Overview
A multi-hop payment is a Lightning Network payment that travels through one or more intermediary nodes to reach the final recipient. Since it is impractical for every pair of users to have a direct channel, the Lightning Network relies on multi-hop routing to enable payments between any two participants connected through a path of channels.
How It Works
Alice wants to pay Dave 10,000 sats.
No direct channel exists, but a path is found:
Alice ──ch1──→ Bob ──ch2──→ Carol ──ch3──→ Dave
Step 1: Alice constructs an onion-encrypted route
Step 2: Alice sends HTLC to Bob (locked to payment hash)
Step 3: Bob forwards HTLC to Carol
Step 4: Carol forwards HTLC to Dave
Step 5: Dave reveals preimage to claim payment
Step 6: Preimage propagates back: Carol → Bob → Alice
Each intermediary node only knows its immediate predecessor and successor, not the full route. This is achieved through onion routing, where each node peels off one layer of encryption to reveal only the next hop.
HTLCs Ensure Trustlessness
HTLCs (Hash Time-Locked Contracts) guarantee that either the entire payment succeeds or the entire payment fails — no intermediary can steal funds. Each hop in the route has a time-locked condition that ensures funds are returned to the sender if the payment is not completed within a certain timeframe.
Routing Fees
Each intermediary node may charge a small routing fee for forwarding the payment. The total fee for a multi-hop payment is the sum of all intermediary fees along the route. The sender's node calculates the total cost, including fees, before initiating the payment.
Common Misconceptions
Multi-hop payments do not require trust in intermediary nodes. Thanks to the cryptographic properties of HTLCs, intermediary nodes cannot steal the payment — they can only forward it or refuse to cooperate (in which case the payment times out and funds return to the sender).