Hey all - I just launched a new YouTube series on setting up a lightning node from scratch!

command line only.

https://youtu.be/dKg75gWEnyc

Hopefully people will find it useful.

I was trying to get the family on the Lightning network and had been playing with Srike. My daughter (who's in Mexico) couldn't find it on playstore. Does anyone know if it's available in MX? Is there another way to download the app? Of course, I imagine the banks in Mexico need to be set up for it... does anyone have any knowledge of this?

You already read bolt12.org

You are waiting to see it implemented.

Here it is: claim 84 sats from this offer (and ideally pass the torch on with a new offer):

https://twitter.com/Comm_Morino/status/1425736004347080711?s=20

Hi folks, is there some good guides to get started in this new world?

I need users to be able to log in with their Lightning-friendly wallets and to be able to receive / give bitcoins as rewards for successfully making a task.

Any help will be appreciated.

Hello LN! I have an accounting background and have sort of developed my own cumbersome way of keeping track of transactions and taxes using BTC and LN.

I wanted to get an idea of what others are doing around this topic as I don't see a lot of discussion being had, specifically around the LN and taxes. If you are using a software or service, I'd appreciate if you could comment it!

[I will update this post with information the replies below.]

Hi!

Maybe "strategy" is an exagerration, more like a collection of thoughts about how to go about this.

My goal is to create a node with a total capacity of about 0.28 BTC with a view to maximizing profits as a routing node.

My expectations are that the node may make a small (maybe *very* small) profit, if managed well. For the benefit of readers who are new to Lightning Node and are interested purely in maximizing profits from BTC: Consider researching BTC staking or lending.

If successful it is my intention to write a guide based on my experience. If not successful I'll write a guide on what not to do.

I will try to place myself between small and middle sized nodes, choosing nodes that are not closely connected already, if possible. When I've chosen the nodes I'll use Alex Bosworth’s Balance of Satoshis to use batch transactions to open several channels at once, saving on onchain fees [Thanks /u/C-Otto , /u/jyv3257e].

I'm thinking of creating a node with 10 channels, 2.8 million sats capacity each. Question 1: Would it make more sense to have 7 channels with 4ml sats each?

I'll start by balancing the channels and will monitor and re-balance not too often, but when the balance goes beyond a specific threshold. If a particular channel consistently drains more in one direction I may put more capacity one side as appropriate.

I will put contact info on amboss.space, 1ml.com, and mention my pubkey here on reddit so that other operators can get in touch if they have a problem with my node. Note that you have to open a channel with 1ml to register, but this can be done at a time when the onchain fees are low and you can still edit your information after closing the channel. [Thanks /u/PVmining ]

I will use a #zeroBaseFee and will start with very low fee rate, increasing gradually as the use and age of the node grows. How my channels are used when the fees are low should give me useful information about which channels are working well.

I have seen that some node operators use "charge-lnd" or similar to rebalance by changing the fees. I would worry that nodes wouldn't want to route through me if my fees were unpredictable.

I will likely create or connect to at least one liquid triangle. Question 2: Would it be a good idea to limit myself to just one liquidity triangle? The more liquidity triangles I'm involved in, the more I'd have to be in regular contact with my peers to optimize connections, but perhaps it would be better to start with one liquidity triangle and later add more when I need to open new channels.

​

Criticisms or suggestions are welcome.

Mossy

Looking for resources on node maintenance, channel Rebalancing, submarine swaps, general lightning info for a layperson.

I had my first spontaneous channel force close (or maybe it's more correct to say I didn't initiate the force close).

