1. Project Overview
Project Name
ChannelForge — Fiber Liquidity Readiness Engine
One-Sentence Summary
ChannelForge is an open-source Fiber infrastructure layer that helps payment applications determine whether a specific payment can be successfully received, identify liquidity shortages, recommend the minimum intervention required, and verify when the destination becomes payment-ready.
Project Type
Developer Tool · Payment Infrastructure · Ecosystem Infrastructure
2. Team Profile
Core Member
Wilson Momanyi Okeyo
Role: Blockchain Developer / CKB & Fiber Ecosystem Builder
Experience:
-
blockchain application development
-
blockchain infrastructure
-
developer tooling
-
smart contract development
-
Web3 ecosystem development
-
technical education and developer-focused initiatives
-
open-source blockchain projects
ChannelForge will initially be developed as an individual-led open-source project. The resulting code, documentation, tests, and demonstration will be publicly available to developers building on CKB and Fiber.
3. Project Background
Problem
Fiber provides fast, multi-asset payments through off-chain payment channels and multi-hop routing.
However, the existence of a payment route does not necessarily mean that the destination has enough usable inbound liquidity to receive the required payment amount.
For example, a merchant may need to receive:
50,000 RGB++ USDT
The Fiber network may have:
Connected peers
Supported asset
Available payment routes
But the merchant may only have:
31,700 usable inbound liquidity
The payment may therefore be unable to complete even though the merchant is connected to the network and a route appears to exist.
This creates a gap between:
Finding a payment route
↓
Having enough usable liquidity
↓
Being ready to receive the payment
Developers building payment applications currently need to reason about several variables themselves, including:
-
channel state
-
asset support
-
inbound and outbound liquidity
-
route availability
-
payment amount
-
routing costs
-
liquidity constraints
-
possible rebalancing actions
This makes it difficult to build applications that can predict whether a payment will actually succeed before attempting it.
The problem is especially relevant for:
-
merchants
-
wallets
-
payment processors
-
RGB++ applications
-
stablecoin applications
-
Fiber service providers
-
automated payment systems
The missing abstraction is not another payment route.
It is payment liquidity readiness.
Ecosystem Relevance
As Fiber expands its multi-asset payment capabilities, applications need better ways to understand whether liquidity is available where a payment needs to arrive.
ChannelForge introduces a simple application-level question:
Can this destination receive
this exact payment right now?
If the answer is no, ChannelForge should provide:
How much liquidity is missing?
↓
What intervention could resolve the shortage?
↓
Is the destination ready after the intervention?
This turns liquidity from something developers discover through failed payments into something they can analyze proactively.
4. Solution
Overview
ChannelForge is a browser/API-accessible and open-source infrastructure layer that turns Fiber’s channel and routing state into a programmable liquidity-readiness engine.
The project does not attempt to replace Fiber’s existing payment, routing, channel, or liquidity mechanisms.
Instead, it provides the missing application-level layer between Fiber’s network primitives and payment applications.
The first version focuses on:
Observe
↓
Analyze
↓
Recommend
↓
Verify
The Spark milestone will focus on four core components:
-
Payment Liquidity Intent
-
Liquidity Readiness Engine
-
Liquidity Intervention Recommendation
-
Payment-Ready Verification
Deliverable 1: Payment Liquidity Intent
Final Form
A machine-readable interface through which an application can specify exactly what liquidity it requires.
Example:
Payment Liquidity Intent
Asset:
RGB++ USDT
Destination:
Merchant Node
Required Amount:
50,000
Payment Deadline:
10 minutes
Maximum Cost:
0.5%
Minimum Readiness:
95%
Purpose
Instead of simply asking whether a destination is connected, applications can describe a concrete payment requirement.
ChannelForge uses this requirement as the input for its liquidity analysis.
Core Parameters
The initial specification will support:
-
asset
-
destination
-
required amount
-
payment deadline
-
maximum acceptable cost
-
minimum readiness requirement
Deliverable 2: Fiber Liquidity Readiness Engine
Final Form
A Fiber-integrated engine that analyzes relevant channel and routing conditions and determines whether the requested payment is currently feasible.
