– Antoine Riard, a former Lightning Network developer, argues that the Lightning Network is at risk of becoming centralized and susceptible to single points of failure and censorship risks.
– Riard left the Lightning ecosystem in October due to concerns about a new attack vector called “replacement cycling” that could be used to steal funds from payment channels.
– He believes that Lightning developers have become less security-oriented and more focused on producing cash flow for investors.
– Riard is now working on addressing the issue at the Bitcoin base layer and urges Lightning developers to do the same.
– He claims that many Lightning-focused firms are compromising Lightning’s mission and security incentives for the sake of pleasing venture capitalists.
– Riard sees this as a classic example of the “tragedy of the commons” and is concerned about the trade-off between decentralization and efficiency.
– He does not want to be associated with the security risks of the Lightning Network and believes it has fundamental flaws that make it a dead end for Bitcoin in the long term.
– Despite the concerns, Lightning has not seen as many attacks as Ethereum layer 2s due to users typically only storing a small amount of funds in their wallets at any given time.