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 established using the Lightning Network. The Praia Bitcoin experiment, a Brazilian nonprofit 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 time possible.
Kits were 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, a payment was made every three seconds.
Children were able to use the card by tapping it at 21 local merchants, as well as buying fruits at school for 10 sats, approximately one cent in Brazilian currency. All of this was done with no smartphone required. The initiative was organized by Fernando Motolese, Vinicius Kinczel, and Lucia Helena Buso and was 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 traveled between the Bitcoin servers and were available in the Lightning wallets of the participants.
Fernando Motolese, founder of Praia Bitcoin, explained why the record is important. “This record is proof of the power of Bitcoin and that it’s ready for the masses,” he said. “We’re excited to see what the future holds for the Lightning Network, and we hope this achievement inspires other communities to adopt Bitcoin as a medium of exchange and who knows, maybe even surpass our record.”
The Praia Bitcoin team plans to try a new attempt to break their own record later this year, but this time with the Guinness Book of World Records team in attendance, in order to make it an official record.