what issues does the lightning network try to address 
some issues the lightning network attempts to correct are the lightning network allows users to open channels so that they can send multiple transactions to each other without waiting for the slower main net to confirm single exchanges between the opening and closing of a channel parties can shift funds between themselves as needed once the channel is closed the transactions go to the main net for confirmation concerns about the lightning networkthe most obvious problem with the lightning network is that it could lead to a replication of the hub and spoke model that characterizes today s financial systems in the current model banks and financial institutions are the primary intermediaries through which all transactions occur businesses that invest in lightning network nodes may become similar hubs or centralized nodes in the network by having more open connections with others other concerns are fraud fees hacks and price volatility the lightning network had a network capacity across all channels of 4 857 btc on may 8 2024 down from 5 471 btc in mid 2023 2one risk when using the lightning network is closed channel fraud this happens when a user closes a channel logging off and goes offline before the transaction completes for example suppose sam and judy are transacting and one has malicious intent the dishonest party may be able to steal coins from the other participant using a technique called fraudulent channel close let s say sam and judy each put up an initial deposit of 0 5 btc to open a channel and a transaction of 1 btc has taken place in which sam purchased goods from judy if judy logs off closes the channel after transferring the goods and sam doesn t sam could broadcast the initial state the time before the 1 btc was transferred meaning they both get their initial deposits back as if no transactions were done in other words sam would have received 1 btc worth of goods for free and the deposit is returned this makes it necessary for third parties to run on nodes to prevent fraud within the lightning network called a watchtower the watchtower monitors the transactions and helps prevent a fraudulent channel close transaction fees are associated with using the lightning network they are a combination of routing charges for routing payment information between lightning nodes opening and closing channels and bitcoin s usual transaction fees once the two parties settle the bill they must record a closing transaction for the agreed amount on the blockchain including the fee charged for forwarding the transactions this is either a base fee a set fee or a fee rate a percentage of the transaction 3the lightning network is also believed to be vulnerable to hacks and thefts because payment channels wallets and application programming interfaces apis can all be hacked individual payment channels between various parties combine to form a network of lightning network nodes that can route transactions among themselves the interconnections between different payment channels result in the lightning network another risk to the network is congestion caused by a malicious attack if the payment channels become congested and there s a malicious hack or attack the participants may not be able to get their money back fast enough due to the congestion attackers can also use a denial of service attack to congest a channel essentially freezing it in these types of attacks the attacker could use the congestion to steal funds from parties who are unable to withdraw their funds because of the network freeze 4