0 sats \ 0 replies \ @ursuscamp 11 May 2023 \ on: Is it possible for exchanges to create fake sats using lightning? bitcoin
No, assuming adversarial channel partners. It's possible for two partners to have a channel which is not backed by anything. For instance, they may have a database that keeps track of credit between them, which they will settle later. As long as they obey the protocol, they route payments and such.
However, no one can trick you into receiving fake sats. If you're using Lightning to pay for goods and services, your channel will be real, and the merchant's channel will be real. The only "fake" sats that could exists will be in the middle. It's not inflationary, just extra liquidity for the network. The only people that could get rug pulled are the ones actually opening credit-based channels.
That assumes you're using a non-custodial solution, though. It's possible that your custodial Lightning wallet is fractional reserving. However, there is no lender of last resort so any custodial service is on EXTREMELY thin ice. This isn't really inflationary either, since the actual supply of sats isn't increased.