seconds.
Children can use the card by tapping it at 21 local merchants, as well as buy fruit at school for 10 sat, about one cent in Brazilian currency. All this is done without a smartphone required. The initiative is organized by Fernando Motolese, Vinicius Kinczel, and Lucia Helena Buso and supported by 2go Fintech, Bipa CEO Luiz Parreira, and Bitcoin Beach. The achievement was audited by Lucas Ferreira of Lightning Labs, confirming that the funds were running between Bitcoin servers and available in the participants’ Lightning wallets.
Fernando Motolese, founder of Praia Bitcoin, explained that the record is important. “This record is proof of Bitcoin’s power and readiness for the masses,” he said. “We are excited to see what the future holds for the Lightning Network, and we hope this achievement inspires other communities to use Bitcoin as a medium of exchange and who knows, may even surpass our record.”
The Praia Bitcoin team is planning a new attempt to break their own record later this year, but this time with the Guinness Book of World Records team, so that it becomes an official record.