Author: Antoine Riard 2020-05-05 10:17:37
Published on: 2020-05-05T10:17:37+00:00
The ongoing implementation of BIP 157 in Bitcoin Core has prompted a reflection on the future of light client protocols and the infrastructure needed to support mobile clients at scale. While the current security model relies on running a full node, the adoption of Lightning Network could shift this paradigm. However, designing a mobile-first LN experience presents challenges in terms of scalability, security, and privacy. Light client protocols for LN exist, but their privacy and security guarantees on the client-side may still be a concern. One bottleneck is the number of full nodes willing to dedicate resources to serve those clients. Widening full-node adoption means binding its operational cost. Deploying more efficient tx-relay protocols could free up some resources, but it may be wiser to increase the health and security of the backbone network by deploying more outbound connections. Assuming 10M light clients each consuming ~100MB/month, that means asking 1PB/month of traffic to the backbone network. Deploying more efficient protocols like BIP 157 may not solve everything as you may have a huge discrepancy between what is asked and what is offered. Introducing monetary compensation in exchange for servicing filters may suit within the watchtower paradigm, where another entity is delegated some part of protocol execution, alleviating client onliness requirement. This proposition needs further analysis, but how funds may be compromised by a watchtower is likely the same scenario that chain validation providers can compromise users. It is an open question on how to avoid such a "chain access" market turning into an oligopoly.In conclusion, it may be good to consider a reasonable alternative to relying on few thousands of full-node operators being nice and servicing friendly millions of LN mobiles clients.
Updated on: 2023-06-14T01:11:21.979130+00:00