Okay, so this is what I figured out from ChatGPT and Deep Seek
Liquidity is literally the “availability” of funds or UTXOs in the channel between me and my peer. My inbound liquidity is what my channel peer has committed in UTXOs and my outbound liquidity is what I have committed in UTXOs
As I receive funds and as UTXOs are spent, my inbound liquidity goes down but my outbound liquidity goes up
Correct?
#asknostr
nostr:note14c7nee0mth85kml8fnr3zqmkgmjpt0glre9ag5qyshk49ttmhlvq36rlpt
Yes. I wouldn't bring UTXOs into it though. You're overcomplicating it. Also traditionally it's hard to get inbound liquidity. This is because when you open a channel the funds naturally begin on your side so without additional actions you have out ound bu no inbound liquidity. There are many ways to balance channels too. You can send money out one channel in in another to balance liquidity to improve routes and whatnot.
Correct
almost correct. the utxos are not spent.
the state of the utxo is simply re-negotiated (offchain)
the rest is correct!
Thee UTXO is the channel. The (offchain) transaction spending this UTXO is the current state of liquidity
You've got some great answers here from nostr:npub1cj6ndx5akfazux7f0vjl4fyx9k0ulf682p437fe03a9ndwqjm0tqj886t6, nostr:npub16up8472yajrceaxq72yz4an7lggw0s6esgg7rm74k8fh3khsesjs6vnevp, and nostr:npub19ex4k26qhjlnvqdmwzagmhk6epxkz7z5the57n4kthfu0t6g8r8sz5yyr9.
ChatGPT was close, but not quite accurate about the relationship of UTXOs and Lightning transactions. You don't spend any UTXOs when you make Lightning transactions. You just reallocate ownership of the sats WITHIN one or more UTXOs.
When you are transacting on Lightning, the channel you are transacting through IS the UTXO. Every transaction you do is an update to the agreement of HOW that UTXO will eventually be spent, but without actually spending it. Spending the UTXO would involve broadcasting that agreement to the Bitcoin network which closes the channel.
Liquidity is the total amount of available sats within a Lightning channel; the UTXO that you share ownership of with your channel partner in a 2:2 multisig. Inbound and outbound liquidity are referring to the portion of those sats that each channel partner will receive when the UTXO is spent, closing the channel. "Inbound" and "outbound" are a matter of perspective.
For instance, if you and I have a Lightning channel together and you have 500k sats on your side of our channel, you have 500k of outbound liquidity in that channel, and I have 500k of inbound liquidity. It is outbound to you, because 500k is the maximum amount you can send OUT of that channel. It is inbound to me, because 500k is the maximum I can receive through you. So how much inbound liquidity do you have? That depends on how many sats I have on my side of the channel. Let's say I have 750k sats on my side of the channel. That means you have 750k sats of inbound liquidity and I have 750k sats of outbound liquidity.
It's easiest to see it in action by actually running a node with a few channels open and watching as the sats you spend move to your channel partner's side of the channel, becoming incoming liquidity for you, so you can receive them back again later.
