Lightning Network Primer

The Lightning Network is Bitcoin's Layer 2 scaling solution, using payment channels and HTLCs to enable near-instant, low-fee off-chain transactions — this article covers the mechanics, the routing, and who you actually end up trusting. Public statistics from mempool.space show approximately 3,786 BTC of public channel capacity, 33,131 public channels, and 16,421 nodes as of August 16, 2026 (private channels excluded) — roughly 30 percent below the all-time high of 5,637 BTC recorded in December 2025. On the usage side, stablecoins are expanding via Taproot Assets, including USDT on Lightning.