# Lightning Specification

Source URL: https://support.dxp.blockstream.com/education/glossary/lightning-specification
Updated: 2026-05-26T17:14:37.000Z
Letter: L

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The Lightning Specification, also known as the Basis of Lightning Technology (BOLT), is a [collection](https://github.com/lightning/bolts) of the Bitcoin community’s efforts to specify and consolidate the technical standards around the Lightning Network, intending to reach feature compatibility and interoperability across implementations. At the time of writing, there are 11 BOLTs, with the much-anticipated [BOLT12](https://support.dxp-staging.blockstream.com/education/glossary/bolt12) currently in the review process outlined in the specifications.

Complete list of current BOLTs:

1. [BOLT #1](https://github.com/lightning/bolts/blob/master/01-messaging.md): Base Protocol
2. [BOLT #2](https://github.com/lightning/bolts/blob/master/02-peer-protocol.md): Peer Protocol for Channel Management
3. [BOLT #3](https://github.com/lightning/bolts/blob/master/03-transactions.md): Bitcoin Transaction and Script Formats
4. [BOLT #4](https://github.com/lightning/bolts/blob/master/04-onion-routing.md): Onion Routing Protocol
5. [BOLT #5](https://github.com/lightning/bolts/blob/master/05-onchain.md): Recommendations for On-chain Transaction Handling
6. [BOLT #7](https://github.com/lightning/bolts/blob/master/07-routing-gossip.md): P2P Node and Channel Discovery
7. [BOLT #8](https://github.com/lightning/bolts/blob/master/08-transport.md): Encrypted and Authenticated Transport
8. [BOLT #9](https://github.com/lightning/bolts/blob/master/09-features.md): Assigned Feature Flags
9. [BOLT #10](https://github.com/lightning/bolts/blob/master/10-dns-bootstrap.md): DNS Bootstrap and Assisted Node Location
10. [BOLT #11](https://github.com/lightning/bolts/blob/master/11-payment-encoding.md): Invoice Protocol for Lightning Payments

The BOLT12 specification [draft](https://github.com/lightning/bolts/pull/798) on GitHub.

For more information about the Lightning Specification, please watch the visual explanation provided below.

Navigation: Blockstream Help Center > Education > Glossary > Lightning Specification

## Related Terms in This Letter
- [Lightning-as-a-Service (LaaS)](https://support.dxp.blockstream.com/education/glossary/lightning-as-a-service)
- [Layer-2](https://support.dxp.blockstream.com/education/glossary/layer-2)
- [Lightning Specification](https://support.dxp.blockstream.com/education/glossary/lightning-specification) (current)
- [Lightning implementation](https://support.dxp.blockstream.com/education/glossary/lightning-implementation)
- [Lightning Network (LN)](https://support.dxp.blockstream.com/education/glossary/lightning-network)
- [Liquid Network (LQ)](https://support.dxp.blockstream.com/education/glossary/liquid-network)
- [Lightning Service Provider (LSP)](https://support.dxp.blockstream.com/education/glossary/lightning-service-provider)