Lightning: BOLTs in a flash
How does lightning work? Come dig deep into the spec protocol with a lightning spec expert. We’ll learn how channels are opened, how payments are made and accounted for, how force-closes work, what onions are, and how the routing table is built across the network with gossip. Experts only.
About this course:
Want to really understand how lightning works? Join us for an in-depth and hands on, project based investigation of building lightning channels, making payments, finding routes, and making onions. By the end of this class you’ll have implemented a hodl-invoice plugin, bolt11 invoice decoder, an onion packager, and a routing algorithm that can parse through gossip to find a route. Exercises in this class will be in Python using Jupyter notebooks. Nix strongly recommended for running the notebooks.
What to know before class (pre-requisites):
You must have a strong understanding of Bitcoin transaction basics, such as:
-
Script
-
Multisig
-
Outputs + Inputs
-
Transaction Fees
-
SegWit
These topics are covered in our flagship Bitcoin Developer Basics 01 and Dev Basics 02 courses.
Topics we'll cover:
This class will give you an overview of the Lightning BOLT specs: what they cover, how Lightning contracts work, how payments move through Lightning, and how nodes hide and reveal themselves via gossip.
How are channels made? How do funds move between peers in the network? This is the work that HTLCs do.
How do payments move through the lightning network? We’ll take a look at the data structures that hide their contents
We’ll talk about finding routes through the graph for payments and how gossip works to help nodes find routes.
We’ll build on top of Core Lightning, using RPCs and plugins for class exercises
Build a plugin to hold an htlc and route a payment.
We’ll write a parse for Bolt11 specs and discuss how Bolt12 upgrades payments on Lightning
"As a junior developer it's a daunting task jumping into Bitcoin development for the first time, I've tried on my own and failed multiple times in the past. Base58 gave me a new opportunity to dive in again guided by a real expert in the industry along side a class of likeminded students. This has been invaluable for my understanding of the Bitcoin protocol and has given me examples and actionable next steps for developing my skills and starting to build on Bitcoin for real. Thank you Base58!"
"Phenomenal course. Came into it with limited technical knowledge of bitcoin. They make it super accessible (no dev experience needed, interactive and fun) and I'm now sooo much more comfortable with the technical side of the bitcoin fundamentals. In fact, some of the things I learnt helped me while interviewing at bitcoin companies! If you're interested in bitcoin and want to learn about how it works - highly recommend taking this course!"
"I thought I knew how transactions worked in bitcoin up until I took the class. It is a deep, byte by byte dive into the different types of transactions, understandable for non-coding people. Just have an open mindset, let yourself be taught the most basic bitcoin-cli and python commands, and you are good to go. I was afraid it would be too technical, and don't get me wrong, it does get into the roots of how the transaction protocols work, but nifty managed to keep it simple and clear enough for someone with a basic bitcoin knowledge to follow."
FAQ
We've answered the most common questions here.
Question not answered?
Not quite the right fit? Explore more courses and find your path.
Whether you're new to Bitcoin development or looking to go deeper, our courses give you the technical foundation to build, verify, and contribute with confidence.