what is the lightning network 
the lightning network is a second layer for bitcoin btc that uses micropayment channels to scale the blockchain s capability and handle transactions more efficiently and cheaply it is a technological solution designed to solve glitches associated with bitcoin by introducing off chain transactions its channel is a transaction mechanism between two parties in which each can make or receive payments from the other understanding the lightning networkat first bitcoin was intended to be a decentralized payment system in which the users could remain anonymous and access it from anywhere it became popular enough that the blockchain couldn t handle the number of transactions occurring joseph poon and thaddeus dryja first proposed the lightning network in 2016 and it has been under development since then the problems the lightning network was devised to solve were bitcoin s slow transaction time throughput and costs 1to counter slow transaction speeds and excessive energy use developers created cryptocurrency layers the first layer is the primary blockchain the layer on top of the first one is the secondary layer and complements the layer below it by adding functionality the lightning network can also be used to handle other types of off chain transactions involving exchanges between cryptocurrencies 