On page 93 of his
[*Cryptoeconomics*][1]
he writes:Layering preserves the cryptodynamic principles of decentralization, while “backing” is
full abandonment of them. Bitcoin cannot be sustained as predominantly a backing
money for central bank notes. People must trade with it for it to be secure.
He refers the reader to the following explanation of the term layering:
Trade using a sequence of Unconfirmed Transactions that can be Settled by either party
From my understanding 2-of-2 multisig and presigned transactions are building blocks of lightning. Does Eric refer here to a scaling solution such as lightning?
[1]: https://voskuil.org/cryptoeconomics/cryptoeconomics.pdf
Yes, but probably not specifically... the concept of payment channels pre-dates the network element of it
I believe so. He views layering as the best way to scale Bitcoin: higher-level systems that eventually settle to the base layer. He says that users are making "a local and time-limited security compromise" when using such systems, but this is better than making "a system-wide and permanent compromise". Although not mentioned in the book, this would include Lightning and similar systems.