Review of Spark's trust model

Privacy, control, and safety

Lightspark Connect exposes Chainalysis-backed sanctions screening for Lightning nodes

Lightspark's official Connect SDK exposes screenNode for sanctions screening of a Lightning node using a configured provider token. The same SDK names Chainalysis, and archived official documentation describes screening a recipient node public key. This does not establish mandatory screening or Spark SSP use. 123

3 sourcesEvidence reviewed through July 14, 2026

What the evidence shows

Technical and product details

  1. Documented behavior

    The official Connect SDK exposes screenNode for sanctions screening of a Lightning node and requires a valid API token for the selected compliance provider. The reviewed provider enum includes CHAINALYSIS. 12

    Supporting material shown on this page

    screenNodePinned source code · github.com · checked 2026-07-14
    Relevant lines from the pinned source · open raw file
    1398   * @param complianceProvider The provider that you want to use to perform the screening. You must have a valid
1399   *     API token for the provider set in your Lightspark account settings.
1400   * @param nodePubKey The public key of the node that needs to be screened.
1401   * @returns A RiskRating for the node.
1402   */
1403  public async screenNode(
1404    complianceProvider: ComplianceProvider,
    ComplianceProviderPinned source code · github.com · checked 2026-07-14
    Relevant lines from the pinned source · open raw file
    3/** This is an enum identifying a type of compliance provider. **/
4export enum ComplianceProvider {
5  /**
6   * This is an enum value that represents values that could be added in the future.
7   * Clients should support unknown values as more of them could be added without notice.
  2. Documented behavior

    Archived official Connect documentation describes the Chainalysis integration, customer API-key setup, and transmission of the receiver node's public key during screening. 23

    Supporting material shown on this page

    ComplianceProviderPinned source code · github.com · checked 2026-07-14
    Relevant lines from the pinned source · open raw file
    3/** This is an enum identifying a type of compliance provider. **/
4export enum ComplianceProvider {
5  /**
6   * This is an enum value that represents values that could be added in the future.
7   * Clients should support unknown values as more of them could be added without notice.

Interpretation

Why this matters for Spark's trust model

Lightspark already operates the exact class of control alleged in the narrower Lightning theory: inspect the Lightning counterparty with an external sanctions provider before payment. 123

This section states the trust-model consequence of the cited evidence. Conditional or inferred claims remain bounded by the next section.

Scope control

What this does not establish

  • This establishes a configurable Connect capability, not mandatory or default screening of every Connect payment and not a public call from the Spark SSP to Connect's screenNode mutation. 123

Sources and excerpts

Primary sources

The relevant details and available source-code excerpts appear alongside the claims above. This list preserves the complete original-source trail for independent verification.

1

screenNode

Pinned source code · github.com · Pinned or archival · checked 2026-07-14

Open original source
2

ComplianceProvider

Pinned source code · github.com · Pinned or archival · checked 2026-07-14

Open original source
3

archived official Lightspark Chainalysis guide

Archived web source · web.archive.org · Pinned or archival · checked 2026-07-14

Open original source

How sources, absence findings, and limitations were evaluated