Author: ZmnSCPxj 2020-07-14 14:42:21
Published on: 2020-07-14T14:42:21+00:00
The email conversation is about the Lightning Network, a system that aims to move transactions off the blockchain. The writer asks if there's a risk of loss if their HTLC doesn't get confirmed in time or an older one gets confirmed first. ZmnSCPxj explains that moving activity offchain reduces pressure onchain and improves settlement speeds on both offchain and onchain, reducing the risk of economic loss due to delay. The writer also mentions competition from conflicting HTLCs and denial of service attacks. ZmnSCPxj explains that it's not possible to create conflicting HTLCs, and if a routing node goes offline past the timelock in the HTLC, then you unilaterally close the channel and drop the HTLC onchain. Flood-and-Loot attack technique is discussed, where uneconomically tiny HTLCs are made going through a target victim forwarding node. This attack is a concern in the Lightning Network. Finally, the writer asks if channel factories would eliminate their concern. ZmnSCPxj explains that while it would help to reduce blockchain bloat by creating multiple channels, security costs something, and you have to pay for protection when transacting with potentially untrustable entities.
Updated on: 2023-06-03T01:46:10.929350+00:00