https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/7npeh6/lightning_network_megathread/
created by codedaway on 02/01/2018 at 21:06 UTC*
1519 upvotes, 67 top-level comments (showing 25)
Comment by BashCo at 02/01/2018 at 21:33 UTC
113 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I'd recommend consolidating your resources into that repo.
Comment by Artisane at 02/01/2018 at 21:33 UTC
67 upvotes, 6 direct replies
Waiting for the day to add LN to my little Bitcoin Full Node sitting under my desk. He's just doing his thing for free on the network.
Will be nice to get something else than the satisfaction of helping the network.
Comment by gmajoulet at 02/01/2018 at 21:33 UTC
15 upvotes, 2 direct replies
Really great! Thanks so much! I have a similar doc that overlaps a lot, here are the two other sections I have:
Client interfaces:
https://github.com/LN-Zap/zap-desktop
https://github.com/lightninglabs/lightning-app
Tutorials and resources:
Install bitcoind + lnd http://dev.lightning.community/guides/installation/
Develop an application of bitcoind and lnd http://dev.lightning.community/tutorial/
Comment by Septem_151 at 02/01/2018 at 23:51 UTC
10 upvotes, 1 direct replies
What iOS Wallet should I use that supports LN?
Comment by 6nf at 02/01/2018 at 23:28 UTC
10 upvotes, 4 direct replies
I'm a home user, I do not have a server that's connected to the internet 24 hours a day.
Is it true that I need to have a constant connection to keep my LN channel open? How am I to do that without a home server or something?
Comment by JHG0 at 02/01/2018 at 22:50 UTC
5 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Question -- if I have a lightning node, does it have to be constantly running? In other words, could I have a node running only when I'm using my laptop?
Comment by kekcoin at 03/01/2018 at 08:06 UTC
8 upvotes, 0 direct replies
���Off-chain” is not a perfect term, but it is used due to the fact that the transfer of ownership is no longer reflected on the blockchain.
Inaccurate, the final transfer of ownership is still reflected on the blockchain, it is just that there can be many intermediate states that don't.
Do I need a constant connection to run a lightning node?
To make money by forwarding txes, yes, you need to be online most of the time. To use it, no, you only need to be online to send or receive money. To use LN safely you need to monitor your channels regularly, but there has been some work on outsourcing this to increase the security model for mobile wallets; I am not 100% sure on the latest info in this department, not sure if it is already implemented.
How does lightning handle cross chain (Atomic) swaps?
In the same way as it can set up an atomic forwarded payment (the forwarding parties can only get their money after they have forwarded it, in a way that they are guaranteed to get their money), it can set up such an "atomic forwarded payment" across different cryptocurrencies, essentially becoming a cross-chain atomic swap.
What is a lightning "hub"?
Mostly a FUD term, used extensively by trolls to imply LN will be completely centralized, which is false. Early speculation on the topography of LN was a hub-and-spoke model but this is already long outdated.
What is the delay time for the recipient of a transaction receiving confirmation?
Depends on the response time of the nodes involved in the payment. In the case all nodes have no (connection) issues it should take less than a second.
Comment by [deleted] at 02/01/2018 at 23:05 UTC*
12 upvotes, 3 direct replies
A question - who or what maintains the routing tables for various hubs? Edit. Networking layer - if the channel is not direct between two peers, how does the transaction get routed.
Comment by Sonicthoughts at 02/01/2018 at 23:05 UTC
4 upvotes, 2 direct replies
Thanks! Love the idea of lightning - big fan. Can you suggest a source for two questions:
1. What is the vision of how the "hubs" will evolve. Critics keep saying will be banks all over, but I can see many smaller hubs. Any good speculation on how this may evolve?
2. Heard that tx time for sender is different than recipient. naysayers have pointed this out, but can we assume these instant confirmations are two way and symmetrical?
Would be great to have someone destroy the hit pieces I've seen (won't post here.)
Awesome list !
Comment by [deleted] at 02/01/2018 at 21:55 UTC*
12 upvotes, 4 direct replies
Comment by Jerry13888 at 03/01/2018 at 00:09 UTC
9 upvotes, 2 direct replies
When it's slated for general release?
Comment by hesido at 02/01/2018 at 21:54 UTC
3 upvotes, 2 direct replies
Ok, now I began to read more and think more..
