Guy Who 'Lost' 4 Bitcoin Has Recovered Most Funds a Month Later

One month on, a Redditor who "Lost" 4 Bitcoin on the Lightning Network has published advice based on his experience.

Don't Panic, WAIT. As reported, the Lightning Network is a second-layer solution to Bitcoin's scalability limitations, which works by opening payment channels between users that keep the majority of transactions off-chain, turning to the underlying blockchain only to record the net results.

In his post, ZipoTm gave details of the five successful steps he had taken to recover most of his funds.

"Step 1: coop-closed channels with funds on seed".

Step 2: remote force-closed channels with perCommitPoint in channel.

Step 3: remote force-closed channels where we have to ask peers for the perCommitPoint.

Step 5: still open channels, try force-closing with old stat".

By way of additional advice, ZipoTm counseled users seeking to force-close channels to always do this manually, channel by channel, and when their node is fully synced.

He highlighted the usefulness of creating static channel backups, or SCBs, each time after opening a new channel and safeguarding the associated 24-word seed.

Lastly, he warned not to panic but to wait after each step and to thoroughly research how the system works before using it to send significant amounts of BTC.Code of ethics.