Could the Lightning Network solve bitcoin's scalability problems?

It would be fantastic if the Lightning Network proved to be the solution to all of Bitcoin’s scalability troubles. Unfortunately, it has its own shortcomings that may get in the way. Bitcoin isn’t the most intuitive system for beginners – addresses, fees, etc., can be confusing to familiarize yourself with.

Is the Lightning Network a good way to scale bitcoin?

So far, the Lightning Network (or simply, LN) appears to be the most sensible approach to scaling the Bitcoin blockchain. Coordinating changes in such a vast ecosystem is tricky – there’s a risk of hard forks and potentially catastrophic bugs. With so much value at stake, experimentation is incredibly dangerous.

How much does a Lightning Network transaction cost?

On the base chain, your fee is based solely on the space your transaction takes up in a block – the value being transmitted doesn’t matter – $1 and $10,000,000 payments cost the same. In contrast, there’s no such thing as block space within the Lightning Network. Instead, there’s the idea of local and remote balances.