Example:
PAYMENT LIQUIDITY ANALYSIS
Required:
50,000
Usable inbound liquidity:
31,700
Liquidity deficit:
18,300
Best available route:
3 hops
Estimated cost:
0.18%
Status:
NOT PAYMENT-READY
Purpose
The engine converts raw Fiber network information into an application-friendly readiness result.
Core Features
The engine will analyze:
-
channel state
-
asset availability
-
destination connectivity
-
usable inbound liquidity
-
potential payment routes
-
liquidity requirements
-
estimated payment cost
-
payment-readiness conditions
Deliverable 3: Liquidity Intervention Recommendation
Final Form
When sufficient liquidity is not available, ChannelForge will provide an actionable recommendation.
Example:
PAYMENT LIQUIDITY ANALYSIS
Required:
50,000
Available:
31,700
Deficit:
18,300
Recommended intervention:
Circular rebalance
Expected liquidity:
50,000+
Status:
INTERVENTION REQUIRED
The MVP will focus on recommendation rather than autonomous fund movement.
This makes the first version safer and more achievable within the grant period.
The system will explain what liquidity is missing and what Fiber-compatible action could potentially resolve the shortage.
Future versions could extend this into:
Observe
↓
Analyze
↓
Recommend
↓
Execute
↓
Verify
Deliverable 4: Payment-Ready Verification
Final Form
After liquidity conditions change, ChannelForge will evaluate the original Payment Liquidity Intent again.
Example:
PAYMENT READY ✓
Required:
50,000
Usable inbound liquidity:
52,400
Best route:
3 hops
Estimated cost:
0.18%
Status:
READY
Purpose
Liquidity conditions can change dynamically.
ChannelForge therefore needs to verify that an intervention has actually produced the required payment conditions instead of assuming that the problem has been solved.
Core Workflow
Payment Liquidity Intent
↓
Fiber Network Analysis
↓
Liquidity Deficit Detection
↓
Intervention Recommendation
↓
Liquidity State Changes
↓
Payment-Ready Verification
↓
Payment
5. Technical Approach
Technology Stack
Core Engine:
Rust / Fiber-compatible infrastructure
Fiber Integration:
Fiber network and channel interfaces
Developer Interface:
CLI and API interface
Testing:
Fiber test environment and simulated payment scenarios
Documentation:
Markdown-based developer documentation
Deployment:
Public GitHub repository and reproducible demonstration environment
Architecture Overview
Fiber Network
│
┌───────────┴───────────┐
│ │
Channels Routes
│ │
└───────────┬───────────┘
↓
ChannelForge
│
┌────────────────┼────────────────┐
│ │ │
↓ ↓ ↓
Liquidity Analysis Route Analysis Readiness Engine
│ │ │
└────────────────┼────────────────┘
↓
Intervention
Recommendation
│
↓
Payment Ready
Key Technical Challenges
1. Modeling Usable Inbound Liquidity
Challenge:
A channel’s total capacity does not necessarily represent the amount that can currently be used to receive a particular payment.
Solution:
ChannelForge will analyze the relevant Fiber channel state and determine the usable liquidity available toward the destination for the requested asset and payment amount.
2. Determining Payment Readiness
Challenge:
A route may exist while the available liquidity is insufficient for the actual payment.
Solution:
ChannelForge will evaluate the complete Payment Liquidity Intent against current liquidity and routing conditions.
The result will be a clear readiness state:
PAYMENT READY
or:
NOT PAYMENT-READY
together with the relevant reason.
3. Identifying the Liquidity Deficit
Challenge:
A generic payment failure does not tell an application how much liquidity is missing.
Solution:
ChannelForge will calculate the difference between:
Required liquidity
-
Usable liquidity
and expose the result to developers.
Example:
Required:
50,000
Usable:
31,700
Deficit:
18,300
4. Producing Actionable Recommendations
Challenge:
Identifying a shortage is useful, but developers also need to understand what could resolve it.
