Bitcoin game developer THNDR Games made 13.92% of its April payments to addresses in the United States using the Lightning Network (LN), while more than 50% went to nine other countries where LN use has primarily flown under the radar. As noted by Bitcoin enthusiast Kevin Rooke, only 13% of THNDR Games’ Lightning Network payments for the month of April were made to users in the United States, potentially signifying the network’s growing footprint in the global payment space.
THNDR Games is a Bitcoin game development company that utilizes the Lightning Network, which is a layer-2 (L2) payment system built on top of the Bitcoin network, to facilitate instantaneous micro-transactions. This enables gamers worldwide to earn and spend bitcoin (BTC) in THNDR Games’ line-up of offerings, which includes Bitcoin Blocks, Turbo 84, and Club Bitcoin: Solitaire. The games cater to a wide audience interested in casual gaming experiences, with opportunities to compete for prizes, collect non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and earn BTC while playing.
According to media reports, approximately 60% of the play-to-earn (P2E) platform’s users come from emerging economies, which have increasingly become popular markets for businesses leveraging Bitcoin. The data provided by Rooke shows that six of the top ten countries in THNDR Games’ April payment distribution were from the global south, including Brazil, the Philippines, Venezuela, Argentina, El Salvador, and Mexico, altogether accounting for almost 32% of THNDR Games Lightning payments for the month.
Brazil, for instance, received the second-highest percentage of payments using the Lightning Network at 9.18%, followed by the Philippines at 6.46% and Venezuela at 5.79%. In comparison, 5.2% of the Bitcoin game developer’s Lightning Network payments went to users in Germany, while 4.77% and 3.84% were distributed to Argentina and Spain, respectively. Reflecting its growing adoption of Bitcoin and related services, El Salvador, the world’s first country to recognize Bitcoin as legal tender, was the eighth-largest recipient of THNDR Games’ LN payments, ranking ahead of France and Mexico.
Many industry observers believe THNDR Games’ payment distribution highlights the expanding growth of the LN, particularly in emerging economies characterized by volatile currency markets and slow socioeconomic growth. The global adoption of LN-based services could signal newfound opportunities for more accessible financial services and streamlined, cost-efficient payment processing channels, especially in regions where infrastructure for such solutions is lacking or underdeveloped.
