Where Banks Fail, Bitcoin Succeeds...

20 Jan 2026 02:25 PM By Stormrake

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Bitcoin was created to move away from banks, using decentralised technology that removes the need for a centralised third party in peer-to-peer transactions. But thanks to the success of Bitcoin’s price action over the years, many have quickly forgotten what its original use case actually is. Over time, countless individuals have become sovereign and completely exited the traditional banking system, achieving all of this through Bitcoin.

As Bitcoin has grown in popularity, it’s not just the asset itself that has gained traction. The real innovation has come from the development of Layer 2 infrastructure, particularly the Lightning Network, which is built on top of Bitcoin to improve speed and scalability.

Why does this matter? It gives anyone looking to step away from the banking system a clear path to do so, regardless of wealth.

Lightning’s growth is clearly reflected in network capacity, which just hit an all-time high of over 5,480 BTC, valued at more than $480 million. While capacity isn’t a direct measure of usage, it shows how much liquidity is available to facilitate instant, low-fee transactions. The chart below makes this trend clear, capacity in both BTC and USD terms has rebounded sharply since mid-2025 and is now trending toward record highs. It’s a strong signal that more capital is flowing into Lightning channels and that the ecosystem is expanding.

One of the strongest real-world examples of this in action is sub-Saharan Africa. Despite being the smallest crypto economy globally, it has shown how Bitcoin can solve real economic challenges such as inflation, limited access to banking, high remittance costs and unreliable local currencies.

A study by Chainalysis shows sub-Saharan Africa recorded $205 billion in crypto transactions between July 2024 and June 2025. That represents a 52% increase from the previous year, making it the third most dynamic region globally for crypto activity behind Asia Pacific and Latin America. Yet it only accounts for 2% of total global transaction volume in that period. Bitcoin leads the activity, with 89% of purchase volume settled in BTC across in Nigeria and 74% in South Africa.

While most Morning Note readers are based in Australia, where opening a bank account is relatively easy, countries across Africa have some of the largest unbanked populations in the world. Estimates vary, but many sources suggest between 25% and 50% of the Nigerian population do not have access to a bank account. Add in remittance fees of 8 to 10% per transaction, according to the World Bank, and cross-border transfers that take three or more business days, and the scale of the issue becomes clear.

Those are just some of the barriers for those without bank access. But even here in Australia, the banking system is far from perfect. Many readers will be familiar with monthly limits of $10K AUD when buying crypto, which would now take over 13 months to accumulate a single Bitcoin at current prices. That’s before even getting into the constant questioning and scrutiny from banks for simply wanting to buy BTC.

Where the banks fail, Bitcoin steps up. It enables anyone, whether they are part of the legacy system or not, to transact quickly, at a fraction of the cost, without intermediaries. The Lightning Network pushes this even further, delivering near-instant payments with minimal fees. Bitcoin removes the need for gatekeepers, restrictions and unnecessary friction. It offers financial freedom, and that’s something everyone should strive for, in one way or another.

Key Events to Watch this week:

US vs EU Tariffs Over Greenland: Trump has threatened countries that do not support his move to purchase Greenland with a base 10% tariff effective from February 1, with the potential to increase to 25% by June. And these aren’t rivals like China or Russia. These are US allies, including EU and NATO members such as Germany and France, who are now facing the brunt of Trump’s backlash for opposing his Greenland ambitions. The situation is escalating quickly and puts the stability of NATO at real risk.
US Supreme Court vs Tariffs: The US Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling on 20 January (US time) over the legality of Trump’s tariffs. This stems from last year’s decision where the court ruled against the tariffs, calling them unconstitutional, triggering a major back-and-forth. Prediction markets currently assign a 33% chance that the court will side in favour of the tariffs. Regardless of the outcome, it’s likely to have significant implications across risk markets.
Japanese Yields soar: Bitcoin sold off sharply as the Asian session opened yesterday, right as Japanese bond yields spiked. We’ve been tracking this for months, the 10-year yield jumped 3.62% and the 30-year climbed 3.30%, both now sitting at record highs. The risk of intervention continues to rise, especially after Finance Minister Katayama reiterated that they will take every possible measure to improve the weak yen. This is putting pressure on risk-on assets and complicating the yen carry trade.

Stormrake Spotlight: Pax Gold (PAXG) ($4,691)

PAXG has started the week strong, up over 1.60% yesterday and continuing to push higher. We anticipate the all-time high to be tested within the next week or so, especially as commodities lead the charge while risk-on markets take a back seat.

BTC/USD Key Levels and Price Action:

Bitcoin fell as a result of soaring yen yields during the Asian session yesterday, dropping back into the range that had previously held BTC down for so long. Bears have regained momentum and will look to push BTC deeper into that range once more. For bulls to take back control, price needs to reclaim $95.5K and hold above the pre-drop levels to resume the push toward $100K.

BTC Total ETF Flows for 19 Jan: (data not available at the time of writing)

(ETF flow data is sourced from https://farside.co.uk/btc/ and reflects figures at the time of writing.)

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*All prices are denominated in USD unless stated otherwise*

Written by Alexandar Artis

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Where Banks Fail, Bitcoin Succeeds...

Key Events to Watch this week:

Stormrake Spotlight: Pax Gold (PAXG) ($4,691)

BTC/USD Key Levels and Price Action:

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