How does lightning handle cross chain swaps?? (atomic swap exchange)
I mean, I can barely understand what keeps the balance between two parties in check, funds are kept in a multi-sig vault and both parties can cooperatively announce a closing of channels and the balance is reflected on chain, in event of dispute, the stakes are kept in BTC in that multisig wallet.
In case of cross chain swaps, what happens when users do not cooperatively close channels, if you do not have both coins for staking?
Comment by waxwing at 02/01/2018 at 23:33 UTC
3 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I'd like to recommend the old, but imo very good posts by Rusty Russell for those trying to properly understand how Lightning works: https://rusty.ozlabs.org/?p=450[1] (three parts, that's the first). It's an easier entry point than the whitepaper imo.
1: https://rusty.ozlabs.org/?p=450
Comment by TheGreatMuffin at 02/01/2018 at 23:36 UTC
3 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Comment by Sonicthoughts at 03/01/2018 at 04:14 UTC
3 upvotes, 2 direct replies
Question - since a large amount of BTC will be needed to open and maintain a chanell, do we expect this will "lock up" BTC and reduce the liquidity. This is happening with Dash Masternodes. You need 1000 Dash and effectively reduce avail supply to trade. Ultimately, this would drive up the price of BTC if large / many hubs form.
Comment by [deleted] at 03/01/2018 at 09:52 UTC
3 upvotes, 2 direct replies
/u/tip_bit codedaway $1 Thanks for bringing that up :)
Comment by [deleted] at 02/01/2018 at 23:51 UTC
7 upvotes, 1 direct replies
[deleted]
Comment by MrRGnome at 03/01/2018 at 06:32 UTC*
5 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I need to just take a second and talk about how cool lightning is.
It's an ACH system built by smart contracts structured in such a way as to be completely free of counter party risk. Any number of parties join in creating a channel via smart contract on the bitcoin blockchain.
The details of the opening smart contract are essentially: Lock up X funds from N parties and disburse them when a valid closing state is published by any of the parties. This is analogous to a traditional ACH relationship with another ACH or party.
This is where I think things get brilliant. Once these funds are locked up in a channel the participants can essentially trade signed transactions as cash. These signed transactions which are exchanged as promissory notes are called Hash Time Locked Contracts. They are Bitcoin blockchain publishable signed transactions which testify that a payment was made.
So the channel participants trade around these signed promises for payment until someone decides to close the payment channel. They post to the Bitcoin blockchain the end state of the channel and a 3 day contention period begins. In those 3 days any channel participant can deny that the channel was closed properly and *prove* it by publishing a transaction they were holding as cash off-chain. These promissory notes, when published, revoke the bitcoin from any potential thief and distribute it to the remaining channel participants as well as the rest of the bitcoin locked in the channel as per its final provable closing state.
Each channel is thus trustless (as these promissory notes in the form of HTLC remove any trust, the only person who can sign them is the person who controls the bitcoins). Channels can be chained together as quickly as these HTLC's can be transferred over the internet and held by their owners to be redeemed in the event of fraud. Each channel only ever knows about its common participants, making multi-channel transactions anonymous.
I love the world we're building on top of this network of trust. It's so much fun to learn about.
Comment by Lambdal7 at 02/01/2018 at 21:40 UTC
2 upvotes, 1 direct replies
So much more transactions can the ligning network make compared to pre-lightning network.
Comment by evilgrinz at 02/01/2018 at 21:40 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
paging u/starkbot for more resource links
Comment by [deleted] at 02/01/2018 at 22:12 UTC*
2 upvotes, 1 direct replies
[removed]
Comment by ziggamon at 02/01/2018 at 22:51 UTC
2 upvotes, 1 direct replies
https://blog.bitrefill.com/lightning-payments-on-testnet-for-bitrefill-ef6db8714b00
Comment by sktrdie at 02/01/2018 at 23:45 UTC
2 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Comment by [deleted] at 02/01/2018 at 23:54 UTC
2 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Okay, I have the eclair wallet, but how do I actually open a channel to starblocks?
Comment by FindingTheBalance2 at 03/01/2018 at 01:15 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I'm trying to create a post that can be stickied with regards to the Lightning Network. This post should be used to provide as many links to as many resources as organized as possible.
this is a great idea