that second to last column is the number of hops?
how does it know?
It is actually painful to see a self-proclaimed privacy advocate miss the absolute basics of how Onion Routing works. You are confusing a private wallet view with a public ledger.
For someone who supposedly values privacy tech, it is ironic that you don't understand the fundamental mechanism that makes Lightning private.
"How does it know?" It knows because this screenshot is from the sender's node. In the Lightning Network, payments use Source Routing.
Unlike a blockchain where you broadcast a transaction and miners decide what happens, in Lightning, the sender completely constructs the route before the payment ever leaves their node.
1. Source Routing 101
The sender's software looks at the network graph, calculates the path, and determines exactly which hops to use. Therefore, the sender obviously knows the hop count—they literally chose it to construct the Onion packet.
2. The Sphynx Packet (Onion Routing)
The sender wraps the payment in encrypted layers (like an onion).
Hop 1 peels a layer and sees it needs to pass to Hop 2.
Hop 2 peels a layer and sees it needs to pass to Hop 3.
Crucially: Hop 2 does not know that the payment came from Hop 0 (the sender) or that it is going to Hop 4. Intermediate nodes have no idea what the total hop count is.
3. Context Matters
You are looking at a screenshot of the sender’s own dashboard managing their own Multipath Payment (MPP). You are not looking at a block explorer. If this data were visible to the public or the intermediate nodes, that would be a privacy leak. But it’s not.
Next time, maybe read up on how Client-Side Validation and Source Routing work before trying to dunk on a protocol you clearly haven't studied.
For someone who supposedly values privacy tech, it is ironic that you don't understand the fundamental mechanism that makes Lightning private.
"How does it know?" It knows because this screenshot is from the sender's node. In the Lightning Network, payments use Source Routing.
Unlike a blockchain where you broadcast a transaction and miners decide what happens, in Lightning, the sender completely constructs the route before the payment ever leaves their node.
1. Source Routing 101
The sender's software looks at the network graph, calculates the path, and determines exactly which hops to use. Therefore, the sender obviously knows the hop count—they literally chose it to construct the Onion packet.
2. The Sphynx Packet (Onion Routing)
The sender wraps the payment in encrypted layers (like an onion).
Hop 1 peels a layer and sees it needs to pass to Hop 2.
Hop 2 peels a layer and sees it needs to pass to Hop 3.
Crucially: Hop 2 does not know that the payment came from Hop 0 (the sender) or that it is going to Hop 4. Intermediate nodes have no idea what the total hop count is.
3. Context Matters
You are looking at a screenshot of the sender’s own dashboard managing their own Multipath Payment (MPP). You are not looking at a block explorer. If this data were visible to the public or the intermediate nodes, that would be a privacy leak. But it’s not.
Next time, maybe read up on how Client-Side Validation and Source Routing work before trying to dunk on a protocol you clearly haven't studied.
1
