Which is better, Lightning Network or Spark?

They serve different purposes. Lightning is better for simple payments. Spark is better for DeFi activities (trading, liquidity provision, stablecoin usage). Most Bitcoin users benefit from having access to both.

Can I use both Lightning and Spark?

Yes. They're separate networks that both settle to Bitcoin's base layer. You can use Lightning for payments and Spark for trading and DeFi.

Is Spark safer than Lightning?

Both derive their security from Bitcoin's base layer. Lightning has a longer track record (since 2018). Spark is newer but was designed with lessons learned from Lightning's challenges.

Which has lower fees, Lightning or Spark?

Both have very low transaction fees compared to Bitcoin's base layer. The difference is negligible for most users — choose based on functionality, not fees.

Should I switch from Lightning to Spark?

Not necessarily. If you only use Bitcoin for payments, Lightning works great. If you want to trade, provide liquidity, or use stablecoins on Bitcoin, you'll need Spark's capabilities.

Lightning Network vs Spark: Bitcoin L2 Comparison

Lightning Network is optimized for fast payments, while Spark is designed for DeFi functionality including AMMs, stablecoins, and smart contracts on Bitcoin. They're complementary layers, not competitors.

Flashnet Team|February 11, 2026

What Is the Lightning Network?

The Lightning Network is Bitcoin's most established layer-2 solution, launched in 2018. It creates payment channels between users that enable instant, near-zero-fee Bitcoin transactions. Lightning excels at micropayments and point-of-sale transactions.

Lightning's limitation is that it's primarily a payment network. It doesn't support complex smart contracts, stablecoins, or DeFi protocols natively. You can send Bitcoin fast and cheap, but you can't trade, provide liquidity, or hold stable-value assets.

Spark is a newer Bitcoin layer-2 that extends Bitcoin with programmable transaction capabilities. Unlike Lightning's payment channels, Spark supports stateful smart contracts, stablecoins (like USDB), AMMs, and order book trading. Spark inherits Bitcoin's security while adding the DeFi capabilities previously only available on Ethereum.

Key Differences

Lightning excels at: instant payments, micropayments, point-of-sale, tipping, and payment streaming. It has widespread wallet support and growing adoption across exchanges and apps.

Spark excels at: decentralized trading, AMMs, stablecoins, lending, yield generation, and programmable financial instruments. It's newer but purpose-built for DeFi.

Both derive security from Bitcoin's base layer. Both have low transaction fees. The difference is in what they enable — Lightning is a payment network, Spark is a DeFi platform.

How Flashnet Uses Spark

Flashnet is built on Spark, leveraging its smart contract capabilities for non-custodial trading, AMM liquidity pools, order book matching, and USDB stablecoin operations. Flashnet helped design key aspects of Spark's architecture to optimize for trading use cases.

Compare Spark with other Bitcoin L2s using the L2 Comparison Table.

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L2 Comparison Table

Frequently Asked Questions

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