Offchain transactions , is when a 3rd party process the transactions for you and another individual.
On Nova exchange go to balances, and click the down arrow beside
ZEIT and select Send zeitcoins to a novaexchange user.
On Cryptopia , go to balances and click on the two arrows icon beside zeitcoin,
(if you hold your mouse over it , it shows transfer ZEIT) , which you can then send an amount to another Cryptopia user.
Both allow you to send your stored coins on these exchanges to another user on that specific exchange instantly. So after that , you can let them stay on the exchanges or withdrawal your coins to your local wallet.
Main advantage to Offchain transactions is speed, you don't have to wait for the blockchain, which even thru
ZEIT is one of the fastest chains with a 30 second blockspeed.
Waiting for 4 confirmations is on average 2 minutes, in the future when people use ZEIT at a grocery store or coffee shop by paying offchain their transaction can be completed as fast if not faster than a credit card.
Plus you only need to know that retailers exchange name to instantly pay them from your tablet , and all they have to do is look at their balance to confirm payment.
Disadvantages to offchain , is that there is no record of your individual transactions onchain (in the Blockchain), so payments for larger purchases where you want a receipt online like a house or car, you would always do onchain, which the paperwork signing takes on average ½ hour , adding 2 minutes is nothing.
Some people may use the exchanges offchain services like gift cards, and load then up and refill when needed. Other Advantage to Offchain is it gives the coin , unlimited bursts of transaction capacity, meaning a coin with an offchain services can match or even exceed Visa or Mastercard.
One of the advantages to Exchanges offchain Services verses Lightening network.
Exchanges are just moving the coins from 1 account to the other in their ledger and then immediately letting you sell or withdrawal that amount. No Time Locking Delays like LN.
LN will Lock users funds in place and send LN notes (Representations of the Coin's value) to other LN Hubs.
Basically LN acts as a bank , and you only find out if their notes were good when you redeem them for the coins, which due to their locking system , may be days, weeks or months after you completed a transaction.
One of LN's unspoken goals is to eventually have locked the majority of coins on a coin network.
At some point they activate a fractional reserve , meaning they give you multiple notes for only 1 coin.
(The above act will destroy Satoshi's attempt to stop the Bankers fractional reserve shenanigans.) https://wakeupfromyourslumber.blogspot.com/2005/12/origins-of-fractional-reserve-banking.htmlhttps://forum.bitcoin.com/bitcoin-discussion/how-the-lightning-network-could-ultimately-destroy-bitcoin-t21092.html