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508 lines
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508 lines
43 KiB
Plaintext
[preface]
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[[glossary]]
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== Quick Glossary
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This quick glossary contains many of the terms used in relation to Bitcoin. These terms are used throughout the book, so bookmark this for a quick reference.
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++++
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TODO:
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Some additional definitions, to be cleaned up and moved into alphabetic order are in the commented-out area below
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++++
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////
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* blockchain: a single distributed ledger agreed upon by a network of participating nodes. The Lightning Network does not use a blockchain to transact, but requires transactions recorded in a blockchain in order for bitcoin to enter and leave the network.
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* channel: a channel is a financial relationship between two nodes on the Lightning Network. Two users can open a channel with each other using a Bitcoin transaction, and transact with each other by moving bitcoin from one side of the channel to the other.
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* capacity: channels require bitcoin to be pre-loaded into them before they can be used. This becomes the maximum amount of bitcoin that can be transacted using this channel i.e. it's capacity.
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** in-bound capacity: the maximum amount of bitcoin that can be received using a channel. Your in-bound capacity is increased when a user opens a channel with you, or you make a payment to another user.
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** out-bound capacity: the maximum amount of bitcoin that can be sent using a channel. Your out-bound capacity is increased when you open a channel with another user, or you receive a payment from another user.
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* invoice: a request for payment from another user that can take the form of a text string or a QR code. Lightning Invoices can be specified with a description and an amount the invoicer is requesting.
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* node: a node is a participant on the Lightning Network. Nodes can open and close channels with each other, route payments from other nodes, and manage their own wallets. Typically a Lightning Network node user will also run a Bitcoin Node to keep track of the status of on-chain payments
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* on-chain/off-chain: a payment is considered "on-chain" if it is included in the Bitcoin (or other underlying) blockchain where it is publicly visible to all nodes. Payments that are not visible in the underlying blockchain are "off-chain"
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* route: when making a payment from one user to another, the payment will move along many intermediary nodes before reaching the receiver. This path from the sender to the receiver forms a route on the network.
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** routing fees: each intermediary node will request a fee for transmitting the payment. The sum of these are the routing fees paid by the sender
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* transaction: a payment from one user to another. Lightning Network transactions are Bitcoin transactions not yet recorded on the Bitcoin blockchain.
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** funding transaction: a transaction that locks bitcoin into a smart contract to open a channel.
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** settlement transaction: a transaction that closes a channel, and allocates the locked bitcoin to the channel owners according to the final balance of the channel.
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** penalty transaction: if one user tries to "cheat" by claiming a prior state of the channel, the other user can publish a penalty transaction to the Bitcoin blockchain, which allocates all bitcoin in that channel to them.
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* wallet: an application that manages private keys in order to send and receive bitcoin. Lightning Wallets have additional features over and above Bitcoin Wallets in that they can open and close channels, and send and receive Lightning payments.
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////
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address::
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A Bitcoin address looks like +1DSrfJdB2AnWaFNgSbv3MZC2m74996JafV+. It consists of a string of letters and numbers. It's really an encoded base58check version of a public key 160-bit hash. Just as you ask others to send an email to your email address, you would ask others to send you bitcoin to one of your Bitcoin addresses.
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AMP::
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Atomic Multipath Payments.
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A method for payments where the sender can use more than one of their channels to forward a payment.
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By default, a sender uses one channel to forward payment.
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This can cause issues, for example, where a sender has an two channels with an outgoing capacity of 0.5 BTC but wishes to forward a payment of 0.8 BTC.
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By default, this payment would fail without rebalancing.
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With AMP, the sender can split the payment between these channels and either have the entire payment succeed or fail, with no partial payment possible.
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Asymmetric Cryptographic System::
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Asymmetric cryptography, or public-key cryptography, is a cryptographic system that uses pairs of keys: public keys which may be disseminated widely, and private keys which are known only to the owner.
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The generation of such keys depends on cryptographic algorithms based on mathematical problems to produce one-way functions.
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Effective security only requires keeping the private key private; the public key can be openly distributed without compromising security.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Public-key_cryptography&oldid=877579180
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Autopilot::
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Autopilot is a recommendation engine for Lightning Network nodes that uses statistics of the known topology to suggest which nodes they should open channels with.
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Depending on the implementation of the autopilot, the channel capacity may also be recommended.
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Autopilots are not part of the Lightning Network Protocol.
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balance::
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The balance of a payment channel is encoded by the most recent commitment transaction.
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The balance states the amount of bitcoin that belongs to each channel partner and the amount that are in flying HTLCs (HTLCs which are currently in the routing process and have not been settled yet).
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The sum of the balance sheet equals the capacity.
