Lightning vs on-chain bitcoin

On-chain bitcoin is the vault. Lightning is the street. Why a 1,000-sat sit cannot live on a block, and what still settles to the chain.

On-chain bitcoin is a transaction in a block. Minutes. A fee that moves with congestion. Great for settling a stack. Bad for a 1,000-sat sit.

Lightning is bitcoin over channels. Same unit. An invoice, a hop, seconds, a fee that is usually a fraction of a sat.

Outsat is Lightning-only because the floor is 1,000 sats. What are sats?

Side by side

• Time — On-chain: wait for a block (and maybe more). Lightning: the invoice clears in seconds.
• Fees — On-chain: can eat a small send. Lightning: usually dust next to 1,000 sats.
• Amount — On-chain likes bigger moves. Lightning is built for micropayments.
• What you pay — On-chain: an address. Lightning: an invoice with an amount and an expiry.
• Final — Both are bitcoin. Lightning is still not a card. No chargeback desk.

The base chain still settles Lightning underneath. You just don't wait around for blocks to take #1.

Why this board cannot be on-chain

A sit that "pending"s for ten minutes is not a live leaderboard. A fee that spikes above the bid is not a 1,000-sat step. Pay to rank only works if the payment is boring.

If you want the vault, use on-chain. If you want the street — wallets, QR, instant — that's Lightning. Building on Lightning is who still ships on it.

Dollars vs either rail

Outbid prices the climb in dollars. That is a different product, not "on-chain Outsat." We count sats because the invoice settles sats.