5 ms·

> The worst thing a centralized server can do in Lightning is refuse to route your transactions. This is called censorship, the very thing Bitcoin was created

> The worst thing a centralized server can do in Lightning is refuse to route your transactions. This is called censorship, the very thing Bitcoin was created to circumvent. It's an especially big problem given the fact that the vast majority of lightning payments are routed through lightning nodes operated by centralized cryptocurrency exchanges. Most of the remaining nodes on the lightning network are unreliable due to shortcomings in the lightning protocol surrounding state management, node connectivity, and inbound/outbound liquidity. That's not even getting into the abysmal incentive structure node operators face.

_1tan 5y ago
It is certainly not a general instance of censorship if certain node operators or miners choose to exclude transactions meeting certain criteria. This isn't comparable to e.g. a hard coded blacklist.
coconut08 5y ago
they can't censor you. this is incorrect. all they can do is inconvenience you. ultimately you can close the channel with them at any time if you conclude they are a bad actor.
- thinkmassive 5y ago
  Beyond that, LN transactions use onion routing, which means you define the exact route for your payment to take through the network. You can actively avoid ever routing through a particular node if that's your desire.
tenuousemphasis 5y ago
>It's an especially big problem given the fact that the vast majority of lightning payments are routed through lightning nodes operated by centralized cryptocurrency exchanges. I'd love to know how you came to believe this. Due to Lightning's design, there is no way to know how payments are routed, so it seems clear that you're either misinformed or lying. > That's not even getting into the abysmal incentive structure node operators face. Such as... getting paid for your capital by routing payments? Oh no, so abysmal!

_1tan 5y ago

It is certainly not a general instance of censorship if certain node operators or miners choose to exclude transactions meeting certain criteria. This isn't comparable to e.g. a hard coded blacklist.

coconut08 5y ago

they can't censor you. this is incorrect. all they can do is inconvenience you. ultimately you can close the channel with them at any time if you conclude they are a bad actor.

thinkmassive 5y ago
Beyond that, LN transactions use onion routing, which means you define the exact route for your payment to take through the network. You can actively avoid ever routing through a particular node if that's your desire.

tenuousemphasis 5y ago

>It's an especially big problem given the fact that the vast majority of lightning payments are routed through lightning nodes operated by centralized cryptocurrency exchanges. I'd love to know how you came to believe this. Due to Lightning's design, there is no way to know how payments are routed, so it seems clear that you're either misinformed or lying. > That's not even getting into the abysmal incentive structure node operators face. Such as... getting paid for your capital by routing payments? Oh no, so abysmal!