Dogecoin (DOGE), a cryptocurrency born in 2013 as a satirical copy of bitcoin, has outpaced the Bitcoin Lightning Network as a payment method.

Unlike the latter, Dogecoin does not use the SHA256 as a Proof of Work (PoW) algorithm to confirm blockchain transactions. The block size is the same as that of bitcoin, equal to 1MB, although blocks are issued every minute and not every ten minutes.

Moreover, starting with the 600,000th block, issued on February 25th, 2015, Dogecoin continues to give 10,000 DOGE for each mined block.

Underrated by all, Dogecoin is now in the top 30 for market cap and can be purchased on almost all cryptocurrency exchanges. Not only that, but it is also achieving record numbers.

Dogecoin beats the Bitcoin Lightning Network

In the last 24 hours, $20 million have been moved in DOGE. This figure does not seem so striking but it takes on another meaning if considering the fact that it is more than twice the maximum capacity of the Bitcoin Lightning Network (about 10 million).

The average transaction in DOGE is $1000 while the maximum payment with Bitcoin LN is $0.04 BTC, about $400. It is currently impossible to buy a car with LN unless the customer is willing to execute 100 payments instead of just one.

In the last 24 hours, three Dogecoin transactions have moved over $3 million and the fees were equal to 1 DOGE ($0.002) per tx.

This chart shows the ratings of the major cryptocurrencies based on the rate of acceptance by traders. Dogecoin is even more used than Ripple (XRP).

Cryptwerk has compiled a constantly updated list of the top stores that accept DOGE. According to their research, more than 600 companies accept payments in DOGE, including high-sounding names such as Travala, against the 200 that accept Bitcoin LN.

The Bitcoin 2nd layer solution is struggling to take-off. This is confirmed by the story of LNBIG which manages almost half of the entire capacity of Bitcoin Lightning Network (LN) but the earnings are not enough to cover the expenses.

Compared to the beginning of the year, the growth of Lightning Network is evident. The number of nodes has risen from just over 2000 to the current 9600 and capacity has also increased significantly. However, when considering the statistics from April onwards, the capacity has dropped from 1080 bitcoins to the current 847.