Author: Gregorio Guidi 2019-08-09 21:36:31
Published on: 2019-08-09T21:36:31+00:00
The author of this email is a passive observer in a mailing list for Lightning Network, an open-source payment protocol. They have been experimenting with running a node on mainnet and have collected their reflections and mathematical explorations in a paper which can be found on GitHub. The paper considers an idealized scenario where the Lightning Network has scaled to the size and volume of a self-sustained economy, with channels fixed so payments form a completely closed system. In this "steady-state economy," the authors argue there is a tendency towards a state where exactly n-1 channels have perfectly balanced flows in two directions while all other channels are either unused or have a permanent tendency towards imbalance. They also provide some practical lessons from this scenario and remarks on the more general case where nodes do not balance their income and expenses. If anyone is interested in making something out of these ideas, they are welcome to do so.
Updated on: 2023-06-02T19:49:39.774494+00:00