Author: Anthony Towns 2015-09-24 08:31:21
Published on: 2015-09-24T08:31:21+00:00
The Lightning Network community discusses a potential incentive problem if fees are only paid on success. As an alternative to fines, they propose offering fees directly for forwarding a transaction. The proposal involves setting up Hashed Time-Locked Contracts (HTLCs) and paying fees to intermediaries upfront when they forward the transaction rather than when the transaction eventually completes. The HTLCs include specific amounts payable upon receipt of the hash and further hashes related to the message forwarded. This system allows nodes to get paid upfront, including for failing transactions but requires them to do 90% of the work forwarding the transaction. The downside is that it's complicated and multiplies the number of HTLCs one has to deal with. Incremental fines may be a better way of dealing with delayed acceptance of transactions.
Updated on: 2023-05-18T15:22:15.290175+00:00