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Lightning Network (LN)

What is Lightning (LN)?

The Lightning Network (LN) is a “Layer 2” protocol that runs on top of the base layer (“Layer 1”) of a blockchain-based cryptocurrency (like Decred). It enables fast, low cost transactions and higher throughput than possible on Layer 1.

Decred Lightning Implemetation

Decred’s Lightning Network implementation (dcrlnd) is based on the lnd implementation for Bitcoin, and is under active development. While the Lightning Network was activated on the Decred mainnet with the activation of DCP-0004 at block 342784 (May 9th, 2019), and is operational on mainnet, it is not recommended to put any significant amounts of DCR into dcrlnd nodes until the implementation is more mature. For more on the technical details of LN, see the dcrlnd repo.