Nostr Web Client

'The Lightning Network' Does Not Exist

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- Many people refer to the aggregate of all lightning channels as 'The Lightning Network' but this is a false premise. There is no singular 'Lightning Network' but rather many payment channels between distinct peers, some connected with each other and some not.

- Lightning as an interoperable payment protocol between professional custodians seems to have found solid product market fit. Expect significant volume, adoption, and usage going forward.

- Lightning as a robust sovereign payment protocol has yet to be battle tested. Heavy reliance on Tor, which has had massive reliability issues, the friction of active liquidity management, and lack of strong privacy guarantees put it at risk.

https://www.discreetlog.com/the-lightning-network-does-not-exist/

kepford 2y ago

This sounds like saying "There is no cloud, just someone else's computer". Or more on point for you, there isn't "a Mempool". Put more precisely there isn't a singular Lightning Network but many peer to peer networks. It is a network though or set of networks. Better yet, a type of network.

Is this a distinction that is helpful? I'm not sure saying it isn't a network is helpful in understanding it. I think we are on the same page but maybe explaining it differently.

I'm not an expert on Lightning so if I'm missing something I welcome feedback on this commentary.

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