How Does Lightning Make Bitcoin Faster?

Lightning speeds up transactions by avoiding the need to wait for mining confirmations. When you pay on-chain, your transaction sits in the mempool until miners include it in a block—a process that can take minutes or hours, depending on network activity. Lightning bypasses this entirely by using pre-funded payment channels that allow instant transfers.

These channels operate like shared ledgers between users. Once two wallets open a channel, they can update balances between them instantly, without broadcasting anything to the blockchain. The final settlement only happens when the channel is closed—kind of like settling a bar tab instead of paying after every drink.

Routing makes Lightning even more powerful. You don’t need a direct channel with the person you’re paying. Your payment hops through a network of connected nodes, finding a path from wallet to wallet in milliseconds. This routing system is decentralized, automatic, and doesn’t rely on any central authority.