Author: Michael Folkson 2022-02-14 17:02:06
Published on: 2022-02-14T17:02:06+00:00
In a recent email exchange, the security implications of multiple Replace-by-Fee (RBF) policies being used in Bitcoin Core were discussed. While it is true that most users will likely run whatever default policy rules are set, regardless of their technical capabilities, a change in the default RBF policy could improve the security of Layer 2 projects like Lightning Network in the long term. However, it would take time for a significant majority of the network to upgrade to the new policy rules and see the benefits. It should be noted that different versions of Bitcoin Core are currently being used, but the trend is towards more full nodes upgrading to newer versions. In the absence of making policy rules effective consensus rules, users are free to run different policy rules. Experiments on custom signet networks could shed more light on issues associated with multiple RBF policies.The email exchange also touched upon the vulnerability of Layer 2 projects to multiple RBF policies being used, as well as the recent improvements suggested for RBF policy. It was noted that while the Lightning Network is the most widely adopted Layer 2 project, contributors to other Layer 2 projects are free to flag and discuss non-Lightning-specific security considerations. Additionally, the default policy rules implemented by Bitcoin Knots are fully configurable, allowing users to choose whatever policy they want without making those rules effective consensus rules.
Updated on: 2023-06-15T16:49:20.729437+00:00