Channel factories
Channel factories are a multi-user contract capable of opening payment channels without putting the channel-open transaction onchain.
For example, three users create a channel factory by each of them depositing some funds to an onchain 3-of-3 multisig address. Using non-broadcast (offchain) spends from that address, they open payment channels with each other (e.g. Alice↔Bob, Alice↔Charlie, and Bob↔Charlie). They can then use those channels with the same security as if they had opened them onchain because, if necessary, they can broadcast the channel-open transactions. However, they don’t need to broadcast those transactions if both parties act cooperatively, allowing them to reduce the amount of block chain data used.
For large numbers of users under ideal situations, channel factories can reduce the onchain size and fee cost of LN by 90% or more.
Primary code and documentation
- Scalable Funding of Bitcoin Micropayment Networks
- Inherited identifiers proposal
- Factory optimized Lightning channels
Optech newsletter and website mentions
2024
- Channel factories may make more payments feasible and reduce the rate of channel depletion
- LN specification changes proposed to allow pluggable channel factories
- OPR protocol proposal to improve efficiency of channel factories
- SuperScalar timeout tree channel factory proposal
- Proposal for fee-dependent timelocks that would make mass factory closures more safe
- Proposal for a mass-exit protocol that allows highly efficient payment batching
2023
- Using covenants to improve LN scalability through extremely efficient channel factories
- Improving capital efficiency with multiparty channels in tunable penality channel factories
2022
- Proposed new channel construction to improve compatibility with channel factories
- Proposed
OP_EVICTopcode to make channel factories more efficient
2021
2019
2018
See also
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