Operator Of Large BTC Lightning Network Hub Takes His Nodes Offline For Funds Security Reasons

Operator Of Large Lightning Network Hub Takes His Nodes Offline

In a highly controversial yet justifiable move, it appears as though Andreas Brekken, who was once the largest capacity holder on the Lightning Network, has taken his nodes offline due to a variety of reasons associated with counterparty risks, fund locking and zero usage/earnings.

Brekken took to twitter earlier today to announce the reasons behind his decision. Essentially, he claims that he took down his hub because of the following issues:

• Funds have to be online/hot. Introduces counterparty compared to hardware/paper wallet.
• Funds are locked in channels. If the other side of the channel is unreachable, you need to wait up to weeks
• Earns nothing. Much less than hosting cost.

  Immediately, the online crypto community started questioning Brekken’s motives, even going as far as saying that he was just being ‘pessimistic’ about the current state of the altcoin market. In this regard, Brekken was quick to shoot out a reply wherein he wrote:

  https://twitter.com/abrkn/status/1078247064667111425