11 upvotes, 4 direct replies (showing 4)
View submission: Lightning Network Megathread
I'm a home user, I do not have a server that's connected to the internet 24 hours a day.
Is it true that I need to have a constant connection to keep my LN channel open? How am I to do that without a home server or something?
Comment by FerriestaPatronum at 03/01/2018 at 03:47 UTC
4 upvotes, 1 direct replies
My understanding is that this is correct. However, it's not that you won't have your chain closed, it's that you won't be able to update it, which actually is a vulnerability since it gives the other end of the channel the ability to close out the channel with an old overwritten signature.
Example: A and B have a channel. 1 BTC each. A sends B 0.5 BTC. B sends back 0.25 BTC. Balance should be A = 0.75, B = 0.25. If A gets disconnected, B can publish the first Tx where the balance was A = 0.5 and B = 0.5. LN relies on timelocks ("publish no earlier than X") to secure the network, so it assumes each node will publish the newest Tx, but there is nothing enforcing it if the benefiting node is offline.
Comment by varikonniemi at 03/01/2018 at 11:12 UTC
2 upvotes, 1 direct replies
No, you only need to check occasionally that the other party is not cheating.
A) trust other party
B) check it yourself every few days
C) externalize the monitoring to a trusted party
D) only send transactions, then no need to check, ever
Comment by O93mzzz at 04/01/2018 at 06:41 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
You don't need to be online for the channel to be open, although, to conduct a txn, you need to be online.
However, it is recommended that you stay online to examine attacks that try to steal your funds. You can also outsource the job to a third-party, but then the protocol becomes trusted, and no longer trustless.
Comment by a56fg4bjgm345 at 03/01/2018 at 13:39 UTC
0 upvotes, 1 direct replies
You sure do spend a lot of time bashing Bitcoin on this sub. Perhaps it's because your post history reveals you as an Ethereum shill?