Subnostr

Ok - but, when do #lightning payments in a channel actually move on-chain? This was not explained here. I get the basics of channels now, and why I would need one - but this still doesn't explain how zapping works and why I would potentially need a channel for that. In fact, I am convinced I need none so far. O.o I'll just keep reading for now... maybe the rest of the docs resolve this, eventually.

https://docs.lightning.engineering/the-lightning-network/payment-channels/lifecycle-of-a-payment-channel

vnprc 2y ago

The money moves on chain when you open or close a channel. For the lifetime of the channel it just sits there in a 2 of 2 multisig, waiting.

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vnprc 2y ago

Theres a new tech in development called splicing that will let you add or remove funds from a channel, but its not quite ready. I heard it will be done in 2 weeks.

Ingwie Phoenix (aka. birb) 2y ago

Ohhh! So, when I open a channel to someone to send them money, I effectively lock the required resources (funding the channel, paying the fees, preparing outgoing payment) on-chain, send the relevant information through the channel, and then close the channel, in which cases the locked resources will switch ownership to someone else, as the transactions from within the channel are finalized on close.

Did I get that right? o.o

vnprc 2y ago

You typically don't close the channel after a single transaction. You leave it open indefinitely and you can route a great deal of payments through it. But you are able to close the channel at any time and get your money back.