Overview
State channels are a technique for performing transactions and other state transitions in a second layer built on top of a blockchain. State channels make blockchains more efficient by moving many processes off-chain, while still retaining a blockchain’s characteristic trustworthiness. Payment channels are a type of state channel that allows users to make "off-chain payments" to each other. The term "state channels" generalizes this approach beyond payments.
Examples are: Counterfactual Raiden Network Lightning Network FunFair
Counterfactual
Overview
Counterfactual is building a generalized framework for native state channels integration in Ethereum-based decentralized applications.
Resources
- Counterfactual: Generalized State Channels - paper describing generalized state channels.
- Generalized State Channels on Ethereum - article describing state channels on Ethereum.
- Video - video presentation of generalized state channels.
Raiden Network
Overview
The Raiden Network is an off-chain scaling solution, enabling near-instant, low-fee and scalable payments. It’s complementary to the Ethereum blockchain and works with any ERC20 compatible token. It is Ethereum’s version of Bitcoin’s Lightning Network.
Resources
- FAQ - overview of the Raiden Network.
- GitHub Documentation - API documentation, developer preview, tuturoials.
- GitHub Repo - codebase.
- Video - video clip explaining the Raiden Network.
Lightning Network
Overview
Lightning is a decentralized network using smart contract functionality in the blockchain to enable instant payments across a network of participants.
Resources
- Whitepaper - overview the Bitcoin Lightning Network: Scalable Off-Chain Instant Payments.
- Summary - brief overview of the Lightning Network.
FunFair's Fate Channels
Overview
A Fate Channel is a State Channel opened for the duration of a gaming session, supporting custom gaming messages between the FunFair client and server. The only transactions on the blockchain occur at the beginning and end of the gaming session.
Resources
- Whitepaper - overview of FunFair with section on Fate Channels.
- State Channels in Disguise - brief overview of Fate Channels.