I have no bitcoin wallet app from him. Don’t know password.
That makes it impossible for you to recover the bitcoins he bought. I guess that he didn't decide to use an exchange to store his coins. Software wallets usually encrypt the file which contains the private key. It is needed to spend coins, so without the password you won't be able to do anything either. Since Bitcoin is decentralized, there is no authority which could hand you over the access of the bitcoins even if you confirmed your identity. The only possibility is that he had left his seed (12 or 24 words used for wallet recovery) or a paper wallet with QR codes. |
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I have just added a few new questions and I am still looking for more. Don't be afraid to ask! The new ones are: Which wallet is the best one?, Do I have to run a full Bitcoin node?, How do I set up a Lightning Network node?, What happens if some nodes go temporarily offline? Suggested edit: Lightning Network increases the level of anonymity privacy. Thanks for catching that! Fixed. |
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But now my coins appears in read only mode, so I'll try to import private key address, but an error occured like 'invalid private key format"
On somes other forum, they explained that this error is due to a new wallet core and new private key format!
So how to convert private key to the new format?
Try importing your private keys to Electrum. You won't have to download anything beside the client. By the way, are you talking about this wallet? If so, then you have to download Bitcoin Core (full node) or Electrum which I mentioned above. Crown Core is not a Bitcoin wallet which is why you are unable to import your private key. |
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Wouldn't it be better for you to synchronize with the mainnet on your computer and then copying all the files to your Raspberry Pi? Once you manage to do it, can you post here if everything is working correctly? |
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Do you need a full node, or can run in light mode?  Most of the Lightning Network implementations require user to run a full Bitcoin node. Take a look at neutrino if you have limited resources. LND supports btcd, bitcoind (full node) and neutrino (light node) but keep in mind that it is still an experimental client. Here you can download it for any operating system. |
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I do not think electricity cost will go down, on a contrary it is expected to rise to make mining more costly.
Why do you assume that the cost of electricity is going to increase? Many power plants have to deal with an excess electricity which cannot be stored in the batteries - that's why electricity is cheaper at night. Also, renewable energy might become more efficient in the near future - there are already mining farms which use it and it's reasonable. |
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It makes sense for BTC to attempt a mix of both on and off-chain ideas if other forks are going to keep their focus purely on-chain. Why put all your eggs in one basket if you don't need to?
Don't forget that the Lightning Network could be also used for cross-chain atomic swaps. In some cases, it still does not make any sense, but it's a feature that might be used by people who want to avoid using exchanges and escrow. Some people think that Litecoin and the Lightning Network is a perfect combination. Well, payments processors are busy implementing Bitcoin LN payments. |
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I would be grateful for an example for a higher level penalty implementation understandable by someone who has no IT degree  Decker posted this explanation at Reddit, but I need some clues still: Re-introducing the asymmetry at a higher level allows us to select how much of the channel we'd like to set aside for a punishment for example. Have the reserve split out into a separate output of the settlement transaction and encumbering it with a shachain or elkrem preimage. This is similar to the current mechanism of ensuring that all parties have some skin in the game.
The second sentence - the core of his proposal - is difficult for me to understand.  Currently, the transaction which founds the channel contains only one output - a multi-signature address which is in control of both parties. The idea is to use only a part of the founding transaction as a punishment. The first transaction would contain two outputs - one with the funds used on the Lightning Network and the second released only if the other person attempts to cheat. Shachain or elkrem preimage make sure that the reserve isn't spent improperly. You can think of the reserve as a security deposit. |
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Just managed to spend a little time with the Raspberry PI LN hub project again, it's not easy to deal with things like this, if you have no freetime First thing is to update the lnd itself, there's a new version out there, so I need to update it, preferably via git, hope it will be an easy go... I'll be back... Did you consider running RaspiBlitz? The whole setup process is fairly easy and it shouldn't take you too much time. Check out the readme file for detailed documentation. It is worth mentioning that this project supports LCD displays so that you can easily view the most important information any time you want. Take a look at some questions regarding running a Lightning Network node here. |
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Why would you want to have your hardware wallet attached to your phone case? It's almost the same level of danger as carrying your Ledger/TREZOR on a keychain everywhere. If you need to spend some of your coins outside then simply transfer them to a good software wallet (e.g. Samourai). Bluetooth connectivity might seem pretty convenient but I wouldn't trust any wireless method of communication. The most popular hardware wallets communicate with other devices only through USB (except Ledger Blue which is not very popular and there isn't any app on it which supports Bluetooth). Some time ago, I made an overview of hardware wallets. |
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Here I would like a clarification what is exactly not possible. Can't the payer initiate a Lightning transaction, waiting a time (e.g. 24 hours) until the other node pops up to sign its part? It's clear that both have to be online at the same time somewhen, at least for a moment. And: Does the "watching" node need to be connected with the destination node?
