Author: Robin Linus 2020-01-13 02:02:53
Published on: 2020-01-13T02:02:53+00:00
The email conversation between Robin and ZmnSCPxj discusses the pros and cons of using Lightning Network versus sidechains for scaling Bitcoin. The LN works best for those who are always online, have BTC to manage their channels' inbound-capacity, and can afford BTC transactions. However, for the next billion users who do not fit these categories, cross-chain communication without requiring cross-chain validation is possible via atomic swaps and through Bitcoin's LN. By making internal ledgers public and trustless, via independent sidechains, scalability can be achieved. Endusers "living" in sidechains instead of directly in the LN has many advantages, such as no bitcoin blockspace required for on-boarding new users and no need to lock funds to provide inbound-capacity. Additionally, the email conversation also touches upon the use of a collateral contract. Although Robin likes the simplicity of ZmnSCPxj's variant, he believes that in the long term, the cleanest solution is to destroy the funds instead of giving them to miners. Giving it to miners assumes Alice does not control much Hash power, which is harder to reason about.
Updated on: 2023-06-13T23:13:22.771861+00:00