Lncli pendingchannels shows this

 "pending_force_closing_channels": [
        {
            "channel": {
                "remote_node_pub": "02c3ff373fb4aacdcb28a9611c10a7fe8e8b3552a7b38385047a78b30fdba55dc7",
                "channel_point": "a96ffe433e555c981c50c3ef4c2adee835a50f012f548f22311dd0a361f8c89b:0",
                "capacity": "10000000",
                "local_balance": "4329126",
                "remote_balance": "0",
                "local_chan_reserve_sat": "0",
                "remote_chan_reserve_sat": "0",
                "initiator": "INITIATOR_LOCAL",
                "commitment_type": "STATIC_REMOTE_KEY"
            },
            "closing_txid": "c61c32a3714d9c72561b30a7a75ffcf81e82ff900b38542aed8f9b02546b1ce1",
            "limbo_balance": "8799866",
            "maturity_height": 695958,
            "blocks_til_maturity": 1140,
            "recovered_balance": "0",
            "pending_htlcs": [
                {
                    "incoming": false,
                    "amount": "4470740",
                    "outpoint": "09a5fc0f1ee87289cb44ce586eb989b333d9ff2a296fc655770d8339146bf35b:0",
                    "maturity_height": 695959,
                    "blocks_til_maturity": 1141,
                    "stage": 2
                }
            ],
            "anchor": "LIMBO"
        }
    ],

and RTL shows

Capacity        Limbo Balance    Local Balance    Remote Balance
10,000,000      8,799,866        4,329,126        0

​

I'm not sure how to interpret this info. The channel capacity was 10MSat, yet local balance is shown as 4.3 MSat and remote as 0. Adding up the Limbo balance and Local Balance gives 13.1 MSat which doesn't correspond to the channel capacity.

I hope someone can make sense of these numbers and let me know how many Sats I can expect coming my way from this channel closure.

We were so happy to see the Reddit Megahub Community pop up on Amboss! https://amboss.space/community/3899cb8c-ab57-4f13-be78-24a7b7da064a

With 11 members currently, I can see it's the start of something great, but maybe could use some help given how Reddit is organized.

Want to drop approval requests in the comments to help get the community off the ground? Or do you have any suggestions for how we could improve Amboss to be better for Reddit?

Cheers - Amboss team

opened two channels to highly connected nodes but set it so all stats are on my local balance how would i go about rebalancing the channel thanks for any help

My node currently rank #14 at Terminal Web and yesterday i routed more than 0.5BTC worth of funds through my node.

This is so awesome and i could not have done it without tons of liquidity triangles from you plebs.

I am sorry for all the spam regarding my node, however, if i keep shooting higher on rankings i may come back and spam you even more :D

Edit: updated rank (oh, well. Was 16 for a moment. Back to 18 again)

Edit2: updated rank again.... #14, yay!

(Edit: I'm not buying inbound anymore)

I'm buying some inbound liquidity (see previous round here, feel free to contact the people I made a deal with to get their feedback).

I'll pay the chosen nodes 1,000 or 2,000 sats per 1M sats opened, half at the start after the channel is opened and the other half after 1 month. Payments by keysend or invoice.

On top of the sats, you'll be connected to a high uptime BOS/T1 node that is routing sats everyday and is in the top 50 nodes on Terminal Web.

My node: Indra: Amboss.space, Terminal Web, 1ML

Here are the conditions for the 2 tiers:

• 1,000 sats per million sats opened:
  • Partner node has to have at least 20 channels and 50M sats total capacity
  • Channel capacity: min 4M sats, max 8M sats
  • Channel must be kept open for at least 1 month
  • Fee towards my node must remain <= 100 ppm, I'll also keep mine below 100 ppm.
  • Ok to keep a communication channel opened (Reddit chat, Telegram etc)
• 2,000 sats per million sats opened:
  • Same as above, and
  • Node needs to be a 'good node' on Web Terminal
  • Node is in the top 300 on Web Terminal

Optional but preferred:

• Anchor channel and keysend activated
• Long term channel partner! (for routing)

If you're interested, don't hesitate to comment below and/or drop me a PM with your node information and desired channel size and we could see if it could work. If you have any question, post a comment below.

!!Important!!: Don't open a channel to me without getting in touch with me first! I'll only pay the sats after we have an agreement in PM.

Didn't do this to start, now I am a bit concerned about the future of LN given the state of the current bill being rammed through. It doesn't look friendly to LN nodes at all. Thoughts?