The Lightning Network transforms Bitcoin from digital gold into a global payment rail capable of millions of transactions per second. It’s not just faster Bitcoin – it’s an entirely new paradigm for moving money.

Sub-second Speed

Payments settle in milliseconds, not minutes or days

Fractional Costs

Send 1 cent for $0.0001 in fees. Finally, micropayments that work.

Internet Scale

Millions of TPS capacity. Built for the scale of the internet.

​
What Makes Lightning Different

​
Traditional Payments vs Lightning

Credit Cards: 2-3 business days to settle
Bank Transfers: 1-5 business days
Bitcoin: 10-60 minutes
Lightning: < 1 second ⚡

Lightning payments are literally faster than loading a webpage.

​
New Business Models Now Possible

Lightning enables entirely new ways to monetize and transfer value that were impossible before:

​
💰 True Micropayments

Finally, payments smaller than a dollar that actually make sense:

Content Monetization

  • $0.01 to read an article
  • $0.001 per API call
  • $0.05 to skip ads
  • Tips as small as $0.0001

Gaming Economy

  • Buy items for pennies
  • Micro-wagers on matches
  • Pay-to-play arcade style
  • Fractional tournament fees

​
🌍 Instant Global Settlement

Send money anywhere, instantly, 24/7/365:

// Monday 3am in Tokyo → Sunday 2pm in New York
// Settlement: 847 milliseconds
// Fee: $0.003
// No banks involved

await zbd.send({
  amount: 1000000, // sats (~$500)
  receiver: 'business@tokyo.jp',
  comment: 'Invoice #12345'
});

Unlocked Use Cases:

  • Global gig economy payments
  • Cross-border gaming economies
  • International remittances
  • 24/7 market settlement

​
⚡ Machine-to-Machine Payments

APIs and IoT devices that pay each other automatically:

// Car pays for parking by the second
while (parked) {
  await payParkingMeter({
    amount: 0.001, // $0.001 per second
    meterId: 'meter_sf_123'
  });
  await sleep(1000);
}

Future Applications:

  • Self-paying autonomous vehicles
  • IoT device micropayments
  • AI agents with wallets
  • Automated supply chains

​
How Lightning Actually Works

Think of Lightning like having bar tabs across the internet. Instead of settling every drink immediately, you keep a running tab and settle up later.

​
The Bar Tab Analogy

1

Open a Tab

You and the bartender each put $100 in a lockbox (the channel)

2

Track Changes

Each drink updates the balance. You owe more, bartender owes less.

3

Multi-Hop Magic

Your friend can pay through your tab if they know the bartender

4

Settle Anytime

Close the tab and take your remaining balance

​
Technical Architecture

Key Concepts:

​
Common Myths Debunked

“Lightning is too complex for users”

Reality: Users just see an email-like address (user@zbd.gg). The complexity is abstracted away, just like email hides SMTP.

​
Building on Lightning

​
Quick Start Examples

// Receive streaming payments
const invoice = await zbd.createCharge({
  amount: 1000, // sats
  description: 'Power-up purchase'
});

// Send instant payment
await zbd.sendPayment({
  receiver: 'gamer@zbd.gg',
  amount: 500,
  comment: 'GG! Nice win'
});

​
Best Practices

Start Small

Begin with simple send/receive before complex flows

Think in Sats

Use satoshis (1 BTC = 100M sats) for precision

​
The Future is Streaming Money

Lightning isn’t just an improvement to payments – it’s a fundamental shift in how money moves. Just as the internet packetized information, Lightning packetizes value.

​
What’s Next

  • AI Agents: LLMs with Lightning wallets paying for resources
  • Streaming Contracts: Smart contracts that execute based on payment flows
  • Global Gaming Economies: Truly borderless in-game currencies
  • Machine Economy: Billions of devices transacting autonomously

Start Building the Future

Get your API keys and build the next generation of payment experiences. The internet of money is here.

​
Resources

Lightning Address

Human-readable payment addresses

API Reference

Complete Lightning API docs

Integration Guide

Step-by-step implementation

Lightning Network is open source and permissionless. While you can technically run your own node, ZBD handles all of the complexity of channel management, liquidity, and routing so you can focus on building great experiences.