@ -459,7 +459,7 @@ Payments on the Lightning Network are forwarded along a _path_ made of channels
A frequent criticism of the Lightning network is that "routing" is not solved, or even is an "unsolvable" problem. In fact, routing is trivial. Path finding, on the other hand, is a difficult problem. The two terms are often confused and need to be clearly defined to identify which problem we are attempting to solve.
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As we will see next, the Lightning Network currently uses a _source-based onion-routed_ protocol for path finding and routing payments. Source-based means that the sender of the payment has to find a path through the network to the intended destination. Onion-routed means that the elements of the path are layered (like an onion), with each layer encrypted so that it can only be seen by one node at a time. We will discuss onion routing in the next section.
As we will see next, the Lightning Network currently uses a _source-based_ protocol for path finding and an _onion routed_ protocol for routing payments. Source-based means that the sender of the payment has to find a path through the network to the intended destination. Onion-routed means that the elements of the path are layered (like an onion), with each layer encrypted so that it can only be seen by one node at a time. We will discuss onion routing in the next section.
Andreas M. Antonopoulos
4 years ago