Author: ZmnSCPxj 2021-02-11 07:33:29
Published on: 2021-02-11T07:33:29+00:00
ZmnSCPxj, a member of the bitcoin community, proposed a new twist to an old idea in a recent email exchange. The discussion centered around the difficulty of implementing a logical OR operator in payment channels for escrow-related cases. ZmnSCPxj suggested that instead of using a logical OR operator, they could invert the logic of the contract by making two payments of the same amount. Under this system, the seller would send one payment claimable by the buyer and escrow key, while the buyer would send another payment claimable only by the seller. If the buyer was satisfied with the product, they would fail the seller-to-buyer payment after the seller had claimed the buyer-to-seller payment. If the buyer was dissatisfied, they would involve the escrow, who would either reveal the escrow key to the buyer or delete the escrow private key, depending on whether the escrow judged the seller or the buyer to be right.While this approach requires twice as many bitcoins to be locked, it allows for simple proof of payment for the buyer and proof of refund for the seller. However, the initial stake required from buyers could make it difficult to onboard new users who do not already have bitcoin. Nonetheless, ZmnSCPxj believes that parents could provide their children with the initial stakes needed to start transacting over such a system, just as they already provide other "initial stakes" like education, food, and shelter. Alternatively, dual-hash HTLCs could be used, but ZmnSCPxj views PTLCs as the best solution to the problem.
Updated on: 2023-06-02T18:46:28.971949+00:00