Solution:
The recommendation engine will evaluate available Fiber-native liquidity mechanisms and identify an appropriate intervention, such as circular rebalancing where applicable.
The MVP will recommend actions rather than automatically controlling user funds.
5. Verifying Liquidity Changes
Challenge:
Fiber liquidity is dynamic and can change after payments, rebalancing, or channel updates.
Solution:
ChannelForge will re-evaluate the original Payment Liquidity Intent after a liquidity intervention.
The system will only report:
PAYMENT READY
when the defined conditions are satisfied.
6. To-Do List
Week 1: Architecture Design
Tasks:
-
define ChannelForge architecture
-
define Payment Liquidity Intent
-
identify required Fiber network state
-
design liquidity analysis model
-
establish Fiber test environment
Milestone:
ChannelForge architecture and Payment Liquidity Intent specification completed.
Week 2: Fiber Integration
Tasks:
-
integrate Fiber network information
-
integrate channel state
-
implement asset identification
-
establish test scenarios
-
create initial network-state adapter
Milestone:
ChannelForge can retrieve and process the required Fiber network information.
Week 3: Liquidity Analysis Engine
Tasks:
-
implement usable inbound liquidity calculation
-
implement liquidity deficit calculation
-
implement route analysis
-
implement estimated cost analysis
-
create structured analysis output
Milestone:
Working Fiber liquidity analysis engine.
Week 4: Readiness and Recommendation Engine
Tasks:
-
implement Payment Liquidity Intent evaluation
-
implement payment-readiness status
-
implement intervention recommendation logic
-
add edge-case handling
-
build initial CLI/API interface
Milestone:
Working readiness and recommendation system.
Week 5: Verification and Testing
Tasks:
-
implement post-intervention verification
-
test RGB++ scenarios
-
create integration tests
-
test different liquidity conditions
-
test failed and insufficient-liquidity scenarios
-
improve reliability
Milestone:
Complete end-to-end liquidity-readiness workflow.
Week 6: Finalization
Tasks:
-
polish CLI/API
-
complete technical documentation
-
create developer examples
-
prepare public repository
-
produce end-to-end demonstration
-
complete final tests
-
publish MVP
Milestone:
Public ChannelForge MVP release.
7. Required Funding
Total Requested
$1,000 USD
Funding Breakdown
| Category | Amount |
|---|---|
| Core liquidity engine development | $400 |
| Fiber/RGB++ integration and testing | $200 |
| CLI/API implementation | $150 |
| Testnet and demonstration infrastructure | $100 |
| Documentation and developer examples | $100 |
| Testing and final deployment | $50 |
| Total | $1,000 |
Justification
The funding supports a focused six-week MVP development cycle.
The project prioritizes:
-
Fiber-native infrastructure
-
payment liquidity analysis
-
RGB++ compatibility
-
measurable technical deliverables
-
developer usability
-
open-source ecosystem value
The project intentionally does not attempt to build a full liquidity marketplace or autonomous liquidity-management system within this grant.
The requested funding is therefore focused on delivering a working and reusable liquidity-readiness infrastructure primitive.
8. Deliverables + How to Verify
Deliverable 1
Payment Liquidity Intent
Format:
Open-source specification and implementation.
Acceptance Criteria:
Developers can define a payment requirement containing:
-
asset
-
destination
-
amount
-
deadline
-
cost constraints
Verification
Steps:
-
Open the ChannelForge CLI/API.
-
Create a Payment Liquidity Intent.
-
Specify an asset, destination, and required amount.
-
Submit the intent.
Expected Result:
ChannelForge accepts the intent and generates a liquidity analysis request.
Deliverable 2
Fiber Liquidity Readiness Engine
Format:
Open-source code repository.
Acceptance Criteria:
Users can:
-
analyze Fiber channel state
-
identify usable inbound liquidity
-
calculate liquidity deficits
-
analyze potential routes
-
determine payment readiness
Verification
Steps:
-
Start a Fiber test environment.
-
Create a payment scenario.
