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I updated my article about scaling Lightning using Liquid to match the chapter from the newly published book: The Orange Flash of Freedom: Understanding and using the Bitcoin Lightning network.

The main idea is that you can expand Lightning beyond just on-chain backed channels. There are already ideas about e-cash backed channels, they can theoretically even be used for routing. What not many people get is that you can use these as part of the payment path and even bridge trustlessly.

I propose opening channels on Liquid everytime a user would be otherwise priced-out to a custodial solution and open real (bitcoin-time-chain-backed) channel when amount is high enough and/or fees are low enough. You can even combine liquid-backed and bitcoin-time-chain backed channels at the same time (even within the same payment!) and the recipient does not care, they receive their coins through their existing channels.

This technology would also bring trustless instant bridging from and to liquid without having to do anything with the liquid federation.

If you have not read this blog and are interested in ⚡️, give it look, if you like it, check out the whole book.

https://juraj.bednar.io/en/blog-en/2023/05/07/expanding-the-lightning-network-to-serve-billions-a-quick-win-strategy/

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Discussion

Analogue Dog 1y ago

I've been using Aqua wallet in the wild this week... mainly buying cookies and coffee from the few lightning enabled retailers close to me. My main UX takeaway is that the transaction takes close to a minute to reach [notify] their lighting wallet. This contrasts to using lightning in El Salvador wheretransactions time was generally between 280ms and 5sec, depending on the combination of sending and receiving wallets.

Will definitely pick-up your book - very interested to learn about the under-the-hood augmentation of lightning blended with liquid.

tohrxyz 1y ago

the idea of liquid backed channels and trustless bridges between those two aren't necessarily what aqua does.

they swap liquid chain into lightning.

Analogue Dog 1y ago

I initially funded my Aqua wallet with Lightning bitcoin, and the retailer I paid received his bitcoin in Lightning. My guess is that Jan3 augment Aqua by keeping keep a multilayer treasury, with under-the-hood swaps effected when they need to be in order to avail liquidity on a given layer. Could that explain the c. 1min that it takes to buy a cookie?

tohrxyz 1y ago

no, they dont do any such thing.

everything in aqua is onchain or liquid chain.

when you pay lightning, you send on liquid chain to boltz.exchange and they swap to lightning. same for reverse.

Analogue Dog 1y ago

If that's the case, then Aqua is unsuitable for the vast majority of customer-at-counter transactions.

Juraj 1y ago

That is the case. Also I found it just much less reliable. But hopefully it will get better.

The problem with aqua is the same as with monero here:

https://juraj.bednar.io/en/blog-en/2024/04/07/lightning-network-the-payment-network-of-the-internet/

Only true lightning is usable for swaps so far - they can be atomic, multichain and instant finality.

Saberhagen The Nameless 1y ago

Sort of off topic, but check out this new Tor service for XMR -> LN payments called "Shade Strike". Haven't tried it yet but hear good things.

http://shadowg4szntvrqvuw52tajyiuiwtz3r54tcjlaf62jcxcctzi3lf7yd.onion/