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An Introduction to the Lightning Network

A short overview of Desiree's key resources she likes to share with people she orange pills via the Lightning Network
Advice
March 9, 2023
An Introduction to the Lightning Network

I have had to pull together an introductory resource list of the Lightning Network for a few times now. So, I thought I would share here in case folks are interested. Enjoy!

Elizabeth Stark's LN Overview / Introduction [link] - Quick LN introduction that covers a lot very quickly. This is a great place to start.

Bitcoin Magazine LN Explainer Series [link] - A bit more technical explainer (but still great for non-technical folks) that will really help beef up your conceptual understanding of the Lightning Network.

Lightning Network Whitepaper [link] - The whitepaper. Pretty long, so not a totally necessary read, but wanted to share just in case you want to dive into it.

Technical Primer [link] - This post really helped me break out each technical concept and better grasp how they all fit together.

Chaincode's LN Curriculum [link] - Intensive technical resource, but a lot of good introductory resources in the beginning of the curriculum

Umbrel [link] - Run your own Bitcoin and Lightning node. Super easy and fun to set up. Also, happy to help! If you would rather go the cloud-hosted route, I suggest Voltage (https://voltage.cloud/), but IMO it can be pricier in the long run.

Arcane Research State of Lightning Report [link] - Arcane Research puts out a research report on the state of LN every few months. It is a great roundup of technical advancements as well as everything being built in the ecosystem.

Max Webster's Post on LN [link] - This is a great overview of potential use cases on the Lightning Network. Covers gaming as well.

Taro Protocol [link] - Here is Lightning Labs's announcement explaining Taro, which is the third layer protocol on top of LN that makes it possible to issue assets on LN/BTC. This is what we are exploring for issuing in-game assets / NFTs / reputation in our games.

LN and Mobile Gaming [link] - Fun write up about what we are working on at THNDR and others in the bitcoin gaming space.