Over the past year, on-chain Bitcoin fees have been swinging between a few sats/vB and well over 200 sats/vB during congestion. For small transactions, that’s painful.
The Lightning Network solves this by moving payments off-chain, but many people still don’t realize how big the difference can be in everyday use:
• On-chain payment: $5 coffee = 5–10 minutes confirmation, fee of $1–$3 at peak times.
• Lightning payment: same $5 coffee = instant, <1 sat fee.
For merchants, tips, donations, streaming content or micro-rewards, this difference is everything.
If you’re still using on-chain for small amounts, you’re overpaying and waiting unnecessarily.
⚡ Tip: Combine a simple Lightning wallet with a reusable Lightning address to make it as easy as email.
How has the fee situation affected your Bitcoin usage? Have you moved most of your spending to Lightning, or do you still use on-chain for everything?