- Bitcoin developer Antoine Riard exits Lightning Network over security concerns.
- Riard highlights the threat of replacement cycling attacks and the need for a base-layer fix.
- He emphasizes the importance of community buy-in and plans to refocus on Bitcoin Core development.
In a surprising turn of events, a prominent software engineer in the Bitcoin transaction scaling system Lightning Network has proclaimed his departure from the ecosystem following certain security threats to users.
Specifically, Bitcoin developer Antoine Riard declared in a statement on Friday that he is halting his involvement with the Bitcoin Lightning Network. Riard noted he would cease coordinating security issues at the protocol level and had already communicated his intention with senior engineers at Lightning Network.
Furthermore, Riard explained that his decision to part ways with Lightning Network was driven by concerns regarding a novel class of replacement cycling attacks that he believes have placed the ecosystem in a precarious position.
According to him, the replacement cycling attacks can be resolved only with a sustainable fix requiring a change to the underlying Bitcoin protocol. The developer argued making changes to the Bitcoin protocol is complicated and risky. He noted it could involve incorporating a memory-intensive history of all-seen transactions or implementing a consensus upgrade.
Meanwhile, Riard acknowledged that deployed mitigations could offer some protection against simple attacks. However, he doubted their effectiveness against advanced attackers, as the initial full-disclosure communication indicated.
Besides, Riard stressed the importance of transparent and community-wide buy-in before making changes to the Bitcoin protocol, given that the modifications would impact the processing requirements of full nodes and the overall security architecture of the decentralized Bitcoin ecosystem.
Also, Riard announced his intention to maintain silence on the issues in public mailing lists until next week. He plans to shift his focus back towards Bitcoin Core development during this time.
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