Visual guide3 min
How a Lightning channel works
A channel changes claims to allocated funds without recording every payment as a new on-chain transaction.
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Lightning & payment systems
Payment channels introduce a different way to update who can claim value. Start with a single channel’s balance, then zoom out to the application around the payment: invoices, notifications, and fulfillment. Protocol settlement and business decisions each need clear rules.
Why does payment direction matter?
What does an invoice track?
How does a payment become a fulfilled order?
In this collection
Interactive lesson4 min
Why can a Lightning node send but not receive?
The same channel can have plenty of capacity and very little room for a payment in one direction.
Explore the lessonVisual guide3 min
On-chain and Lightning payments: what changes for the user?
Compare the payment journey, including setup, completion signals and failure cases.
Read the guideVisual guide3 min
What happens inside a crypto checkout?
An invoice, a payment observation, and an order are related records—not the same thing.
Read the guideVisual guide4 min
Why a webhook can arrive more than once
Design a repeated notification to produce one business effect, even when acknowledgments get lost.
Read the guideVisual guide4 min
Payment received versus order fulfilled: designing clear statuses
Keep financial observations separate from the decision to deliver a product.
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