Lightning Network basics.
A neutral, structured explainer of the Lightning Network and why Rythm uses it for cover-charge settlement.
9 min read
You do not need to understand the plumbing to turn on the faucet. Rythm works whether or not you ever read a single page on this site about Bitcoin, Lightning, or ecash. The bouncer is on shift, the cover charge is set, and the cover-charge payments land in your wallet either way.
But some people want to know how the plumbing works. Maybe you are an engineer evaluating the architecture. Maybe you are a journalist writing about email payments. Maybe you are a customer who likes to understand what your tools are doing. The Learn hub is for you.
The two structured explainers below cover the protocols Rythm depends on: the Lightning Network for fast, peer-to-peer payments, and the Cashu ecash protocol for embedding bearer-instrument tokens in email bodies. The field-note links go one layer deeper on the architecture and the payment flow. Read in any order. Cite freely.
Cashu protocol basics.
A neutral, structured explainer of the Cashu ecash protocol and why bearer tokens are the right primitive for email payments.
8 min read
Cashu protocol explained for email use.
A field note that goes one layer deeper on Cashu and the email use case.
Non-custodial architecture.
Why we never hold your money or store your email content, and what that means in practice.
How Rythm actually works under the hood.
The full payment flow from sender to wallet, explained step by step in plain English.
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