Amiko Pay, a small payment channel solution similar to the Lightning Network

The Lightning Network is a design improvement for Bitcoin that allows users to make small payments in a decentralized way. Over time, it will help make the entire network scale more efficiently. Although this proposal has received a lot of attention in the Bitcoin community, no mature product has been developed so far. Currently, CJ Plooy is working on another similar project.

Plooy recently presented his alternative product, Amiko Pay, at the Scaling Bitcoin conference in Montreal. During the conversation, he mentioned:

The basic design of the Lightning Network - a network payment channel. This is actually a pretty old idea. There are already quite a few such platforms, and the Lightning Network happens to be the best so far.

Different types of payment channels on the same network

While Amiko Pay and the Lightning Network are very similar, Plooy was quick to point out key differences between the two networks’ payment channels at the Scaling Bitcoin conference in Montreal. The first point Pooly made was that when Amiko Pay became the type of payment channel that could be found on the network, it had to offer as much flexibility as possible:

This design makes it possible to have different channels on the same network, and there are many possibilities. One thing is that these channels can be technically different, so that they can provide different trade-offs in terms of security and convenience.

Plooy went on to add:

Another difference is that they can run on different blockchains.

The ability to build blockchain-independent network payment channels is noteworthy when applied to sidechains. This setup would allow for instant transfers between sidechains. Plooy also added that since different assets can be found on the same network, Amiko Pay nodes can act as decentralized exchanges.

Ripple-style IOU channels implemented

Although Amiko Pay still needs to be improved, the prototype of the channel is already available. Plooy described it in his speech:

The Ripple-style IOU channel that has been implemented is not a true microtransaction channel. It is just an alternative form of microtransaction channel and a record book between debtors. Although it is not yet secure, it is very useful for software testing because it is not difficult to implement.

While the currently available channel is essentially only used for software testing now, Plooy added that it could also be useful for connections between trusted parties in the future.

Building a real lightning channel?

The developers behind the Lightning Network are currently working on a sidechain implementation idea, but this would require some changes to the Bitcoin network, so Plooy decided to take a different approach on his own system. He pointed out, "I don't want to rely on Bitcoin network developers to make changes."

Plooy described another approach he took to implement lightning channels in Amiko Pay:

I designed a different channel that was able to emulate the missing functionality using a third-party service, so now you have to rely on a third-party escrow service to correctly evaluate things that are not evaluated by Bitcoin Script.

Plooy wrote a white paper that explains his third-party-based approach in detail.

He said:

“I think it’s actually pretty useful.”

Plooy ended his speech by pointing out some of the remaining issues with the network’s payment channels, such as unresolved security vulnerabilities and economic models that could hinder development. Right now, there doesn’t seem to be any major problems for Amiko Pay or the Lightning Network.

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Original article: https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/lightning-network-implementation-amiko-pay-currently-in-development-1449073678
By Kyle Torpey
Translator: Wang Er
BTC address: 16enj2bapYdzPfa2DWSVaT1g95MCXg2hHt
Editor: printemps
Source (translation): Babbitt Information (http://www.8btc.com/amiko-pay)