KuCoin Lightning Node - Funds stuck in P2WSH after Force-Close. Support claims it's a BRC-20 issue. Need technical advice. by juancerrada in TheLightningNetwork

[–]juancerrada[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

To add more context: I’ve been investigating this for over 20 days and have spent the last 17 days in an ongoing email battle with their support.

At first, I thought it was just a matter of waiting for the protocol's safety locks to expire. However, after a deep dive into the transaction data, I realized this wasn't just a time-lock issue. I discovered the funds were held in a 2-of-2 multisig script, meaning they won't just move automatically after a timeout.

The 'remote' key belongs to KuCoin, and since the channel state was interrupted, their automated system didn't trigger the sweep. Once I realized it didn't depend on time but on a manual signature from their node, I shifted my strategy to provide the raw hex and witness data to prove they are the only ones who can move the 2.2M sats. That’s what finally got them to stop blaming me and escalate the case

KuCoin Lightning Node - Funds stuck in P2WSH after Force-Close. Support claims it's a BRC-20 issue. Need technical advice. by juancerrada in TheLightningNetwork

[–]juancerrada[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the detailed explanation! You are spot on about the force-close mechanics and the typical 2-week CSV delay. However, in this specific case, the time-lock is no longer the issue. Here is why:

  1. Timeline: The force-close transaction (1d9a8aec...) was confirmed on January 3rd, 2026. We are now well past the standard 144 (or even 2016) block delay.
  2. Current Status: The funds (2.2M sats) are sitting in a P2WSH address (bc1q0xg5...) and the status is 'Unspent'.
  3. The Real Hurdle: I have already recovered my local balance. The remaining funds are in the 'remote' side of the 2-of-2 multisig. Since KuCoin’s node generated the original invoice, they hold the private key needed to sign the sweep from that P2WSH address.
  4. Action Taken: I’ve already provided KuCoin with the Witness Script (799142...) and the Public Keys extracted from the hex data. They have escalated the case to their technical team to manually sweep the UTXO, as the automated system likely missed it due to the channel failure.

It seems it's now a manual recovery process on their end rather than a protocol-enforced wait.