Atomic Swaps and HTLCs

13 min readarticleIncludes quiz · 1 questions

Understand the cryptographic magic that makes Lightning payments atomic and trustless.

Hash Time-Locked Contracts (HTLCs):

  • •Hash Lock: Payment requires a secret preimage
  • •Time Lock: Refund after timeout
  • •Atomic: All-or-nothing execution
  • •Trustless: No intermediary can steal funds

HTLCs enable multi-hop payments where either everyone gets paid or no one does.

HTLC Mechanics
HTLC Mechanics

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