Hello all,
Phew it's been a while since I've posting anything. Let's rectify that now..
I've gone and done it, finally I have my own Bitcoin Lightning node. I first mentioned my experiments with Lighting Network about 7 months ago in this post:
https://hive.blog/hive-177682/@neoxian/my-first-adventures-with-lightning-network
In that post I said
The non-custodial options look like they require a bit more work, I will investigate them, and hopefully describe one in a future post.
Well here we are. Did it require a bit more work? Yes it sure did!
What is Bitcoin Lightning again?
First a quick refresher. The Bitcoin Lighting network is a second layer network that runs on top of base Bitcoin. It can allow for quick and very cheap transactions. The transactions take place in something called a "channel" which is opened on the base layer, and then closed later after many transactions have taken place in it.
How easy was it to set up?
Ok well, it was "easy" in the sense that a single individual using a very modest and cheap computer can run a lightning node. You should have a pretty good network though. You do not have to be a large company, with a huge server room and a million dollar budget to run a node like this. This is important for the decentralization, that lots of small individuals can run their nodes if they want.
Here is a picture of my lightning node. Cute huh? Just a little tiny computer I have sitting in my office. Heck I also run a Nextcloud server on it as well, and will probably add some other servers on it too, so it's not even 100% dedicated to the lightning node.
But it might be a little hard for an average person
Your average grandma or Joe will probably have trouble setting up their own lightning node. To be fair, I didn't do it the easiest way possible. There are turn-key solutions that you can just buy and plug in and turn on, and they just work. Here are a couple:
https://umbrel.com/ or
https://start9.com/
Both of these offer an option to simply buy a small box with everything set up on it already. I wanted a little more control, so I did it the harder way and set it up myself.
Tell us about your lightning node
You can peek at my node via https://1ml.com/, a cool site that very handy when looking at lightning nodes.
My own node is here:
https://1ml.com/node/02c9ba7fd7494bcd3a707e3171ea7a7311a373a1695c94c33e7c76bde7aef3a88d
Called "Thorheim", I've opened up 3 channels so far. With a capacity of 0.0223 BTC. I still have some work to do. Would like to open a few more channels and balance the liquidity on both sides. With any luck maybe I can start collecting fees
If there is someone else out there with a Lightning node, it would be awesome if you could open a channel to me. If you did that and posted about it, could upvote you and cover your fees.
I know @brianoflondon runs a node. Mind if I open a channel up to you?
Anyway, it's interesting, and the system will only improve over time. Hopefully there will be ways to make things even easier for average folk. Also there is still things like https://getalby.com/ that is very easy to use if you don't mind something custodial
Happy Lightning!
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Congrats on setting up your lightning node Mr d and it is nice to see you post again after a long time!
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Glad to see back posting on hive after a long time
very few people have the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of Bitcoin Lightning so I hope it goes well and you can get a good income
Woooot, this is awesomely superb big D, months of hard work has successfully yield out your desired result, it's nice to see you write again after seven sweet months of shadow workings, I am happy to see your ligtening node sir, well done and keep breaking boundaries and setting beautiful records, #GONEOXIAN🥰🥰🥰🥰
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This is exceptional, obviously the future is here, bitcoin lightning has a huge prospect and I can't wait to see each unfold.
It's great to see that a single normal individual can decide to run their own nodes too., Cool stuff.
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Congratulations Mr. Dragon
Hehe I am sure, Dragon's tiny computer is very much Jamboo size for many of us
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I read something on lightening nodes a while back and the idea of having lesser fees and others did intrigue me. It seemed complex to me then and still does with all the setting up and opening of channels. I’m an average person and maybe when it becomes a bit easier, I could hop on the train as well.
I’m glad you were finally able to set it up Neo Sir. That small box is not so small hehe 😅. Congratulations Mr Dragon 🐉
I want to Run too sir :p But i am so dumb to Run one :( Anyway, Congrats sir Wish i could be as intelligent as you
Congratulations on setting up your lightning node. Definitely not something for the average Joe.
Amazing! Can't wait to see where the future holds with lightning nodes.
Congrats on setting up your lightning node even though you did it the hard way, it's good to be in control with the setup. Also I love how handy that lightning node is.
That’s amazing congratulation on setting it up
🙂 Very nice Mr Dragon, First time i'm seeing such setup. You did put in alot of work & thought, well done and well deserved.
Congratulations Neo sir on your lightning node set up.
Oh.It is nice hard working.It is a nice interesting.Good luck to you all.!MEME !HUG
I sent 1.0 HUG on behalf of @chanmin.
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That's amazing. Thank you for your nice explanation about bitcoin lightening and how to setup it
This is great. Can you please share the specs of that tiny computer?
If it is going to be cheaper and affordable, I would love to run one from my house too.
Sure:
4.1 GHz i3-1115G4
32 GB Dual Channel DDR4 @ 3200MHz (2 x 16GB)
500 GB PCIe Gen4 Up to Seq Read: 5000 MB/s, Seq Write: 4000 MB/s
1 TB SSD Up to Seq Read: 535 MB/s, Write: 515 MB/s
You could probably use something even smaller, like Raspberry Pi, but I wanted some extra room for other servers.
https://system76.com/desktops/meerkat
I'm using a Meerkat from system76
Okay great. I will take a look. Thanks.
This ain't tiny computer heh. I just looked into the specs and it's a very very powerful dragon computer
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Spot on!
That's amazing. This lightning node thing is new to me but it feels like something really good and worth the time.
Congratulations Mr D on setting it up.
Pretty sweet Mr. D! All that happening in such a small computer makes me very excited for the future. I look forward to seeing or hearing of your future updates! Awesome job and thanks for sharing!
created that many of us would like to have our own Bitcoin Lightning node and generate a lot of extra income which would help us greatly but at the moment it is almost impossible. Also that you enjoy the experience that surely is unique to achieve financial independence
Boom, i wouldn't like to say I'm a nerd when it comes to running nodes but yah I'm quite one, although one thing i love about the layer 2 lightning node is its speed of transactions and an almost free transaction fee, i call it almost free because most of the time the fee's are nothing to worry about. I would say a big congratulations to this milestone and achievement Big Neo❤️
Sorry I didn't know about Lighting Network, I just got ideas about it from your post. In Blockchain, there is no task we can say easy. Picture of your lightning node is cute. I hope your work on lightning network will bring fruits for you, have a good day.
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Sounds interesting and very well explained too. I have a lot to catch up to xD
thanks for the details on lightning node and it is surely not for average people like me but your post will motivate many to get into it!!
Congrats and happy lightning!!!!!
This is really cool MD.
Congrats MD.
congratulations @neoxian
Ooooh, look @new.things!
$WINE
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What are the economic prospects of running a lightning node?