eltoo: A Simplified update Mechanism for Lightning and Off-Chain Contracts



Summary:

In a discussion about the eltoo Lightning Network specification, Anthony Towns suggests using new update keys to reset the locktime and state numbers when there are more than 1 billion updates to a channel. Christian Decker had originally believed that this number of updates was unlikely, but Towns explains that it could be possible with regular on-chain operations. To implement this, one would need to use an extra transaction on-chain to roll-over to the new update keys when unilaterally closing, but cooperative closes would remain cheap. This process could be repeated every time another 1 billion updates occur. The eltoo specification is a drop-in replacement for the penalty-based invalidation mechanism currently used in the Lightning Network.


Updated on: 2023-05-24T23:54:23.499577+00:00