>en.bitcoin.it
>Lightning Network is a proposed implementation of Hashed Timelock Contracts (HTLCs) with bi-directional payment channels which allows payments to be securely routed across multiple peer-to-peer payment channels. This allows the formation of a network where any peer on the network can pay any other peer even if they don't directly have a channel open between each other. As of March 2019, there were more than 37,000 channels carrying more than 764 bitcoins.
Overview:
>dev.lightning.community
Why should I care?
The biggest complaint right now about Bitcoin is it's high fees and slow transactions. Lightning Network is a 2nd layer solution (controversial I know) that aims to provide instant payments, with negligable fees backed entirely by Bitcoin (and other chains).
If this succeeds not just Bitcoin but all supported cryptocurrencies can proceed in the next phase of taking over financial control of the world.
Why is it so hard?
Largely because it's a work in progress, routing is still in it's engineering/expeimenting stage, and the UI experience requires a fair amount of polish.
If you're technically inclined it's not very difficult to get started.
How do I get started?
Choose a wallet from lightningnetworkstores.com
The usual process is to:
Send some BTC to your LN wallet (Try to be patient 1 sat/byte tx's generally confirm within a day)
Open a channel with either another wallet/node, or one you find on 1ml.com/explorer.acinq.co