Explaining the Bitcoin Lightning Network to a 5 year old

1. Bitcoin network is a blockchain that can be used to move its native cryptocurrency from one wallet to another.

2. Bitcoin cryptocurrency is the native currency of the Bitcoin network.

3. The time taken for a transaction on the Bitcoin network is
- High compared to the time taken for a Visa card transaction.
- Very low compared to the time taken to move money from one bank account to another.
So, it's great to be able to send money to someone in about 20 minutes, but it is not so good to wait for 20 minutes at store counter to purchase something.

4. The Lightning network was developed to increase the speed to transactions. It lets you use Bitcoin for payments at stores and other places where a Visa card is currently being used.

It is called a Layer2 of the Bitcoin Blockchain.

The Lightning network was created to increase the speed of the Bitcoin Blockchain. So, how does it compare to other payment and Blockchain networks ? Here is a comparison from Blockstream :

Lightning Network Ecosystem

Fidelity did a study recently and found that the Lightning network grew by 1212% in the last 2 years. A lot of startups are building on top of the Lightning network. River Financial has released a report on the Lightning Network and here is a capture of the ecosystem of startups.

Bitcoin Lightning Network around the world

The business school at USC Marshall has a new course on Bitcoin, Digital Assets and the Lightning Network.

Making a Bitcoin payment over the Lightning network at a restaurant.

In summary, the Lightning network is enabling Bitcoin adoption as a worldwide, cross border payment network.