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Ephemeral Anchors and MEVil

Ephemeral Anchors and MEVil

Original Postby instagibbs

Posted on: July 15, 2024 12:24 UTC

The discussion revolves around the intricacies of transaction fee policies within the Lightning Network (LN) specifications and the considerations for implementing a Pay To Anchors (P2A) approach.

The initial reflection suggests that the existing capability for counterparties to affect transaction fees paid by others is deemed problematic, pointing towards an evolution of LN specs that would eliminate such complexities. This perspective leads to the decision to adopt a version of P2A that omits the inclusion of additional logic aimed at managing these scenarios.

The proposed change, which is detailed in a GitHub pull request, outlines a strategy for integrating P2A without complicating transaction fees further. The methodology suggests a dual approach depending on the scenario of trimmed outputs, which are essentially outputs of low value that might not be economical to include in a transaction due to high fees. In cases where there are no trimmed outputs or their value is very low, the proposal is to allocate value into a P2A output and commit the transaction with zero fees, thereby facilitating the creation of the output. Conversely, when trimmed outputs possess significant value, the suggestion is to proceed with a traditional TRUC transaction that includes fees, alongside a minimal-value P2A output. This approach aims to balance the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of transactions within the LN framework, catering to different transaction contexts while minimizing unnecessary complexity and costs.