Author: ZmnSCPxj 2020-02-12 05:02:38
Published on: 2020-02-12T05:02:38+00:00
The discussion is about sending Node ID inside pheromone to limit spam on the Lightning pheromone network. The current spam-limiting mechanism in Lightning is tied to node IDs, which are anchored on-chain by the channels they have. To increase privacy, a node could generate a new random number every week and distribute pheromone gain. The pheromone would contain signatures of the sender and receiver, and the pubkeys used need not be the node IDs. Instead of considering distance-from-node, we could realize that it is the channel itself that limits the pheromone spam. To issue an invoice, users would check what channels they have that have been pheromone-broadcast, and the invoice would contain the short-channel-id(s) rather than the actual node. If a user receives an incoming HTLC that is supposed to reach a short-channel-id of a channel they have, they can recognize the payment hash/payment point on the HTLC/PTLC and claim it; otherwise, it goes to the counterparty. Onion-routing a trampoline route when pheromones are channel-based instead of node-based requires a static public key of a node, with which an asymmetric encryption can be made. This provides a mild improvement in privacy as everyone else who is not involved in the channel has a 50/50 chance of guessing who the real destination of the payment is. Every channel has its pubkey, which is not the same as the pubkey on another channel. Proper handling of UTXOs after closing would enable selling different products from the same Lightning node without anyone realizing it.
Updated on: 2023-06-02T23:41:56.166274+00:00