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The channel balance is only known by the channel partners.
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If the channel balance is completely on one side of the channel, i.e. one channel partner has all of the bitcoin in the channel, this particular partner cannot receive any payments through this channel. This partner can, however, send payments and forward HTLCs.
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The balance that a node has on its own side of the channel (and is thus able to spend) is called the outbound capacity.
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The node's channel partner would refer to that balance as its inbound capacity, i.e. the amount that it is able to receive.
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Nodes should aim to have balanced channels with similar inbound and outbound capacities.
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bech32::
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A checksummed base32 address format, at most 90 characters long, and capable of error correction. It is native to segregated witness (BIP173). Also referred to as "bc1" because of the current starting values of each address. Transactions made using bech32 are smaller in most cases, and therefore, may only require a lower fee.
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bip, BIP::
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Bitcoin Improvement Proposals. A set of proposals that members of the Bitcoin community have submitted to improve Bitcoin. For example, BIP-21 is a proposal to improve the Bitcoin uniform resource identifier (URI) scheme. BIPs can be found at https://github.com/bitcoin/bips.
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bitcoin, Bitcoin::
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Depending on context, could refer to the name of the currency unit (the coin), the network or the underlying enabling protocol. Written as bitcoin with a lowercase "b" usually refers to the currency unit. Bitcoin with an uppercase "B" usually refers to the protocol. See https://www.bitcoin.org for general information. The source code can be found at https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin.
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Bitcoin mining::
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Bitcoin mining serves two purposes.
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Firstly, Bitcoin transactions are validated and fixed in the sense that they cannot be double-spent.
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Secondly, new bitcoin are being created within the coinbase of each block.
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block::
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A grouping of transactions, marked with a timestamp, and a fingerprint of the previous block. The block header is hashed to produce a proof of work, thereby validating the transactions. Valid blocks are added to the main blockchain by network consensus.
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blockchain::
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The blockchain is an irreversible distributed database storing all Bitcoin transactions.
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The irreversibility comes from the fact that each group of transactions, referred to as a block, is validated by solving a Proof of Work riddle and including the hash of the previous block.
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Thus the data can only be changed by an entity providing more than 51% of the computational power of the Bitcoin network.
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Blocks currently have a size limit of 1 MB.
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New blocks have a statistical probability of being produced every ten minutes.
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BOLT::
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BOLT, or Basics Of Lightning Technology, is the formal specification of the Lightning Network Protocol. It serves only as such without delving into implementation, unlike Bitcoin, in which both are one and the same. It is available in https://github.com/lightningnetwork/lightning-rfc.
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Breach Remedy Transaction::
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A transaction claiming the outputs of a Revocable Sequence Maturity Contract with the help of the revocation key.
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This can only happen if a channel partner was not following the protocol and tried to publish (willingly or due to a software bug) an old channel state.
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capacity::
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The capacity of a payment channel is equivalent to the amount of bitcoin provided by the funding transaction.
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As the funding transaction is publicly visible on the blockchain, and the channel is announced via the gossip protocol, the capacity is public information.
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It does not reveal any information about which of the channel partners owns how much bitcoin in the channel.
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A high capacity does not guarantee that the channel can be used for routing in both directions.
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The capacity does not change if some of the capacity is locked up in HTLCs.
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This means that even a high capacity channel could at any time be unable to route a payment of a certain amount in both directions.
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It is not to be confused with the balance.
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c-lightning::
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Implementation of the Lightning Network Protocol by the Victoria based company https://blockstream.com[Blockstream]. It is written in C. Source code is at https://github.com/ElementsProject/lightning.
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closing transaction::
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If both channel partners agree to close a channel they will create an exercise settlement transaction that reflects the most recent commitment transaction.
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It does not include any Hashed Time Lock Contracts or Revocable Sequence Maturity Contracts.
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After exchanging signatures for a closing transaction no further channel updates should be made, as this one allows one side to enforce the closing transaction on the blockchain.
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Mutually closing a channel with the help of a closing transaction has the advantage that fewer blockchain transactions are required to claim all funds, in comparison to unilaterally forcing a channel close by publishing a commitment transaction. Additionally, funds are for both parties immediately spendable from a closing transaction.
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coinbase::
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A special field used as the sole input for coinbase transactions. The coinbase allows claiming the block reward and provides up to 100 bytes for arbitrary data.
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The block reward consists of two things.
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First, newly generated coins. The amount of allowed coins to be generated is part of the consensus rules and decreases over time based on the current block height.
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Second, the miner is also allowed to add all the fees of the transactions from the current block to the coinbase.
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Not to be confused with coinbase transaction.
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coinbase transaction::
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The first transaction in a block. Always created by a miner, it includes a single coinbase.
