Lightning Network is one of the key upcoming technologies that will change Bitcoin for the better, it’s a network of nodes with channels between these nodes that process payments and transactions “off-chain”, to keep only the few important transactions on-chain and decrease the load on the blockchain and the time it takes to send a transaction.

However there is a potential for node centrality in the lightning network, the main issue being that some nodes might end up functioning like banks, processing the bulk of these transactions. Developer Kulpreet Singh set out to measure the centrality of nodes in the Lightning network.

An extensive list of lightning wallets, node guides and payment processors contributed on reddit by /u/TheGreatMuffin and /u/bitusher.

The list is probably incomplete as some of the projects are still in the late development phase.

On the Lightning Network, cheating is punishable by a total loss of funds. But how is cheating defined? In order for a LN user to cheat, they have to broadcast and incorrect balance. In some cases, the user could be attempting to hoodwink the user on the other end of the payment channel. In other cases, it could be a software bug or a network delay.

This is where Eltoo channels come into play. Eltoo essentially functions as a buffer, which uses “timelocked transactions” to maintain synchronization on a payment channel.

Currently, developers are designing trustless, blinded WatchTower for eltoo channels as described by ZmnSCPxj via Lightning-dev:

This week, Roy Sheinfeld published an explainer on Lightning technology with an interesting way to present it using an abacus:

In this article, I will try to demystify the concept behind LN and its payment channels using an abacus analogy, without getting into the technical specifics of LN implementation.

Read the full article here