<p>yes it can! As part of the offers proposal Rusty is currently suggesting to add a standard for so called <code>onion messages</code> to BOLT 07.</p>
<p>You can find more details in the open pull request: <a href="https://github.com/lightningnetwork/lightning-rfc/pull/798/files" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://github.com/lightningnetwork/lightning-rfc/pull/798/files</a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-25T23:39:55.790Z
Cool! Thanks for the link, I'll take a look!
bry
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-25T18:09:19.170Z
2021-07-25T18:09:19.170Z
Rene Pickhardt
<p>In the Mastering Lightning Network book section 3, it describes the Lightning Network as being &quot;... so much more than the cryptographic protocols on top of the Bitcoin scripting language. It is a comprehensive communication protocol that allows peers to exchange Lightning messages to achieve the transfer of bitcoin. The communication protocol defines how Lightning messages are encrypted and exchanged.&quot;</p>
<p>My question is: can Lightning messages be leveraged for purposes other than &quot;to achieve the transfer of bitcoin&quot; (i.e. generalized communication messages)? Can Lightning messages be sent over the network using the LN protocol to an address of, for example, a friend of yours? Seems like the network could have an extendable purpose in this way; however, since I am new to the LN and learning as I go, I'm unsure of the technical feasibility of this.</p>

<transactions><lightning-network><message><transaction-messaging>
Sending "generalized" secret messages over LN using "Lightning messages"
bry
# Sending "generalized" secret messages over LN using "Lightning messages"

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-07-25)

In the Mastering Lightning Network book section 3, it describes the Lightning Network as being "... so much more than the cryptographic protocols on top of the Bitcoin scripting language. It is a comprehensive communication protocol that allows peers to exchange Lightning messages to achieve the transfer of bitcoin. The communication protocol defines how Lightning messages are encrypted and exchanged."

My question is: can Lightning messages be leveraged for purposes other than "to achieve the transfer of bitcoin" (i.e. generalized communication messages)? Can Lightning messages be sent over the network using the LN protocol to an address of, for example, a friend of yours? Seems like the network could have an extendable purpose in this way; however, since I am new to the LN and learning as I go, I'm unsure of the technical feasibility of this.

**Tags:** transactions, lightning-network, message, transaction-messaging


---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2021-07-25. Score: 1

yes it can! As part of the offers proposal Rusty is currently suggesting to add a standard for so called `onion messages` to BOLT 07.

You can find more details in the open pull request: <https://github.com/lightningnetwork/lightning-rfc/pull/798/files>

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Cool! Thanks for the link, I'll take a look!  

---

