<p>No. You can pick the revoked state (or &quot;old balance&quot; in your terminology) that is most beneficial to you i.e. the highest old balance that you previously had in the channel and broadcast that one if you are seeking to cheat your counterparty. It may be that one of the previously revoked states is one where you own effectively all the balance in the channel (e.g. if you single funded the channel in the first place). But you can't create a state that didn't previously exist where you own all the Bitcoin in the channel without getting a signature from the counterparty in the channel. If the counterparty in the channel broadcasts a revoked state then you can under the current LN penalty mechanism seize all the funds in the channel with a justice transaction but again it requires a previous action from the counterparty.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-02-24T14:19:16.210Z
@RenePickhardt: Circular rebalances would still require the channel counterparty to agree (and sign for) every change in state in the channel right?
Michael Folkson
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-02-24T15:51:24.197Z
Sry misread the question. Deleted my comment!
Rene Pickhardt
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-02-24T11:28:37.760Z
2023-02-24T11:28:37.760Z
Michael Folkson
<p>I know, that I can settle old balances in a closing transaction. But can I also settle arbitrary &quot;fantasy&quot; balances in a force close when my channel partner is long dead. By example by modifying the transaction DB of my lnd node?</p>

<lightning-network><lightning-network-daemon><ln-penalty-transaction>
Lightning: Can a channel partner betray with an arbitrary balance?
Rainer Feike
# Lightning: Can a channel partner betray with an arbitrary balance?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-02-24)

I know, that I can settle old balances in a closing transaction. But can I also settle arbitrary "fantasy" balances in a force close when my channel partner is long dead. By example by modifying the transaction DB of my lnd node?

**Tags:** lightning-network, lightning-network-daemon, ln-penalty-transaction


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2023-02-24. Score: 0 | Accepted answer

No. You can pick the revoked state (or "old balance" in your terminology) that is most beneficial to you i.e. the highest old balance that you previously had in the channel and broadcast that one if you are seeking to cheat your counterparty. It may be that one of the previously revoked states is one where you own effectively all the balance in the channel (e.g. if you single funded the channel in the first place). But you can't create a state that didn't previously exist where you own all the Bitcoin in the channel without getting a signature from the counterparty in the channel. If the counterparty in the channel broadcasts a revoked state then you can under the current LN penalty mechanism seize all the funds in the channel with a justice transaction but again it requires a previous action from the counterparty.

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: @RenePickhardt: Circular rebalances would still require the channel counterparty to agree (and sign for) every change in state in the channel right?  
> **username_2**: Sry misread the question. Deleted my comment!  

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