Author: Stephen 2015-06-27 03:45:41
Published on: 2015-06-27T03:45:41+00:00
The Lightning Network is a payment channel that allows for fast and cheap transactions on the Bitcoin network. However, there are concerns about the security of the network when rerouting payments. In a scenario where A wants to make a payment to E through channels A->B->C->E, but C becomes unresponsive part way through the payment, A may want to re-route the rest of the payments through A->B->D->E to avoid delays.The problem arises because C has already been given a contract that guarantees payment if they can produce the pre-image of a certain hash. If C receives the pre-image from E, they must reveal it either to B directly or on the blockchain before B's contract times out. However, A has not paid the full amount to E yet when C became unresponsive.If C reveals the pre-image to B after A has rerouted the payment through A->B->D->E, then an extra 0.01 BTC will be stolen from Alice and given to E. This could happen if C and E were colluding to split the profits.It is unclear whether there is something that prevents this from happening, or if it is just a risk one takes with payment re-routing. Further research may be necessary to determine the best course of action to prevent this type of theft on the Lightning Network.
Updated on: 2023-05-23T17:54:06.587871+00:00