Author: David A. Harding 2022-11-26 20:48:49
Published on: 2022-11-26T20:48:49+00:00
In a discussion surrounding the use of tokens in Lightning Network transactions, Antoine Riard suggests that tokens could potentially use onion messages and blinded paths for dissemination and renewal rounds. The current design assumes that the tokens are attached to the HTLC during forwarding along the payment path. However, one possible alternative design could be completely detached, with the HTLC onion only containing a reference to the tokens. The conversation then shifts to how these tokens would work with blinded paths and other privacy-preserving suggestions. It is suggested that if Alice wants to pay Zed using a blinded path where Zed chooses terminal channels W->X->Y->Zed, Zed will need to provide Alice with the encrypted credential tokens for nodes X and Y. However, there is a potential attack in which if Alice controls node Y, she can prevent the HTLC from settling and waste the value of Zed's provided tokens for node X. But Alice doesn't know where Zed's node is in the LN topography and can't be sure that he'll forward through her secondary node, so the attack is uncertain to work. Additionally, this attack may have a cost, as Alice may need to buy credential tokens for node W and the hops leading to it from her primary node, mitigating the chance of success and profitability.
Updated on: 2023-06-03T10:40:37.582681+00:00