-
Submit a Payment Liquidity Intent.
-
Run the ChannelForge analysis.
Expected Result:
The system returns a structured result such as:
Required:
50,000
Usable inbound:
31,700
Liquidity deficit:
18,300
Status:
NOT PAYMENT-READY
Deliverable 3
Liquidity Intervention Recommendation
Format:
Integrated software module.
Acceptance Criteria:
When insufficient liquidity is detected, ChannelForge produces an actionable recommendation.
Verification
Steps:
-
Create a payment intent requiring more liquidity than currently available.
-
Run liquidity analysis.
-
Review the recommendation.
Expected Result:
The system returns:
Liquidity deficit:
18,300
Recommended intervention:
Circular rebalance
Deliverable 4
Payment-Ready Verification
Format:
Integrated verification module.
Acceptance Criteria:
ChannelForge can determine whether the original payment intent becomes satisfiable after liquidity conditions change.
Verification
Steps:
-
Run an intent with insufficient liquidity.
-
Apply the recommended liquidity intervention in the test environment.
-
Run the same intent again.
Expected Result:
Required:
50,000
Usable inbound:
52,400
Status:
PAYMENT READY
Deliverable 5
Documentation and Demonstration
Format:
GitHub repository, technical documentation, and public demonstration.
Acceptance Criteria:
Developers can understand how ChannelForge works and reproduce the core workflow.
Final Evidence
The final report will include:
-
repository link
-
demonstration link
-
architecture documentation
-
API/CLI documentation
-
screenshots
-
test results
-
end-to-end demonstration
-
RGB++ test scenarios
-
development summary
9. Current State vs Funded Work
Current State
Completed:
-
project concept
-
problem analysis
-
Fiber ecosystem research
-
architecture planning
-
liquidity-readiness model
-
Payment Liquidity Intent concept
-
MVP scope definition
The project is currently at the design and architecture stage.
Funded Work
During the Eco Fund development period:
Build:
-
Fiber integration
-
liquidity analysis engine
-
Payment Liquidity Intent implementation
-
payment-readiness engine
-
liquidity deficit calculation
-
intervention recommendation system
-
payment-ready verification
-
CLI/API interface
-
automated tests
-
documentation
-
public demonstration
The funding will move ChannelForge from a defined architecture and concept into a working open-source MVP.
**
10. CKB Alignment**
ChannelForge directly supports the CKB ecosystem by improving the reliability and developer usability of Fiber-based payments.
The project focuses on the intersection of:
-
CKB assets
-
RGB++
-
Fiber payment channels
-
multi-hop routing
-
inbound liquidity
-
merchant payments
-
payment infrastructure
-
developer tooling
The initial implementation will use RGB++ assets as the primary use case, while keeping the underlying architecture sufficiently asset-generic to support other CKB/Fiber assets.
The ecosystem flow is:
CKB / RGB++
↓
Fiber
↓
Payment Channels
↓
Liquidity Analysis
↓
Payment Readiness
↓
Reliable Payment Applications
ChannelForge does not attempt to replace Fiber’s core payment-channel or routing infrastructure.
Instead, it provides a complementary developer infrastructure layer that helps applications understand one of the most important practical constraints of channel-based payments:
Is there enough usable liquidity at the destination for this payment?
This gives CKB/Fiber developers a higher-level primitive for building:
-
merchant payment systems
-
wallets
-
payment processors
-
RGB++ applications
-
stablecoin payment applications
-
Fiber service infrastructure
-
automated payment applications
The project also provides a natural foundation for future improvements in Fiber liquidity management.
The long-term vision is to make payment liquidity readiness a reusable primitive across the CKB payment ecosystem.
Instead of applications discovering liquidity problems only after a payment fails, they can proactively determine:
Can this destination receive this payment?
↓
How much liquidity is available?
↓
How much is missing?
↓
What intervention is required?
↓
Is the destination now ready?
Ultimately:
Fiber provides the payment network.
ChannelForge provides the liquidity intelligence that helps applications know when that network is ready for their payment.