Post
Topic
Board Development & Technical Discussion
Re: Question about lightning network.
by
n0nce
on 02/01/2023, 16:52:23 UTC
~Snipped~
Wow now I get it. The number of intermediary node does matter only the opening and the closing transactions are broadcasted to the Blockchain even if I make up to a hundred transactions during the time the channel was still open those transactions wouldn't be broadcasted as long as long as the channel remains open.
Thanks for the explanation.
Exactly; you need to open a channel once, can transact as often and as many times as you want on it and close it some time in the future, settling the final balance on the blockchain. Between opening and closing transactions, nothing happens on the blockchain. That's why it's considered an L2 / off-chain protocol.

The 'number of intermediary nodes' only affects routing fees (which are pretty low though, anyway). Only real problem to consider is that sometimes you may find no route to the destination, no matter how many intermediary nodes are tried. You can counteract that by having multiple open channels, keeping them balanced and wisely choosing your channel partners.