When buying bitcoin on Aureo, you can choose to receive your bitcoin either on-chain or via the Lightning Network. Here is the difference.
On-chain
Standard Bitcoin network address. Starts with bc1, 1, or 3.
Speed: the transaction is created 10–120 minutes after your purchase, then confirms on the network in another ~10–60 minutes
Compatibility: Universal — works with any bitcoin wallet
Best for: Large amounts, long-term storage, or hardware wallets
Lightning Address
Lightning Network payment address in the format [email protected] (similar to an email address).
Speed: Instant (seconds)
Compatibility: Requires a Lightning-compatible wallet (Wallet of Satoshi, Phoenix, Muun, etc.)
Best for: Fast bitcoin delivery, small to medium amounts
Quick comparison
| On-chain | Lightning |
Speed | ~30 min to 3 hours | Instant |
Compatibility | All wallets | Lightning wallets |
Large amounts / cold storage | Recommended | May have limits |
Small amounts / fast | Works | Recommended |
Important: receive address vs payment invoice
When buying bitcoin, you must provide a receive address (on-chain or Lightning Address). You can't save a BOLT11 invoice (it starts with lnbc) as a receive address, because invoices expire. You can paste one without an amount for a single purchase.
When selling bitcoin, you choose how to send it. With Lightning, you pay a BOLT11 invoice that Aureo generates. With Bitcoin (on-chain), you send a regular transaction from any wallet to an address that belongs to your order. See How to sell bitcoin with a Bitcoin (on-chain) transaction.
How to update your address in Aureo
On the Buy bitcoin page, tap the pen icon on the destination card to open the address picker and choose another saved address as your default.
To add a new address or edit existing ones, tap Manage in the picker, or open the account menu and select My addresses.
For security, you will receive an email notification whenever your payout address changes.