How to send and receive payments on the Lightning Network

To send and receive payments on the Lightning Network, users must first set up a Lightning wallet and fund it with Bitcoin. From there, they can create payment channels and start transacting. This article will guide users through the process, from setting up their Lightning wallet to making their first Lightning payment.

What is the Lightning Network

The Lightning Network (LN for short, or simply “Lightning”) is a decentralized system for instant, high-volume micropayments that prevents users from delegating custody of funds to trusted third parties. It is a

Moving funds with Lightning addresses (LNURLs)

The Lightning Network is gradually being adopted across the crypto community and service providers, including exchanges. Kraken was one of the first to implement Lightning in March 2022. Moreover, in April 2023, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong announced a Coinbase-Lightning Network partnership, meaning one of the most popular exchanges in the world will be adopting Bitcoin’s instant payment network soon.

In December 2022, Lightning addresses were added to the Lightning Network. A Lightning address is like an email address but for Bitcoin, a straightforward way for anyone to send Bitcoin instantly on the Lightning Network, ushering in a new standard for how value moves around the world.

LNURLs gained a lot of traction recently when Armstrong apparently failed to recognize the Lightning address of Cointelegraph journalist Joe Hall, missing a payment due to the writer and stirring some debate on Twitter. Lightning addresses are a crucial addition to Lightning payment services, even though they will take time to be fully adopted.