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Not to be confused with coinbase.
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cold storage::
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Refers to keeping a reserve of bitcoin offline. Cold storage is achieved when Bitcoin private keys are created and stored in a secure offline environment. Cold storage is important for anyone with bitcoin holdings. Online computers are vulnerable to hackers and should not be used to store a significant amount of bitcoin.
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Commitment Transaction::
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A commitment transaction is a Bitcoin transaction, signed by both channel partners, that encodes the latest balance of a channel.
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Every time a new transaction is made or forwarded using the channel, the channel balance will update, and a new commmitment transaction will be signed by both parties.
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Importantly, for a channel between Alice and Bob, both Alice and Bob keep their own version of the commitment transaction, that is also signed by the other party.
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At any point, the channel can be closed by either Alice or Bob if they submit their commitment transaction to the Bitcoin blockchain.
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Submitting an older (outdated) commitment transaction is considered "cheating" (i.e. protocol breach) in the Lightning network and can be penalized by the other party claiming all the funds in the channel for themselves.
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computationally easy::
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A problem is considered to be computationally easy if there exists an algorithm that is able to compute the solution to the problem rather quickly.
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computationally hard::
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A problem is considered to be computationally hard if no algorithm exists or is known that is able to compute the solution to the problem rather quickly.
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confirmations::
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Once a transaction is included in a block, it has one confirmation. As soon as _another_ block is mined on the same blockchain, the transaction has two confirmations, and so on. Six or more confirmations are considered sufficient proof that a transaction cannot be reversed.
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contract::
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A contract is a set of Bitcoin transactions which result together in a certain desired behavior.
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Examples are RSMCs to create a trustless, bi-directional payment channel or HTLCs to create a mechanism which allows trustless forwarding of payments through third parties.
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Diffie Hellman Key Exchange::
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On the Lightning Network, the Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman method is used.
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It is an anonymous key agreement protocol that allows two parties, each having an elliptic-curve public-private key pair, to establish a shared secret over an insecure communication channel.
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This shared secret may be directly used as a key, or to derive another key.
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The key, or the derived key, can then be used to encrypt subsequent communications using a symmetric-key cipher.
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An example of the derived key would be the shared secrete between the ephemeral session key of a sender of an onion with the nodes public key of a hop of the onion as described and used by the SPHINX Mix Format.
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Via https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Elliptic-curve_Diffie%E2%80%93Hellman&oldid=836070673
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digital signature::
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A digital signature is a mathematical scheme for verifying the authenticity of digital messages or documents.
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A valid digital signature gives a recipient reason to believe that the message was created by a known sender, that the sender cannot deny having sent the message, and that the message was not altered in transit.
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They can be seen as cryptographic commitments in which the message is not hidden.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Digital_signature&oldid=876680165
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double-spending::
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Double-spending is the result of successfully spending some money more than once.
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Bitcoin protects against double-spending by verifying each transaction added to the blockchain plays by the rules that the inputs for the transaction have not previously already been spent.
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The Revocable Sequence Maturity Contracts used to construct payment channels heavily attempt to double-spend bitcoin.
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downstream payment::
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TBD.
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ECDSA::
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Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm or ECDSA is a cryptographic algorithm used by Bitcoin to ensure that funds can only be spent by their rightful owners.
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Eclair::
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Implementation of the Lightning Network Protocol by the Paris based company https://acinq.co[ACINQ]. It is written in Scala. Source code is at https://github.com/ACINQ/eclair.
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encoding::
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Encoding is the process of converting a message into a different form.
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For example, converting a human-readable form to a digitally space-efficient form.
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Electrum server::
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An Electrum server is a bitcoin node with an additional interface (API) is often required by bitcoin wallets that do not run a full node. For example, these wallets check the status of specific transactions or broadcasts transactions to the mempool using Electrum server APIs. Some Lightning wallets also use Electrum servers, so even if they are non-custodial, they may compromise user sovereignty in that users trust the Electrum server to provide accurate information and privacy in that calls made to the Electrum server may reveal private information.
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ephemeral key::
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Ephemeral keys are mainly within the SPHINX Mix Format and Onion Routing on the Lightning Network.
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They are generated for each execution of the routing process.
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This increases the security of transported messages or payments.
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Even if an ephemeral key leaks, only information about a single payment becomes public.
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fees::
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In the context of Bitcoin, the sender of a transaction includes a fee paid to miners for including the transaction in a block.
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In the context of the Lightning Network, nodes will charge routing fees for forwarding other users' payments.
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Individual nodes can set their own fee policies which will be calculated as the sum of a fixed _base_fee_ and a _fee_rate_ which depends on the payment amount.
