Antonopoulos our main man bitcoin Jesus the real Bitcoin Jesus six things critics keep getting wrong about lightning Network let's get it right and get tight my friends is Lightning Network the second coming for Bitcoin and/or the coming of centralization Andres Antonopoulos states his case for the former in his latest video video but you're not gonna need to watch it you can just listen and glean and photosynthesize all the information into your dome a lot of misconceptions have risen up about the Lightning Network and its effect it will have upon Bitcoin looking around the internet you'll find videos such as this offering information on the Lightning Network that may not be accurate to that end Andreas Antonopoulos has created a video to detail the many things critics get wrong which we have detailed below let's talk about it when it comes to centralization the argument often looks like this lightning Network were centralized Bitcoin concentrating power with a few big players this assumes that bitcoin is not already centralized in some lame without second layer technologies there are two ways to resolve the issues with capacity and increased demands number one increase the block sub-base block size put in cost of scaling onto node operators and leading to some centralization nodes and mining or number 2 push transactions off chain without current levels of security and trustless operation this is already happening where my transactions are held in the private databases of large exchanges so the choice isn't really between a totally decentralized or totally centralized system is a choice is a choice between off chain private and off chains second secondary layers with trustless systems when it comes to channels and past the argument often looks like lightning Network requires each transaction to open and close a new channel no this isn't true many people think that each transaction operating on the Lightning Network needs to open a new channel the cost of funding and settling each transaction in this case would be huge a transaction actually needs a path and lightning network clients can deal with the routing of transactions automatically some also believe that channels must be closed to get settlement but this is also not true payments can be made again some funds can stay within the network and don't have to be cashed out most of this will be done with wallets and not manually people have taken these misunderstandings and creating an impression the network will inevitably centralize into a hub-and-spoke analogy this will become clear in time but there are several alt chain options for those who prefer on chain scaling when it comes to routes and knows the argument looks like Lightning Network uses a hot potato model of routing which I've heard multiple times in this model each node passes the hot potatoes to the next node willing to take it closer to its destination each intermediate knows the source and destination of the packet but Lightning Network uses an entirely different model called source routing the originator node receives information about all variable nodes such as capacity and fees it then creates an optimal path based on these parameters such as lowest overall cost of route this route is then encrypted at each step and onion skinned each intermediate knows only the node which the transaction has arrived from it then removes the layer of onion and discovers the next node then it must be sent to the final destination node is the only one which knows that it doesn't need to go any further the originating node is the only one which knows that it didn't arrive from somewhere else when it comes to locking value into the system the argument generally looks like if each channel needs funding to stay open that will lock up a lot of value in the system I've heard this argument a lot yes each channel needs enough value at your end to send the capacity of transactions required but channels can be refilled that to make greater payments for example by sending Bitcoin to the Lightning Network addresses in fact this goes some way to prevent centralization trying to create a node connecting many channels holding a lot of Bitcoin value a target for hackers it is more beneficial to have more channels to more nodes in a mesh network than a very highly funded centralized nodes well when it comes to the argument of anti money laundering it generally looks like this node operators will face a lot of risk from AML regulation it seems like it because they'd be holding a lot of value right well not necessarily in most cases lightning Network is intended for the transfer of smaller amounts in most places money laundering only applies to money flow of much larger amounts it'll be difficult to find and prosecute individuals running software on their home computers if this does become a problem then it will only make the network more stealthier when it comes to lightning enabled wallets the argument generally looks like lightning enabled wallets will come with all the confusion about channels and the need to open and close them no no that's over complicating it my friends it's true that the early implementations of lightning network did bring technical data to the surface and exposed elements that should have been hidden behind the user interface however lightning enabled wallets should and will look exactly like multi currency wallets generally easy to use sending and receiving will be achieved through QR codes and the wall will be able to tell if the dress is a Bitcoin or lightning Network transaction everything should be done for you so how can you get on board when it comes to lightning and I highly recommend that you do if you're interested in running a lightning no there are three which which are bolt compliant this means that they will work with each other to form a unified network look for information on LND or lightning network demon colliding or eclair on github or main net as you can see at Andreas Antonopoulos sets the record straight on a number of misconceptions about the Lightning Network one should always be careful that the misinformation is constantly flowing around on the net and not easily found well guys I'm gonna throw this right back to you let me know in the Bitcoin pub or the comment section below what your thoughts on Andreas is answers to the six most common misconceptions around lightning Network I would agree with him in all of these cases lightning Network in my opinion is the first major feature tip Bitcoin that I believe will fundamentally change the entire landscape the question really is will it blend & smash the like button up for the original the true Bitcoin Jesus that's right it's not Roger Vere it's under a Santa Nautilus
