The Lightning Network
A 'Layer 2' solution built to make Bitcoin payments fast and cheap.
What you’ll learn
- •Bitcoin's Layer 1 blockchain has limited transaction capacity and multi-minute confirmation times, making it impractical for small everyday payments.
- •The Lightning Network is a 'Layer 2' system built on top of Bitcoin specifically for fast, cheap, frequent payments.
- •A payment channel lets two parties transact instantly and repeatedly off-chain, settling only the opening and final balance on-chain.
- •Payments can be routed across a network of interconnected channels, similar to how the internet routes data, without needing a direct channel to every recipient.
- •Individual off-chain Lightning payments are not permanently recorded on the main blockchain one by one — only channel opens and closes are.
- •Lightning illustrates a broader 'Layer 2' pattern — adding speed on top of a secure, slower base chain — that reappears with Ethereum in Week 5.
Full lesson and quiz for subscribers.
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