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funding transaction::
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The funding transaction is used to open a payment channel.
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From the perspective of the Bitcoin network, the process of opening a channel by creating a RSMC is started by creating the funding transaction and finished by broadcasting it to the Bitcoin network and have it included in the blockchain.
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The value of the funding transaction is exactly the capacity of the payment channel.
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The output of the funding transaction is a 2-out-of-2 multisignature script (multisig) where each channel partner controls one key.
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It is supposed to be spent by the commitment transactions or by the closing transaction.
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Due to its multisig nature, it can only be spent mutually.
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It is part of the RSMC to ensure that either side of the channel can withdraw their funds without the necessity to trust the channel partner.
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globalfeatures::
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Globalfeatures of a Lightning Network node are the features of interest for all other nodes.
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Most commonly they are related to supported routing formats.
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They are announced in the `_init_` message of the peer protocol as well as the `_channel_announcement_` and `_node_announcement_` messages of the gossip protocol.
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Gossip Protocol::
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Lightning Network nodes send and receive information about the topology of the Lightning Network through gossip messages which are exchanged with their peers.
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The gossip protocol is mainly defined in BOLT 7 and defines the format of the _node_announcement_, _channel_announcement_ and _channel_update messages_.
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In order to prevent SPAM, node announcement messages will only be forwarded if the node already has a channel and channel announcement messages will only be forwarded if the funding transaction of the channel has been confirmed by the Bitcoin network.
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Usually Lightning nodes connect with their channel partners, but it is fine to connect with any other Lightning node in order to process gossip messages.
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hardware wallet::
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A hardware wallet is a special type of Bitcoin wallet which stores the user's private keys in a secure hardware device.
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Currently, hardware wallets are not available for Lightning Network nodes as they need to be online to participate in the protocol.
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Several groups are currently working on solutions.
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hash::
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A digital fingerprint of some binary input.
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hash function::
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A cryptographic hash function is a mathematical algorithm that maps data of arbitrary size to a bit string of a fixed size (a hash) and is designed to be a one-way function, that is, a function which is infeasible to invert.
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The only way to recreate the input data from an ideal cryptographic hash function's output is to attempt a brute-force search of possible inputs to see if they produce a match, or use a rainbow table of matched hashes.
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The ideal cryptographic hash function has five main properties: It is deterministic so the same message always results in the same hash.
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It is quick to compute the hash value for any given message.
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It is infeasible to generate a message from its hash value except by trying all possible messages.
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A small change to a message should change the hash value so extensively that the new hash value appears uncorrelated with the old hash value.
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It is infeasible to find two different messages with the same hash value.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cryptographic_hash_function&oldid=868055371
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hashlocks::
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A hashlock is a type of encumbrance that restricts the spending of an output until a specified piece of data is publicly revealed. Hashlocks have the useful property that once any hashlock is opened publicly, any other hashlock secured using the same key can also be opened. This makes it possible to create multiple outputs that are all encumbered by the same hashlock and which all become spendable at the same time.
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HODL/Hold Invoices::
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HODL/Hold invoices are effectively standard HTLC LN invoices with the exception that the recipient can “hold” the funds, deferring to settle the transaction until some condition has been met. The sender remains committed unless the recipient opts to cancel the transaction.
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HTLC::
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A Hashed TimeLock Contract or HTLC is a class of payments that use hashlocks and timelocks to require that the receiver of a payment either acknowledges receiving the payment prior to a deadline by generating cryptographic proof of payment (usually called the preimage of the payment hash) or forfeits the ability to claim the payment, returning it to the payer.
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On the Lightning Network HTLCs are outputs in the commitment transaction of a payment channel and are used to enable the trustless routing of payments.
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invoice::
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The payment process on the Lightning Network is initiated by the payee who issues an invoice.
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Invoices include the payment hash, the amount, a description and the expiry time.
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Invoices can also include a fallback Bitcoin address to which the payment can be made in case no route can be found, as well as hints for routing a payment through a private channel.
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JIT Routing::
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"Just in Time" Routing.
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An alternative to source-based routing first proposed by co-author René Pickhardt.
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With JIT routing, intermediary nodes along a path can pause an in-flight payment to rebalance their channels.
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This might allow them to successfully forward payments that might otherwise have failed due to lack of outgoing capacity.
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Lightning message::
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A Lightning message is an encrypted data string that can be sent between two peers on the Lightning Network. Similar to other communication protocols Lightning messages consist of a header and a body. The header and the body have their own HMAC. This ensures that the headers of fixed length will also be encrypted and adversaries won't be able to figure out what messages are being sent by inspecting the length.
