Published on: 2020-11-21T23:26:10+00:00
Rusty Russell, a developer working on the Lightning Network, has proposed a potential change to improve the efficiency of the network. In a conversation with Bastien Teinturier, they discuss the use of additive tweaks instead of multiplicative ones in a cryptographic protocol. Rusty suggests that additive tweaks could be faster and supported by the x-only secp API.Bastien agrees with the idea and proposes replacing a multiplication operation with an addition operation in a specific step of the protocol. However, he expresses uncertainty about the security of the tweak and whether it would offer the same level of security as the multiplicative version.Rusty acknowledges this concern and agrees to have a real crypto expert review the proposal to ensure its security. He believes that using additive tweaks could potentially make the protocol faster without sacrificing security.The discussion also touches upon the use of x-only pubkeys, which are generally shorter and easier to use. Rusty mentions that it is trivial to switch to x-only public keys if it provides significant savings. However, Bastien points out that since x-only pubkeys are not stored on-chain, the savings may not be substantial.Overall, the conversation revolves around finding ways to improve the efficiency and security of the Lightning Network. Rusty's proposal for additive tweaks and the potential use of x-only pubkeys are part of this effort. The provided link leads to the proposal for route blinding on the Lightning Network, which further explores these ideas.
Updated on: 2023-07-31T23:13:35.600127+00:00