Episode 91: Splicing

In this episode of Bitcoin, Explained, Aaron and Sjors are once more joined by Breez developer Jesse de Wit, this time to explain splicing. Splicing allows users of the Lightning Network to effectively add or remove funds from an active channel, allowing for continuous payment and routing activity. Aaron, Sjors and Jesse discuss what challenges this entails, and how these challenges are overcome.

At the beginning of the episode, Sjors also gives a brief update on the ongoing TornadoCash trial in the Netherlands, and he addresses a recent block mined by Mara Pool.

Chapters

00:00:00 Welcome, COLDCARD Q and Jesse de Wit

00:02:21 Tornado Cash trial update

00:09:33 MARA Pool’s graffiti block

00:12:20 What splicing adds to Lightning channels

00:15:15 Replacing the funding UTXO and tracking both channel states

00:24:06 Gossip and routing after a splice

00:27:51 Quiescence: pausing updates to negotiate a splice

00:30:28 Interactive transactions and RBF fee bumps

00:34:17 Splicing specifications and implementation status

00:40:26 Chaining unconfirmed splices

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This episode’s sponsor: ⁠⁠⁠CoinKite⁠⁠⁠, maker of the ColdCard

Jesse’s Twitter: ⁠@WitDeJesse⁠

Jesse’s Nostr: npub18hwpk5qep3ptnmzatq22ptwr9mth7ccrku56rdntwpxjxlkfyr2qrav8du

Aaron’s Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠@AaronvanW⁠⁠⁠

Aaron’s Nostr: npub1art8cs66ffvnqns5zs5qa9fwlctmusj5lj38j94lv0ulw0j54wjqhpm0w5

Sjors’ Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠@provoost⁠⁠⁠

Sjors’ Nostr: npub1v25jqj332n630klwtqeqxgyrjl4alw4phmluhu2x6lcxzwy9m03suqexw3

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