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Lightning Network, Lightning Network Protocol, Lightning Protocol::
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The Lightning Network is a protocol on top of Bitcoin (or other cryptocurrencies).
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It creates a network of payment channels which enables the trustless forwarding of payments through the network with the help of HTLCs and Onion Routing.
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Other components of the Lightning Network are the gossip protocol, the transport layer, and payment requests.
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The source code is available at https://github.com/lightningnetwork.
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Lightning Network Node, Lightning Node::
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A participant on the Lightning Network.
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A Lightning user will run Lightning node software in order to interact with other Lightning nodes.
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Lightning nodes have the ability to open channels with other nodes, send and receive payments, and route payments from other users.
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Typically a Lightning node user will also run a Bitcoin node.
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lnd::
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Implementation of the Lightning Network Protocol by the San Francisco based company https://lightning.engineering[Lightning Labs].
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It is written in Go. Source code is at https://github.com/lightningnetwork/lnd.
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localfeatures::
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Localfeatures of a Lightning Network node are the configurable features of direct interest of the peer.
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They are announced in the `_init_` message of the peer protocol as well as the `_channel_announcement_` and `_node_announcement_` messages of the gossip protocol.
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Locktime::
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Locktime, or more technically nLockTime, is the part of a transaction which indicates the earliest time or earliest block when that transaction may be added to the blockchain.
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millisatoshi::
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The smallest unit of account on the Lightning Network. A millisatoshi is one hundred billionth of a single bitcoin. A millisatoshi is one thousandth of one Satoshi. Millisatoshis do not exist, nor can they be settled on the Bitcoin network.
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multisignature::
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Multisignature (multisig) refers to requiring more than one key to authorize a Bitcoin transaction.
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Payment channels are always encoded as multisignature addresses requiring one signature from each peer of the payment channel.
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In the standard case of a two-party payment channel a 2-2 multisignature address is used.
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Neutrino::
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Neutrino is a later alternative to SPV that also verifies whether certain transactions are contained in a block without downloading the entire block. However, it offers a number of improvements over SPV: Neutrino does not transmit any information that would allow a third party to determine users’ identities, it facilitates the use of non-custodial apps, and it reduces the computational load on full nodes. The trade-off for these improvements is that Neutrino requires more data from the full node than SPV.
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node::
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See Lightning Network Node
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network capacity::
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Lightning network capacity is the total amount of bitcoin locked and circulated inside the Lightning Network.
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It is the sum of capacities of each public channel.
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It reflects the usage of the Lightning Network to some extent because we expect that people lock bitcoin into Lightning channels in order to spend it or forward other users' payments.
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Hence the higher the amount of bitcoin locked in channels, the higher the expected usage of the Lightning Network.
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Note that since only public channel capacity can be observed, the true network capacity is unknown.
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See private channel.
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Noise_XK::
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The template of the Noise protocol framework to establish an authenticated and encrypted communication channel between two peers of the Lightning Network.
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X means that no public key needs to be known from the initiator of the connection.
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K means that the public key of the receiver needs to be known.
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More particular (from: http://www.noiseprotocol.org/noise.html) the protocol enables.
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Encryption to a known recipient, strong forward secrecy. This payload is encrypted based on an ephemeral-ephemeral DH as well as an ephemeral-static DH with the recipient's static key pair. Assuming the ephemeral private keys are secure, and the recipient is not being actively impersonated by an attacker that has stolen its static private key, this payload cannot be decrypted. Sender authentication resistant to key-compromise impersonation (KCI). The sender authentication is based on an ephemeral-static DH ("es" or "se") between the sender's static key pair and the recipient's ephemeral key pair. Assuming the corresponding private keys are secure, this authentication cannot be forged.
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// the noise protocol documentation is according to their IPR section public domain. The author is Trevor Perrin (noise@trevp.net)
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onion routing::
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Onion routing is a technique for anonymous communication over a computer network.
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In an onion network, messages are encapsulated in layers of encryption, analogous to layers of an onion.
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The encrypted data is transmitted through a series of network nodes called onion routers, each of which peels away a single layer, uncovering the data's next destination.
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When the final layer is decrypted, the message arrives at its destination.
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The sender remains anonymous because each intermediary knows only the location of the immediately preceding and following nodes.
