Mitigating Channel Depletion in the Lightning Network: A Survey of Potential Solutions

The conversation highlights a nuanced understanding of managing payment failures in blockchain networks, emphasizing the distinction between infeasible payments and payment failures. Infeasible payments are identified as situations where the minimum required liquidity for a transaction to proceed is not available, necessitating on-chain action to resolve. This contrasts with feasible payments that might still fail, typically due to channel depletion, which can be significantly mitigated through off-chain liquidity management strategies without requiring additional on-chain transactions.

The dialogue further elaborates on the implications of pursuing certain solutions, such as peerswaps, on the broader network. While these approaches may offer individual benefits by potentially improving one's position within the network, they carry the risk of adversely impacting the network's overall health. The unpredictability of these outcomes underscores the complexity of managing liquidity in decentralized systems.

In search of a more holistic solution, the discussion points towards collaborative efforts among nodes to achieve an optimized liquidity state that is mutually beneficial. This approach is presented as a preferable alternative, aiming for a balance that supports both individual needs and the network's stability. The reference to a research update on optimal channel rebalancing (delving into Bitcoin) suggests that such collaborations could be structured around sophisticated models and strategies, offering a promising avenue for addressing the challenges of liquidity management in blockchain networks. This perspective advocates for a cooperative framework over competitive or isolated strategies, hinting at a community-oriented approach to solving complex technical issues.