Analysis by Rhino Bitcoin and River Exchange (citing late 2024/2025 data) estimate a roughly 1:8 ratio of non-custodial to custodial monthly active LN users. This means about 12%–13% of monthly active users are non-custodial, of which I am one.

Despite wallets like #Phoenix making non-custodial Lightning more approachable, actual usage remains a minority. Increased technical skill or willingness to self-custody is still not widespread outside of niche user segments.