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With the SPHINX Mix Format, the final destination also remains anonymous as only the previous router could see it but does not know if they are routing it to the final node or just the next hop.
|
||
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Onion_routing&oldid=870849217
|
||
|
||
output::
|
||
Output, transaction output, or TxOut is an output in a transaction which contains two fields: a value field for transferring zero or more satoshis and a pubkey script for indicating what conditions must be fulfilled for those satoshis to be further spent.
|
||
|
||
P2PKH::
|
||
P2PKH or Pay-to-PubKey-Hash is a type of transaction that pays a Bitcoin address that contain P2PKH scripts.
|
||
An output locked by a P2PKH script can be unlocked (spent) by presenting a public key and a digital signature created by the corresponding private key.
|
||
|
||
P2SH::
|
||
P2SH or Pay-to-Script-Hash is a powerful type of transaction that greatly simplifies the use of complex transaction scripts. With P2SH the complex script that details the conditions for spending the output (redeem script) is not presented in the locking script. Instead, only a hash of it is in the locking script.
|
||
|
||
P2SH address::
|
||
P2SH addresses are Base58Check encodings of the 20-byte hash of a script, P2SH addresses use the version prefix "5", which results in Base58Check-encoded addresses that start with a "3". P2SH addresses hide all of the complexity, so that the person making a payment does not see the script.
|
||
|
||
P2WPKH::
|
||
The signature of a P2WPKH (Pay-to-Witness-Public-Key-Hash) contains the same information as a P2PKH spending, but is located in the witness field instead of the scriptSig field. The scriptPubKey is also modified.
|
||
|
||
P2WSH::
|
||
The difference between P2SH and P2WSH (Pay-to-Witness-Script-Hash) is about the cryptographic proof location change from the scriptSig field to the witness field and the scriptPubKey that is also modified.
|
||
|
||
payment::
|
||
A payment occurs if we transfer bitcoin within the Lightning Network.
|
||
Payments are generally not seen on the blockchain.
|
||
The recipient initiates a payment by creating an invoice.
|
||
The invoice includes a payment hash which is the hash of a secret preimage.
|
||
This payment hash is used by the Hashed Time Lock Contracts during the routing process.
|
||
|
||
payment channels::
|
||
A micropayment channel or payment channel is a class of techniques designed to allow users to make multiple Bitcoin transactions without committing all of the transactions to the Bitcoin blockchain. In a typical payment channel, only two transactions are added to the blockchain, but an unlimited or nearly unlimited number of payments can be made between the participants.
|
||
|
||
payment channel::
|
||
Payment channels are the core building blocks of the Lightning Network.
|
||
They can be used to send a predefined amount of bitcoin back and forth between two parties.
|
||
Sending bitcoin over a payment channel happens off chain, so only the funding transaction and either the commitment or closing transaction is stored in the blockchain.
|
||
There are currently three methods known to construct a fully duplex bidirectional payment channel.
|
||
Christian Decker proposed a method in his PhD thesis based on invalidation trees.
|
||
In the Lightning Network whitepaper, Joseph Poon and Tadge Dryja describe the Revocable Sequence Maturity Contract based method that is currently being implemented on the Lightning Network.
|
||
Recently Christian Decker et al. came up with the Eltoo mechanism which would require a Bitcoin softfork.
|
||
|
||
peer::
|
||
Two parties which form a payment channel are called peers.
|
||
In particular, they are connected via an encrypted, authenticated communication over a TCP Socket.
|
||
|
||
Penalty Transaction::
|
||
Look at the Breach Remedy Transaction.
|
||
|
||
preimage::
|
||
In mathematics, given a function $f$ and a value $h$ the preimage of $h$ with respect to $f$ is the set of values $R = \{r_1,r_2,...\}$ such that $f(r_i) = h$ for all $\r_i \in R$.
|
||
In layman's terms, it is the set of values which is mapped to $h$ by the function $f$.
|
||
This preimage set can be empty, finite or infinite.
|
||
In cryptography, the function $f$ is usually taken to be a hash function.
|
||
Cryptographers use the term preimage for an arbitrary element of $R$.
|
||
In particular, when using SHA-256 we should state that each element has an infinite amount of preimages.
|
||
Yet it is still believed to be computationally hard to find such a preimage.
|
||
proof of work::
|
||
A piece of data that requires significant computation to find. In Bitcoin, miners must find a numeric solution to the SHA256 algorithm that meets a network-wide target, the difficulty target.
|
||
|
||
Relative Timelock::
|
||
Relative Timelock is a kind of timelock that allows an input to specify the earliest time it can be added to a block based on how long ago (which is relative) the output referred by that input was included in a block. Such a feature is jointly achieved by nSequence field and CheckSequenceVerify opcode, which are introduced by BIP68/112/113.
|
||
|
||
Revocable Sequence Maturity Contract::
|
||
This contract is used to construct a payment channel between two Bitcoin or Lightning Network users who do not need to trust each other.
|
||
The name comes from a sequence of states which are encoded as commitment transactions and can be revoked if wrongfully published and mined by the Bitcoin network.
|
||
These contracts are commonly referred to as RSMCs.
