Bitcoin Q&A: Lightning Network Game Theory
Channel: aantonop
Date: 2018-08-28

Can the rules of the Lightning Network be updated easily? How does it use the consensus of Bitcoin? What are other implementations (Lit, Raiden)? What are the options for channel funding & creation? What is the benefit of commitment schemes? What are hashed timelocked contracts (HTLCs)? How does the mutual guarantee against cheating work? What prevents malicious use of the revocation key to steal coins?

CORRECTION: At 3:14, I incorrectly said that Poon-Dryja payment channels were the original specification for payment channels. Spillman (uni-directional) payment channels were proposed three years earlier through mailing list discussions. Poon-Dryja (bi-directional) payment channels are the design currently recommended in the BOLT specification: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Payment_channels

Chapters
0:00 Can the Lightning Network rules be changed and updated easily, unlike the Bitcoin blockchain, which requires super-majority consensus almost everyone must agree for simultaneous upgrade? Can groups of users use different variations of the channel rules and form a separate sub-network, with or without maintaining compatibility to the entire Lightning Network?
6:49 Why did the developers release the Lightning Network for mainnet before it was completed?
7:32 What would be the purpose of keeping a statement secret, then decrypting and revealing it later? Why hide and then reveal? What is the benefit? Please give us an example
9:51 Can you explain how the revocation key is only revealed if a commitment transaction is broadcast maliciously? What prevents a malicious Lightning node from intentionally dropping off the network, prompting an honest node to publish the last commitment transaction, then coming back online to publish the relocation key, and steal all the coins in the channel?

These questions are from the MOOC 9.6 session, the March and May monthly Patreon Q&A sessions, which took place on March 23rd, March 31st, and May 26th 2018 respectively. Andreas is a teaching fellow with the University of Nicosia. The first course in their Master of Science in Digital Currency degree, DFIN-511: Introduction to Digital Currencies, is offered for free as an open enrollment MOOC course to anyone interested in learning about the fundamental principles. 

If you want early-access to talks and a chance to participate in the monthly live Q&As with Andreas, become a patron: https://www.patreon.com/aantonop

RELATED:
Bitcoin, Lightning, and Streaming Money - https://youtu.be/gF_ZQ_eijPs
The Internet of Money: Five Years Later - https://youtu.be/6xIq0FdmsIA
The Lightning Network - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPQwGV1aLnTurL4wU_y3jOhBi9rrpsYyi
Advanced Bitcoin Scripting, Part 1: Transactions and Multisig - https://youtu.be/8FeAXjkmDcQ
Advanced Bitcoin Scripting, Part 2: SegWit, Consensus, and Trustware - https://youtu.be/pQbeBduVQ4I
The Lightning Network - https://youtu.be/vPnO9ExJ50A
Lightning's security model - https://youtu.be/_GNsT_ufkec
Misconceptions about the Lightning Network - https://youtu.be/c4TjfaLgzj4
Eltoo, and the early days of Lightning - https://youtu.be/o6eFZ5aI9N0
Lightning Network scaling - https://youtu.be/4KiWkwo48k0
Lightning Network interoperability - https://youtu.be/1HYMWcJHGXc
Atomic swaps - https://youtu.be/fNFBA2UmUmg
Running nodes and payment channels - https://youtu.be/ndcfBfE_yoY
What is Segregated Witness (SegWit)? - https://youtu.be/dtOjjB4mD8k
SegWit and fork research - https://youtu.be/OorLoi01KEE

Andreas M. Antonopoulos is a technologist and serial entrepreneur who has become one of the most well-known and respected figures in bitcoin.

Follow on Twitter: @aantonop https://twitter.com/aantonop
Website: https://antonopoulos.com/

He is the author of two books: “Mastering Bitcoin,” published by O’Reilly Media and considered the best technical guide to bitcoin; “The Internet of Money,” a book about why bitcoin matters.

THE INTERNET OF MONEY, v1: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Internet-Money-collection-Andreas-Antonopoulos/dp/1537000454/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

[NEW] THE INTERNET OF MONEY, v2: https://www.amazon.com/Internet-Money-Andreas-M-Antonopoulos/dp/194791006X/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

MASTERING BITCOIN: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mastering-Bitcoin-Unlocking-Digital-Cryptocurrencies/dp/1449374042

[NEW] MASTERING BITCOIN, 2nd Edition: https://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Bitcoin-Programming-Open-Blockchain/dp/1491954388

Translations of MASTERING BITCOIN: https://bitcoinbook.info/translations-of-mastering-bitcoin/

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