@ -728,7 +728,7 @@ If Alice tries to cheat by submitting the opening state of the channel to the Bi
For the Lightning Network, the Bitcoin blockchain acts as a court system.
Like a robotic judge, Bitcoin records the initial and final balances of each channel and approves penalties if one of the parties tries to cheat.
==== Offline versus Online, Asynchronous Versus Synchronous
==== Offline Versus Online, Asynchronous Versus Synchronous
((("Bitcoin–Lightning Network comparisons","minimum payment size: satoshi versus millisatoshi")))((("Bitcoin–Lightning Network comparisons","payment activity: asynchronous versus synchronous")))((("millisatoshi")))((("satoshi")))When a Bitcoin user sends funds to a destination address, they do not need to know anything about the recipient. The recipient might be offline or online, and no interaction between sender and recipient is needed. The interaction is between sender and the Bitcoin blockchain. Receiving bitcoin on the Bitcoin blockchain is a _passive_ and _asynchronous_ activity that does not require any interaction by the recipient or for the recipient to be online at any time. Bitcoin addresses can even be generated offline and are never "registered" with the Bitcoin network. Only spending bitcoin requires interaction.
kristen@oreilly.com
2 years ago