''the payment channel connecting two participants is essentially an ordinary multi-signature wallet. The first transaction determines the balance of a channel, which we call “recharge transaction” or “anchor transaction”. This transaction needs to be broadcast to the network and recorded on the blockchain to indicate that the channel is open.''
[https://coinyuppie.com/in-depth-interpretation-of-lightning-network-part-1-payment-channel/](https://coinyuppie.com/in-depth-interpretation-of-lightning-network-part-1-payment-channel/)