Feature · Instant Lightning ▓ SUB-SECOND SETTLEMENT Voltage LND · Boltz swaps

Bitcoin.
Instant.

BTC over Lightning — atomic, sub-second, sub-cent. Accept payments that clear before the customer has put their phone away. Pay out over Lightning with the same idempotent API. No node to run, no channels to manage.

Start accepting → Read the docs

Atomic · Sub-second · Sub-cent

§ Part I / IV · Why Lightning

On-chain BTC is slow.
Lightning isn't.

Same Bitcoin
different settlement layer

TopicOn-chain BTCLightningEdge

TIMEConfirmation time10–60 min (2+ blocks for threshold)~0.8s

FEETypical fee$1–$20 depending on mempool~1¢

ATOMAtomicityConfirmed only after block inclusionAtomic on receipt

MINMin amount0.00005 BTC (~$3)100 sats (~$0.06)

UXIn-person UXWait / accept unconfirmed / accept on first-seenCustomer scans, done

§ Part II / IV · Mechanism

How we ship Lightning
without you running a node.

Voltage + Boltz
Best-in-class infra

#ComponentRoleState

01Voltage-hosted LNDOrbChain operates a Voltage-managed LND node. Channels, routing, backups — all managed. We pay the ops so you don't.LIVE

02Invoice creationAPI call mints a BOLT11 invoice via LND. Returned to your checkout as pay_link + QR payload.INSTANT

03HTLCCustomer's wallet routes the payment. HTLC reaches our node, settles atomically.ATOMIC

04CreditMerchant balance credited (minus 0.4%). Webhook fires with deterministic event_id.CLEARED

05Boltz swapFor payouts and outbound liquidity, Boltz submarine-swaps between Lightning and on-chain BTC when needed. Zero manual rebalancing.AUTO

06Cold sweepLightning balance > threshold → submarine swap to on-chain → auto-withdraw to your cold wallet.AUTO

§ Part III / IV · Integration

One coin flag.
Everything else is the same API.

Zero new surface
Exactly like BTC on-chain

POST /v1/payment/invoice · BTC_LNcurl · 200 OK

// Accept a $12 invoice payable in Bitcoin over Lightning.
curl https://orbchain.io/v1/payment/invoice \
  -H "merchant_api_key: mk_live_…" \
  -d '{
    "amount":         12,
    "currency":       "USD",
    "accepted_coins": ["BTC_LN"]
  }'

// → 200 OK — the BOLT11 is baked into pay_link, or fetch it:
{
  "track_id": "pay_01JR7P…",
  "pay_link": "https://orbchain.io/pay/pay_01JR7P…",
  "pay_currency": "BTC_LN",
  "bolt11": "lnbc120u1p3xyz…",
  "expires_at": "2026-04-20T19:15:00Z"
}

// — payout over Lightning —
curl https://orbchain.io/v1/payout \
  -H "payout_api_key: pk_live_…" \
  -d '{
    "coin":        "BTC_LN",
    "destination": "lnbc50u1p…"  // recipient's BOLT11 invoice
  }'

§ Part IV / IV · Questions

Things Lightning
merchants ask first.

Short and honest
Links to docs

Q.01Do I need to run a Lightning node?

No. We operate a Voltage-managed LND node for the whole platform. You accept BTC_LN and never touch channels, liquidity, or backups.

Q.02What's the max single invoice on Lightning?

Currently ~$5,000 per single invoice, constrained by our node's inbound liquidity. For larger amounts, fall back to on-chain BTC.

Q.03Can I refund a Lightning payment?

Yes — the refund flow requires the customer to provide a fresh BOLT11 invoice (Lightning is push-only; we can't reverse the original HTLC). Your refund endpoint triggers the customer-invoice request flow automatically.

Q.04What's the fee?

0.4% platform fee (same as all endpoints) plus ~1 sat base + routing (typically sub-cent). No premium for Lightning vs on-chain.

Q.05Can I hold Lightning balance and pay out on-chain?

Yes, via Boltz submarine swaps. Your LN balance auto-swaps to on-chain BTC for cold-wallet sweeps. Works in both directions.

Sub-second settlement.
Sub-cent fees. One flag.

Add BTC_LN to your accepted_coins. Everything else is the same API.

Create account → Read the spec

Bitcoin. Instant.

On-chain BTC is slow.Lightning isn't.

How we ship Lightningwithout you running a node.

One coin flag.Everything else is the same API.

Things Lightningmerchants ask first.