Author: ZmnSCPxj 2021-06-27 05:03:18
Published on: 2021-06-27T05:03:18+00:00
A GitHub repository has been created to explore the possibility of using the hodl invoices and/or forthcoming features like payment points or DLCs of Lightning to create a network for physical item delivery. The protocol is expected to be robust, reasonably private and incentive-compatible. The use of hodl invoices for atomic item delivery has been discussed, however, these invoices are also considered the primary culprit for some attacks on the network. The motive behind such protocol is described in the readme file which provides an example of how hodl invoices can be used for atomic package delivery. In this scenario, Merchant Mary operates an e-commerce website, Purchaser Paul wants to buy an item and have it delivered, while Charlie plays the role of an independent courier who knows the geographical locations of both Mary and Paul. During checkout, Paul generates a preimage and sends the hash of the preimage to Mary. Mary creates a hodl invoice with the hash. The amount of the invoice includes the cost of shipment as quoted by Courier Charlie. Paul pays the invoice, but Mary cannot yet settle it because the preimage is still unknown to her. Merchant Mary then sends the hash to Charlie who creates another hodl invoice for the delivery costs. Mary pays it and gives the physical package to Charlie who delivers it to Paul. Upon delivery, Paul gives the preimage to Charlie who now uses it to settle his outstanding invoice with Mary, thereby revealing the preimage to Mary who then settles her outstanding invoice with Paul.The vending machine with Lightning was introduced where the idea was to record pregenerated invoices with their hashes. A separate online machine would operate a LN node and receive the payment, releasing the preimage. The payer would enter the preimage into the vending machine, which would validate it and release the item being vended. Under the new framework, the vending machine acts as a courier and has a fixed geographical location while Paul goes to the vending machine to get the item. The author acknowledges that allowing it to be multi-hop and blinding the physical location from one hop to the next is non-trivial but seems doable. Finally, the author invites feedback on the protocol from the community who may have thought more about these types of protocols where digital meets the physical world.
Updated on: 2023-06-03T04:12:31.013774+00:00