THELOGICALINDIAN - While bitcoin has runup to all new amount highs in 2024 a abundant cardinal of crypto supporters accept been accusatory about the mempool excess and the aerial fees bare to accelerate a transaction Meanwhile the Lightning Network is far from seeing boundless acceptance and a cardinal of advance vectors accept been appear this year
At the time of publication, the Bitcoin (BTC) mempool (backlog of transactions) shows 113,000 bottomless affairs and the excess hasn’t been this aerial back 2017. When the balderdash run took abode three years ago, transaction fees and bottomless affairs attempt through the roof. Currently, according to bitcoinfees.cash abstracts on October 31, the abutting BTC block fee is $10.77 and the accepted average fee is $6.43.
Even with the aerial fees and the mempool clog, the greater bitcoin association is still transacting mostly onchain. The Layer 2 agreement congenital on top of Bitcoin alleged the Lightning Network (LN) was declared to affluence the problems, and it was affected bodies would about-face to the LN solution. However, this never came to fruition, as the LN software has been advised too difficult for the boilerplate user, abounding apps are custodial, and there accept been abundant vulnerabilities appear this year.
Even admitting the LN total-value-locked (TVL) in 2020 has been at an best aerial ($14.3M), it hasn’t appear abutting to the over $2 billion account of bitcoin (BTC) captivated on Ethereum. The advance vectors accept additionally been authoritative crypto advocates careful of the Layer 2 protocol, as there’s been a cardinal of vulnerabilities disclosed. For instance, Joost Jager, an absolute Bitcoin and Lightning Network architect tweeted about one on Sept. 22.
“Lightning is great, but can’t say it is battle-tested,” said Jager. “If calligraphy kids would be interested, they could booty bottomward those agleam new 5 BTC wumbo channels with negligible amount and no accomplishment at all.” The actuality that any calligraphy adolescent could advantage the ‘griefing attack’ to booty bottomward those 5 BTC channels, with actual little effort, is absolutely discouraging.
Moreover, the advisers Jona Harris and Aviv Zohar afresh appear a cardboard called: “Flood & Loot: A Systemic Advance On The Lightning Network,” which is agnate to the griefing attack.
“One of the risks that were articular aboriginal on is that of a advanced systemic advance on the protocol, in which an antagonist triggers the cease of abounding Lightning channels at once,” explains the paper’s authors. “The consistent aerial aggregate of affairs in the blockchain will not acquiesce for the able adjustment of all debts, and attackers may get abroad with burglary some funds. This cardboard explores the capacity of such an advance and evaluates its amount and all-embracing appulse on Bitcoin and the Lightning Network.”
Furthermore, on June 2, 2020, Antoine Riard and Gleb Naumenko published a paper on addition Lightning Network vulnerability alleged the “time-dilation attack.” One alarming actuality that Naumenko and Riard acknowledge about the time-dilation attack, is that it is “currently accessible to abduct the absolute approach accommodation by befitting a bulge eclipsed for as little as 2 hours.”
Not too continued afterwards that issue, Antoine Riard afresh discussed addition affected accomplishment alleged the “Pinning Attack.” Riard addendum that to the best of his knowledge, “currently deployed LN aeon aren’t defended adjoin [certain Pinning Attack] scenarios.” One accurate book “requires heavy, abiding assignment at the abject layer,” Riard stressed.
The Lightning Network has been about for absolutely some time, but these vulnerabilities and exploits accumulated with how acrimonious the user acquaintance is, accomplish it adamantine to brainstorm the additional band band-aid communicable on.
Of course, some of the exploits are added cher than added attacks, and engineers are alive on solutions to fix these issues. However, abounding Lightning Network skeptics don’t accept the LN agreement will anytime be ready, as one alone acclaimed on Twitter:
What do you anticipate about the Lightning Network vulnerabilities appear this year? Do you anticipate it’s a acceptable ascent solution? Let us apperceive what you anticipate in the comments area below.
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