Author: ZmnSCPxj 2020-02-28 13:00:58
Published on: 2020-02-28T13:00:58+00:00
The email discusses aspects of the Lightning Network (LN) implementation with regards to massive channel closing. It highlights the issue of fee rates and the potential for low-fee rate commitment transactions to never make it into network mempools in case of mempool fee rate surges, adversarial or irresponsive counterparties. Dynamic single-party fee-bumping of their own commitment transaction via CPFP/package relay may be a solution but raises concerns about violating Initiator Pays. The reserve system and the channel-funder-pays-closing-fee help deter attacks, and removing the latter could reduce the cost of these attacks.A massive channel closing can be provoked by feeding an invalid block to light clients in the BIP157 paradigm. An empirical study and simulation of fee spikes are suggested, based on historical data and parameterized with the number of vulnerable channels, their properties, distribution, and the number of nodes implementing dynamic bumping.LN light clients should disable HTLC routing and avoid any aggressive fee-bumping. As LN becomes important, it is necessary to acknowledge mining-related incentives and risks as they may influence protocol development. It is important to understand the mechanics of attacks and countermeasures as heavy use of light clients is expected.
Updated on: 2023-06-02T23:53:14.240135+00:00