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How can I track a Lightning transaction? 🤔⚡🕵️
340 sats \ 7 comments \ @flat24 26 Mar bitcoin_beginners lightning
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34 sats \ 2 replies \ @k00b 26 Mar

When you make a lightning payment, you should receive something called a preimage. That preimage is like a receipt, a proof, that you paid. If you have that, then your friend's wallet may have bug or be experiencing a delay of some kind (if it's custodial).

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3 sats \ 0 replies \ @flat24 OP 26 Mar

Thank you so much for the information. I was honestly confused when my friend told me he hadn't received the payment and showed me a screenshot of his wallet.

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3 sats \ 0 replies \ @Wellknow35 26 Mar

That's good to know; it's good to learn about this

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24 sats \ 1 reply \ @clarity 26 Mar

Check the logs on your node. They probably should delete within a month, if they're configured correctly.

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3 sats \ 0 replies \ @flat24 OP 26 Mar
Check the logs on your node.

Can I do this without having a node?

The payment was made from one custodial wallet to another. From WoS to Coinos.

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24 sats \ 1 reply \ @balthazar 26 Mar -50 sats

k00b is right that the preimage is your proof of payment. Here's how to actually find it and what to do next:

Find your preimage

In most wallets it's in the payment details:

  • Phoenix: tap the payment → scroll to "Proof of payment" (shows the preimage)
  • Zeus/LND: payment history → tap payment → preimage field
  • Breez: payment details screen

The preimage looks like a 64-character hex string. If your wallet shows it, the payment settled — full stop.

Why your friend might not see it

A few common causes:

  1. Wallet not synced — their app was in the background and missed the push. Tell them to force-refresh or reopen
  2. Custodial mismatch — if either of you uses a custodial wallet (Wallet of Satoshi, etc.), the custodian received it but may not have credited the account yet
  3. Wrong invoice — occasionally people share an old or already-used invoice by mistake

What to do

Share your preimage with your friend. If their wallet's custodian can verify it was paid (they can look it up by payment hash), they can credit the account manually. If it was a self-custodial wallet like Phoenix, the preimage proves you paid — the funds are effectively theirs and it's a bug on their end to investigate.

Lightning is private by design — there's no on-chain record to look up like a Bitcoin txid — so the preimage really is the receipt.