Emre Yumlu 
David Marcus, former president of PayPal and current CEO of Lightspark, believes Bitcoin (BTC) could one day process trillions of dollars in transactions every day. According to Marcus, as the Lightning Network gains global adoption, Bitcoin will evolve into an open monetary network for the internet — enabling near-instant, low-cost payments at scale.
Bitcoin: The Emerging Layer of Global Finance
In his recent remarks, Marcus highlighted that Bitcoin’s infrastructure is now ready to scale globally thanks to the Lightning Network. Unlike traditional financial systems — such as SWIFT, which handles around $5 trillion daily, and Visa, which processes roughly $33 billion — the Lightning Network has the potential to support nearly free and instantaneous transactions.
Marcus emphasized that Bitcoin’s rise to surpass these systems will not happen overnight. Instead, he expects the expansion of wallet technologies and embedded payment systems to gradually accelerate mainstream adoption. This transition, he noted, will unfold alongside the ongoing digital transformation of global financial infrastructure.
The Role of Lightspark and the Lightning Network
Marcus’s company, Lightspark, is building scalable infrastructure to strengthen the Lightning Network and enhance Bitcoin’s utility as a payment system. Since 2023, the Lightning Network’s capacity has grown by over 3,000%, and the number of active nodes has surpassed 20,000 — a sign of the network’s accelerating maturity.
Lightspark provides APIs and SDKs that allow developers and businesses to easily integrate Lightning payments into their systems. These advancements make it technically feasible for Bitcoin to handle millions of transactions per second, positioning it as a serious competitor to existing global payment networks. Marcus believes these innovations will enable Bitcoin to evolve beyond its speculative image and function as a true financial backbone for the digital economy.
Institutional Adoption and Bitcoin’s Transformation
Marcus also pointed out that institutional adoption continues to strengthen Bitcoin’s position in global markets. With a market capitalization nearing $1.3 trillion and daily on-chain volumes ranging from $15 billion to $20 billion, Bitcoin is steadily gaining credibility among major investors and corporations.
He further noted that the emergence of stablecoin projects on Bitcoin — including Stacks and RGB — could accelerate this adoption wave. By allowing stablecoins to be issued directly on the Bitcoin network, these initiatives may drive wider use in both retail and cross-border payments.
As of 2025, Bitcoin’s hash rate has reached record highs, reinforcing its network security and reliability. Marcus concluded that once the infrastructure fully matures, Bitcoin will be able to rival traditional payment systems in both scale and efficiency — marking a new era in the evolution of global finance.
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