One of the problems is that even if the other party would come back online for a few seconds after 24 hours, the route might have changed so the transaction would not take place. The word "watching" was probably the worst one that I could have used. I was thinking of a service which would accept payments on behalf of someone (connection to both nodes would have to exist) and then send it to the destination node on demand. Here an interesting addition is if there is a "standard" timeout/lock time for the Lightning "penalty transaction" - to know how often you should be online to avoid being cheated. I've currently no Lightning node running (I tested Eclair some weeks ago but it's now outdated, so I can't answer that question myself.) Normally, you should be able to set the timeout you want, but what are the chances you will find a route or a partner to open a channel with?
I'm quite sure that locktime is being negotiated while you are trying to open a channel therefore it will vary for your each connection with the other node. Finding someone with the same channel policy might be a bit difficult. It's one year since BCH fork, and after all that debate here's the conclusion  . I quite disagree with it. Block weight should stay 1 MB forever. Makes no sense to me increasing it. I didn't write that we have to increase the block weight 30 times. There are plenty of things that can be done in the future before increasing the block weight, for example, implementing channel factories which allow users to create new Lightning Network channels from existing ones - no need to broadcast closing and opening transaction. I have changed the sentence you quoted in order to make it more neutral |
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This topic contains outdated information. A new thread has been created. It can be found in the link below.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5158920.msg51615708#msg51615708Table of contents
1. General Information
2. Running a node
3. Concerns
General Information
How are bitcoins on the Lightning Network different from on-chain bitcoins?
They are exactly the same coins. There are no Lightning Network tokens. The only difference is that bitcoins are stored in multi-signature addresses and transactions are settled between two parties without broadcasting anything to the blockchain (except when opening and closing the channel).
When will merchants start accepting Lightning Network payments?
It is a tough question. Many merchants were discouraged from accepting Bitcoin because of high transaction fees. Some of them use third party services which are slowly working on the Lightning Network support. Here you can find a list of stores which accept Lightning Network payments.
How many times can we expect to be able to use a payment channel?
Every channel has a minimum amount of coins which has to stay unspent. Channels can be used as long as both parties continue to cooperate with each other.
How fast and reliable are Lightning Network payments?
Depending on the route, Lightning Network payments can be instant. Every wallet tries to find the cheapest and the shortest route once you send your transaction. You can open a channel directly to a person who you are going to often trade with or depend on other channels which might route your payment for a small fee. Lightning Network is still in its early state so payments fail from time to time.
What are the upcoming features?
Dual funded channels - both parties will be able to fund a channel.
Watchtowers - they will be responsible for taking care of people attempting to cheat while the other party is offline.
Muilti-path payments - currently, the payment can't be divided into smaller ones which sometimes results in failed payments due to not enough funds in the channels.
Sphinx - users will be able to send payments without having to ask the other person to generate an invoice.
You can find more here.
Where can I find the latest news regarding the Lightning Network?
Telegram channel - a whole group of knowledgeable people ready to talk about the Lightning Network. Great source of information.
Bitcoin Lightning - a website strictly focused only on the Lightning Network.
Cointelegraph - nothing to add here.
Which wallet is the best one?
There are multiple implementations of the Lightning Network and most wallets have similar features. However, some mobile wallets can't receive payments. Eclair is the most popular wallet for Android but it is also available on Windows. The most popular implementations are: c-lightning, LND and eclair mentioned earlier.
Running a node
How much money can you make on running a Lightning Network node?
Don’t expect to make a lot of money. Everything depends on the number of connections and your fee policy. The less you charge, the higher your chances to route a payment. Don’t set the fee too low. You have to save up money for future channel re-balancing. User Xian01 opened almost 200 channels and earned barely 15 satoshis after 2 weeks (Reference).
How do channel owners get paid for routing payments?
Fees earned from routing payments are added to the balance of the channel. The total fee charged is basefee + (amount * feerate / 1000000), where amount is the forwarded amount. If you set both of these values too high, you won't route any payments.
Is running a Lightning Network node demanding?
You can run a Lightning Network node on both Linux and Windows. You have to run a Bitcoin full node which uses the biggest part of available resources. In order to start making money on running a node, you have to open a few channels. Keep in mind that built-in autopilot might not guarantee you the best connections. Even Raspberry Pi 3 B+ is capable of running a Lightning Network node. Check out RaspiBlitz for fast setup.
Is there any risk in running a Lightning Network node?
