Bitcoin Core Developer Warns of Lightning Network Threats

Bitcoin Core developer Antoine Riard is concerned about changes in the approach of the Lightning Network team, noting that it has become less focused on providing security and more focused on providing cash flow for investors.

In October, he disclosed a critical network vulnerability. According to the expert, the discovered new class of cyclic spoofing attacks puts the protocol in a “dangerous position.” At the same time, Riard left the team.

In a comment to the publication, he clarified that he is currently working on solving the problem raised and called on his former colleagues to follow his example:

“[They need to] wake up, stop sleepwalking, and come to the board to work with other developers at the base level to develop a reliable and sustainable solution while maintaining the long-term decentralization and openness of Lightning.”

Rear also said that many LN-oriented projects compromise mission and safety in order to please investors.

“The sad fact is that most of them work for venture capital-funded organizations or for-profit organizations with the same low time preferences, to the detriment of end users in the long term,” the developer noted.

This, he said, is a classic example of the “tragedy of the commons”—when individuals and organizations with access to a public resource act in their own self-interest and deplete it.

Despite the security concerns and potential move toward centralization, Rear noted that LN "hasn't seen as many attacks as many L2 [solutions] for Ethereum." According to the developer, this is due to the fact that Lightning users usually store a small amount of funds in their wallets.

According to 1ML , at the time of writing, LN capacity is 5,362 BTC, there are 61,982 open channels on the network and 14,623 nodes running.