Merge pull request #205 from 8go/patch-30

minor improvements to chapter "Comparison with Bitcoin" part 2
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Olaoluwa Osuntokun 4 years ago committed by GitHub
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@ -519,17 +519,21 @@ Following general economic principles, the more capacity and connectivity is pro
The growth of the Lightning Network might lead to lower Lightning fees, while the growth in the Bitcoin Network likely leads to higher Bitcoin fees.
==== Public Transactions on the Blockchain vs Secret payments
==== Public Transactions on the Blockchain vs Secret Payments
On the Bitcoin network, every payment is publicly visible on the ledger.
On the Bitcoin network, every payment is publicly visible on the ledger, i.e. the blockchain.
While the addresses involved are pseudonymous and are not typically tied to identity, they will still be collected and validated by every other user on the network.
Professional companies collect and analyse this data en-masse and sell it to interested parties such as exchanges or governments.
Lightning Network payments, on the other hand, are completely private.
Typically only the sender and the receiver will be fully aware of the source, destination, and amount of bitcoin transacted in a particular transaction.
Typically only the sender and the receiver will be fully aware of the source, destination, and amount of bitcoin transacted in a particular payment.
However, it is not required for the receiver to even know the source of the payment.
As payments are onion-routed, the users who route the payment will only be aware of the amount of the payment, but not the source or the destination.
This is because the security model of Lightning only requires users to be aware of the balances in their channels.
They are not required to be aware of the state of the entire network.
As payments are onion-routed, the users who route the payment will only be aware of the amount of the payment, but neither the source nor the destination.
This is because the security model of Lightning only requires users to control the balances in their channels.
They are not required to be aware of the state of the entire network.
In summary, Bitcoin transactions are broadcasted publicly and stored forever. Lightning payments are executed between a few selected peers and information about is privately stored and only until the channel is closed.
Creating en-masse analysis tools equivalent to the ones on the Bitcoin network will be impossible on Lightning.
==== Waiting for Confirmations vs Instant settlement

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