Features

Kchannels is a payment channel solution with a primary focus on usability and user experience. Our goal is to help the Ethereum ecosystem into the mainstream by designing a product that can support a wide variety of use-cases, including commerce. We have created a system with a no-hassle experience customers will be comfortable with and which businesses and merchants can easily integrate into their existing payment backends.

Low transaction fees

As with other Layer2 solutions, our transaction fees are much lower compared to those of the blockchain. But we try to go even further to lower upkeep costs (utilizing a single smart contract, for example) and pass these savings on to users.

Unattended channels

Your assets are safe unattended as they cannot be claimed by anyone, including us. There is no need to constantly monitor the blockchain; the only one who can dispute your assets is you. You can now just leave your channel open and funded, walk away, and reuse it any time you wish. You can also receive incoming transactions at an unattended channel.

Non-custodial system

Kchannels cannot operate on your assets without you. Kchannels components are not even allowed to own anything within the system. All transactions start with a user and end with a user, with Kchannels merely facilitating the transaction.

Ease of use

There is no need to use special libraries or to write complex code to interact with Kchannels. If your application can call a JSON-RPC API and calculate EIP-712 signatures, you are all set.

Fast and easy deposits and withdrawals

Both deposits and withdrawals only take as long as the time to mine a block. You can deposit funds right into an open channel. Similarly, your withdrawals are not subject to a "dispute period" and are sent out immediately.

Support for multiple assets

Kchannels supports both ether and popular ERC-20 tokens, all of which can be stored in a single channel. You can also transfer more than one asset in a single transaction.

Transactions from your channel to Layer1

With Kchannels you are never limited in who you can transact with, even if your friends/counterparties do not have a channel with Kchannels. In this case, your transaction goes on the blockchain automatically. Simply submit your transaction normally and it will be sent from your channel to a Mainnet address.

Choose your own experience

How much control do you need? We support two primary modes of operation, both of which can be further customized:

• Light Mode - You are letting Kchannels receive transactions on your behalf without your participation. You might not even be online! This is the best and simplest user experience possible, and the permission you grant Kchannels is only to receive, never to send. Sending is something you always have to authorize yourself.

• Watchtower Mode - Here, you have ultimate control. In this mode, Kchannels is merely a facilitator for any and all transactions into your channel. Your sign-off is required for anything at all on your channel to change, but the trade-off is that you need to run your own watchtower software, which is not for everyone.

Dispute resolution

You have a robust dispute resolution process at your disposal, which can override any decision within Kchannels. This process can even close your channel for you and give you back your assets.

Trust-minimized

A transaction always starts with a user signature--your signature--and without it no assets are allowed to move. No one except you can initiate a valid transaction that can withstand a dispute process with the Kchannels smart contract. In other words you do not need to trust us, you simply need to trust our smart contract, which enforces the rules of the system on us.