Yes, due to many factors. Lightning Network implementations are still in beta and might contain critical bugs which could be used to steal funds locked up in channels. Keep in mind that if you won't keep your node online 24/7, someone can attempt to cheat you by broadcasting an old state of your channel. An online node would normally broadcast a penalty transaction.
Does opening new channels help to increase the earnings?
No, it doesn't. There are many other things that you should take into account. Your fee policy, channels' capacity, connection to different sized nodes. Here you can find an interesting comparison between Andreas Brekken's and Alex Bosworth's nodes. The node which had lower principal, made higher profit.
Do I have to run a full Bitcoin node?
No. LND supports neutrino which allows user to run a light node instead of a full one. It is a good solution for devices with low processing power and storage (Raspberry Pi).
How do I set up a Lightning Network node?
The setup process varies for each implementation. Fortunately, detailed documentation makes it easy for inexperienced users to start their own Lightning Network node even on Linux. If you don't feel confident with any other operating system than Windows then take a look at this tutorial which will help to set up your own node.
What is the purpose of setting alias and color?
This information is often used by Lightning Network visualisers and explorers. It is not very important and has no impact on how the node works.
Do I have to generate an invoice every time I want someone to send me coins over the Lightning Network?
Currently, in order to receive a payment over the Lightning Network, a single-use invoice has to be generated. However, Sphinx will allow users to send payments without having to request the invoice from the other person. Sphinx can be already used if both nodes update to the test branch.
Can I refill my channel?
Currently, there is no way to refill channels without using third party services such as Lightning Conductor. Splicing will allow users to either top-up their channels or drain funds from them without having to reopen the channel. Channel balance will be updated once the transaction gets enough confirmations.
Why can't I receive coins?
In order to receive Lightning payments, some conditions must be met:
1. Nothing can be received immediately after creating a new payment channel, as ‘room’ for incoming funds has to be made by spending some funds first. A payment channel can be thought of as a full bottle of water: in order to pour something in one first has to pour something out.
2. Each channel implicitly contains a reserve which is unspendable and typically takes about 2% of the channel’s capacity. You must spend an amount matching that reserve to make receiving possible. Unspendable channel reserve is the reason you see a negative receive limit when a new channel is full. It indicates how much you need to spend before anything can be received through the channel.
3. Every payment request is disposable, they can’t be fulfilled twice. So you will need to issue a new individual payment request for every incoming payment you wish to receive.
4. Wallet needs to be online in order to receive off-chain funds. Note that not every mobile wallet supports receiving coins because of the fourth point. There are some exceptions such as Bitcoin Lightning Wallet (Android), Eclair Mobile Testnet (Android).
Concerns
Is Lightning Network centralized? Is it more centralized than Bitcoin? Does it make Bitcoin more centralized?
This topic has been brought up many times. The Lightning Network is a second layer scaling solution which has no impact on the Bitcoin network. It works independently and no one is forced to use it. The problem of large nodes should solve itself once network continues to grow.
Will casual users be able to accept payments and donations without having to run their own full node 24/7?
Both OpenNode (payment gateway) and Bitlum.io allow users to receive Lightning Network payments without having to run a full node. However, these wallets are custodial which means that they have a full control of one's funds.
What are the new limitations of scalability once lightning is fully functional?
Opening and closing a channel requires broadcasting a Bitcoin on-chain transaction. Increasing the blocksize might be necessary in the future; however, solutions like SegWit, Schnorr signatures can help to decrease the size of transactions. Lightning Network is a second layer protocol, it is possible to build more user-friendly layers on top of it.
What would happen if a large node disappeared from the network?
Recently, we were able to observe Andreas Brekken’s experiment (shitcoin.com node). He was in charge of a node whose capacity was around 43 BTC (more than 50% of the whole network’s capacity!). After its closure, some people started to experience routing problems.
Is Lightning Network more anonymous than on-chain transactions?
Lightning Network increases the level of privacy. The next node doesn’t know if the previous one initiated the transaction. Every node which routes the payment doesn’t know the details of the transaction (final destination, sender).
What happens if some nodes go temporarily offline?
The problem of "zombie nodes" hasn't been solved yet. Offline channels are still considered as capable of routing payments which in some cases cause the payment to fail because channels are unavailable. It is a matter of making a few changes to how channels signalize their state. More information can be found here.
This problem has been addressed in the v0.5 release of LND. When a channel is being closed or a peer node has gone offline, the rest of the network is informed that they are incapable of routing payments. It is also possible to create unadvertised channels which won't route payments.
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Got it! How much investment would you recommend to start with?