|
||
Unlike a HTLC, whose timeout is to make a HTLC temporary, and therefore should be absolute; a RSMC timeout is meant to only start when a commitment transaction is mined, and therefore should be using a Relative Timelock.
|
||
|
||
revocation key::
|
||
Each Revocable Sequence Maturity Contract contains two revocation keys.
|
||
Each channel partner knows one revocation key.
|
||
Knowing both revocation keys, the output of the Revocable Sequence Maturity Contract can be spent within the predefined timelock.
|
||
Revocation keys are used to disincentivize channel partners from broadcasting an old channel state.
|
||
While negotiating a new channel state the old revocation keys are being shared.
|
||
Revocation keys are used instead of signatures since they can be derived with an HD key derivation scheme.
|
||
This makes it less cumbersome to store all revocation keys of old states.
|
||
|
||
RIPEMD-160::
|
||
RIPEMD-160 is a 160-bit cryptographic hash function. RIPEMD-160 is a strengthened version of RIPEMD with a 160-bit hash result, and is expected to be secure for the next ten years or more.
|
||
|
||
topology::
|
||
The topology of the Lightning Network describes the shape of the Lightning Network as a mathematical graph.
|
||
Nodes of the graph are the Lightning Network nodes or participants.
|
||
The edges of the graph are the payment channels.
|
||
The topology of the Lightning Network is publicly broadcast with the help of the gossip protocol unless nodes decide to act privately.
|
||
This means that the Lightning Network is probably larger than the announced number of nodes.
|
||
Knowing the topology is of particular interest in the source-based routing process of payments in which the sender discovers a route.
|
||
Also, the topology is important for features like the autopilot.
|
||
|
||
satoshi::
|
||
A satoshi is the smallest denomination of bitcoin that can be recorded on the blockchain. It is the equivalent of 0.00000001 bitcoin and is named after the creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto. ((("satoshi")))
|
||
|
||
Satoshi Nakamoto::
|
||
Satoshi Nakamoto is the name used by the person or group of people who designed Bitcoin and created its original reference implementation, Bitcoin Core. As a part of the implementation, they also devised the first blockchain database. In the process, they were the first to solve the double-spending problem for digital currency. Their real identity remains unknown.
|
||
|
||
Script::
|
||
Bitcoin uses a scripting system for transactions. Forth-like, Script is simple, stack-based, and processed from left to right. It is purposefully not Turing-complete, with no loops.
|
||
|
||
ScriptPubKey (aka pubkey script)::
|
||
ScriptPubKey or pubkey script, is a script included in outputs which sets the conditions that must be fulfilled for those satoshis to be spent. Data for fulfilling the conditions can be provided in a signature script.
|
||
|
||
ScriptSig (aka signature script)::
|
||
ScriptSig or signature script, is the data generated by a spender which is almost always used as variables to satisfy a pubkey script.
|
||
|
||
Second stage HTLC::
|
||
TBD.
|
||
|
||
secret key (aka private key)::
|
||
The secret number that unlocks bitcoin sent to the corresponding address. pass:[<span class="keep-together">A secret</span>] key looks like the following:
|
||
+
|
||
----
|
||
5J76sF8L5jTtzE96r66Sf8cka9y44wdpJjMwCxR3tzLh3ibVPxh
|
||
----
|
||
|
||
Segregated Witness::
|
||
Segregated Witness is an upgrade to the Bitcoin protocol, which technological innovation separates signature data from Bitcoin transactions. Segregated Witness was deployed as a soft fork; a change that technically makes Bitcoin’s protocol rules more restrictive.
|
||
|
||
SHA::
|
||
The Secure Hash Algorithm or SHA is a family of cryptographic hash functions published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
|
||
|
||
short channel id (scid)::
|
||
Once a channel is established, the index of the funding transaction on the blockchain is used as the short channel id to uniquely identify the channel.
|
||
The short channel id consists of 8 bytes referring to 3 numbers.
|
||
In its serialized form it depicts these 3 numbers as decimal values separated by the letter **x**.
|
||
The first number (4 bytes) is the block height.
|
||
The second number (2 bytes) is the index of the funding transaction with the blocks.
|
||
The last number (2 bytes) is the transaction output.
|
||
|
||
simplified payment verification (SPV)::
|
||
SPV or simplified payment verification is a method for verifying particular transactions were included in a block without downloading the entire block. The method is used by some lightweight Bitcoin clients.
|
||
|
||
source-based routing::
|
||
On the Lightning Network, the sender of a payment decides the route of the payment.
|
||
While this decreases the success rate of the routing process, it increases the privacy of payments.
