Author: Mark Friedenbach 2018-01-17 23:06:42
Published on: 2018-01-17T23:06:42+00:00
In a discussion on the Lightning-dev mailing list, Benjamin Mord asked if fees could be negative in payment channels. Christian Decker responded that although negative fees could encourage rebalancing of channels, they were not necessary and added complexity to routing. Rebalancing can be accomplished by finding a cycle and sending a payment back to oneself. Negative fees also result in less control over the rebalancing process, which can cause losses or forward rejections. It is better to route payments around exhausted channels rather than artificially rebalancing. Allowing only positive fees simplifies routing and still allows for active rebalancing. If there is a good reason to negotiate increasing the amount forwarded by a peer, it can be handled out of band or in the onion payload for that node.
Updated on: 2023-05-24T18:34:32.062540+00:00