Let me tell you the most overused phrase on bitcointalk. "Invest what you can afford to lose" and don't buy Bitcoin only because cryptocurrencies are gaining more and more public attention. You should study the topic thoroughly and decide on your own whether or not it is worth your time, effort and money. Take your time to learn about the ways of securing coins. You don't want to lose your money because of web wallet which doesn't give you control of private keys. |
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@Xian01 I have found a website which might be better than the in-built autopilot. This service will take into account your existing connections and suggest new ones for better connectivity. It should result in more payments routed by you. Enter your nodeid to see the results.
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How bad were the effects of Andreas Brekken closing his channels? I suppose it was not that bad? There was almost nothing said about it on Twitter or on Reddit, maybe to his disappointment. Hahaha.
A few people on the r/Bitcoin were complaining about unexpected closure of their channels. Some people started to experience problems with payments. See the quote below. Interesting. shitcoin.com just closed all their channels. Removing 42 BTC of liquidity from the network.
Confirmed inability to pay lightning.spin and this is the first time I have been unable. Surprisingly, most of the Lightning Network users were unaffected. If he had kept his node longer, he might have done more damage. None of my payments so far. |
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While it's true that increasing block size weight limit could lead to decentralization, but it will be needed when more people adopt/use bitcoin regularly even considering majority use LN/other 2nd layer protocol.
People still need to use on-chain to open/close channel, refill channel balance. Also, i'm sure people would prefer on-chain transaction for big payment.
While block weight limit increase won't happen anytime soon, IMO community must aware it's inevitable if they want to see Bitcoin used on bigger scale.
I am aware that we will need to increase it at some point in the future. However, I don't support increasing the block weight without thinking about the consequences. There are still a few things that can be done in order to decrease the size of transactions, for example, implementing Schnorr signatures. Also, Channel factories might help once Lightning Network becomes more widely used. Assuming that all transactions were SegWit ones, the maximum block weight would be 4 MB, right? |
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Satoshi was clear that the 1 MB max block size was meant to be a temporary anti-spam measure, and that the max block size should be increased in the future when the number of transactions warranted.
Andreas M. Antonopoulos published a video on Scaling and "Satoshi's vision" two days ago. It's been ten years since Bitcoin launched and a lot of things happened to it after Satoshi had gone. Take ASICs as an example, some people think that they are slowly leading us to the centralization of the network because most of the mining hardware is being manufactured by one company. There were a few Bitcoin hard forks which aim was to bring back GPU mining and ban specialized mining hardware. None of them succeeded. Why did I mention mining? Well, that's what the community and mining pools have chosen. If users were really against ASICs then most of them would try to temporarily block them by changing the mining algorithm. Wasn't Satoshi against them too? Do you remember SegWit2X? Despite its huge support from miners, it failed - users played a big part there. Why do you despise other scaling solutions? It will take months before Lightning Network becomes more reliable, but it shouldn't have any negative impact on the network unlike increasing the blocksize which might result in centralization (it was already explained above so I don't think if there is any point in repeating it). I doubt that many people would agree to decrease the blocksize after it turned out to be a bad idea. Satoshi is not a God. Let the community choose. |
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I mentioned this issue yesterday It looks like Lightning Network suffers from another problem - inactive nodes. According to this website, there are almost 1700 zombie nodes out of 3000! Honestly, I haven't encountered any routing error related to this issue, yet. Many nodes are considered capable of routing payments while they are offline for a 3 month "maintenance". Developers should be able to solve this problem in the near future. How does the error related to this issue look like? For example, Eclair Android wallet informs user that certain channel is currently not available. Lightning Network is still in beta so no wonder why there are issues like that. Fortunately, it can be fixed and not everyone is affected. |
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It looks like Lightning Network suffers from another problem - inactive nodes. According to this website, there are almost 1700 zombie nodes out of 3000! Honestly, I haven't encountered any routing error related to this issue, yet. Many nodes are considered capable of routing payments while they are offline for a 3 month "maintenance". Developers should be able to solve this problem in the near future. How does the error related to this issue look like? For example, Eclair Android wallet informs user that certain channel is currently not available. Autopilot was loaded with an additional 1BTC, and has been funding additional channels over the last 24 hours since shitcoin.com dropped out.
Could you tell us how much you have spent so far on the transaction fees? Opening over 170 channels must have been expensive. |
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Source: https://www.engadget.com/2018/07/25/coinbase-convert-cryptocurrency-gift-cards/I don't use Coinbase, but it might be actually useful for people who don't want to bother with selling their bitcoins and withdrawing fiat. However, it is not a solution to lack of shops which accept cryptocurrencies. Personally, I would rather print a paper wallet which I would put in an envelope and teach the other person how to move bitcoins associated with the private key of that wallet instead of buying e-gift card. |
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