|
||
Due to the SPHINX Mix Format used by onion routing, all routing nodes do not know the originator of a payment or the final recipient.
|
||
Source-based routing is fundamentally different to how routing works on the Internet Protocol.
|
||
|
||
soft fork::
|
||
Soft fork, or Soft-Forking Change, is a temporary fork in the blockchain which commonly occurs when miners using non-upgraded nodes don't follow a new consensus rule their nodes don’t know about.
|
||
Not to be confused with fork, hard fork, software fork or Git fork.
|
||
|
||
SPHINX Mix Format::
|
||
A particular technique for Onion Routing used in the Lightning Network and invented by George Danezis and Ian Goldberg in 2009.
|
||
With the SPHINX Mix Format, each message of the onion package is padded with some random data so that no single hop can estimate how far on the route they are.
|
||
While the privacy of the sender and receiver of the payment is protected, each node is still able to return an error message along the path to the originator of the message.
|
||
The paper can be found at https://cypherpunks.ca/~iang/pubs/Sphinx_Oakland09.pdf
|
||
|
||
Submarine Swaps::
|
||
Submarine Swaps enable transfers between on-chain addresses and off-chain locations, like the Lightning Network. Just as standard LN transfers chain payments by means of HTLCs that make the final claim on funds conditional on the recipient revealing a secret to all links in the chain, Submarine Swaps use the same logic and procedure to transfer funds across the on-chain/off-chain barrier with minimal trust. They can also be used to enable transfers from another chain, say Litecoin, to an off-chain LN address. Reverse Submarine Swaps allow bitcoin transfers in the opposite direction that is, from an off-chain LN location to an on-chain address.
|
||
|
||
timelocks::
|
||
A timelock is a type of encumbrance that restricts the spending of some bitcoin until a specified future time or block height. Timelocks feature prominently in many Bitcoin contracts, including payment channels and hashed timelock contracts.
|
||
|
||
transaction::
|
||
Transactions are a binary format used by the Bitcoin protocol to transfer bitcoin from one address to another.
|
||
Several transactions are built into a block which has to be confirmed by the Bitcoin network through the process of mining.
|
||
Transactions can only be included in a block if they contain a valid signature (more precisely a valid input script) matching the output script defined by the previous owner.
|
||
The first transaction in each block is called the coinbase and generates new bitcoin.
|
||
Transactions can also contain contracts and should not be confused with payments.
|
||
|
||
transaction malleability::
|
||
Transaction malleability is a property that hash of a transaction can change without changing the semantic of the transaction (the UTXOs it is spending, the destinations and the corresponding amounts).
|
||
For example, altering the signature can change the hash of a transaction, because of the non-deterministism of ECDSA signing.
|
||
A commitment transaction needs the hash of a funding transaction, if the hash of the funding transaction changes, transactions depending on it will become invalid. This will make users unable to claim the refunds if there is.
|
||
Segregated Witness soft fork addresses this issue and therefore is an important upgrade to support Lightning Network.
|
||
|
||
transport layer::
|
||
In computer networking, the transport layer is a conceptual division of methods of a model of how computers talk to each other.
|
||
The transport layer provides communication services between computers such as flow control, verification, and multiplexing (to allow multiple applications to work on a computer at the same time).
|
||
|
||
unspent transaction output (UTXO)::
|
||
UTXO is an unspent transaction output that can be spent as an input to a new transaction.
|
||
|
||
upstream payment::
|
||
TBD.
|
||
|
||
wallet::
|
||
Software that holds all your Bitcoin addresses and secret keys. Use it to send, receive, and store your bitcoin.
|
||
|
||
watchtower::
|
||
Watchtowers are a security service on the Lightning network that monitor channels.
|
||
In the case that one of the channel partners goes offline or loses their backup, a watchtower keep their own backups and can restore their channel information.
|
||
They also monitor the Bitcoin blockchain and can submit a penalty transaction in the case that one of the partners tries to "cheat" by broadcasting an outdated state.
|
||
Watchtowers can be run by the channel partners themselves, or as a paid service offered by a third party.
|
||
Wathctowers have no control over the funds in the channels themselves.
|
||
|
||
|
||
zombie channel::
|
||
An open channel where one of the channel partners has gone permanently offline.
|
||
Zombie channels cannot be used to route payments and have only downsides to the online partner.
|
||
Zombie channels are better off closed but they are tricky to classify as the online partner can't always be sure if the offline party will stay offline.
|
||
|
||
Some contributed definitions have been sourced under a CC-BY license from the https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Main_Page[Bitcoin Wiki], https://en.wikipedia.org[Wikipedia], https://github.com/bitcoinbook/bitconbook[Mastering Bitcoin] or from other open source documentation sources.
|