🔥 GingerWallet.io | LN Quest ⚡Up to 50 merits

[NotATether]

The Lightning Network is becoming more popular, so I'm back with another initiative to run more LN nodes on Bitcointalk.

This is going to be the largest Lightning initiative ever. All users will get the chance to earn merits for running a node.

Start your own node, open channels, send & receive sats and learn how to use LN in your daily life!

This is a marathon, not a competition. There are different stages of this marathon, and you receive rewards after you complete each stage.

Read This Before Replying:

• You can enroll your alts, if you run another node. But you must make this clear beforehand, and don't expect your alts to receive any free sats (or merit, obviously). Two nodes are better than one.
  
• You need to run some sort of Lightning Network software to participate. You can either run it yourself, or lease it from a provider like Voltage.
• A bitcoin node will be provided to users who need help syncing their LN node.
• Free discussion of the Lightning Network may be held on this topic. However, please don't start arguments about LN here.
• Don't try to do silly things with your node that will cause your channel funds to be lost. I will not be liable for lost funds.

FAQ:

What do I get from this?

In partnership with a couple of merit sources, we are handing out up to 50 merits to anybody who can get their own Lightning node set up and usable. These merits will be awarded progressively as you complete each milestone of running your node.

We believe that Lightning Network will be very important in the near future, as fees begin to rise during the bull season.

Alts, AI spammers, and accounts less than 60 days old will not receive merit.


How do I run a node?

Perhaps the most important question of all in this topic. There are many software you can use to run your node, along with tutorials, such as:

- LND, C-lightning, or eclair (on Umbrel and Start9) Note: You will only receive stage 1 merit if you run one of these yourself.
- Electrum trampolines
- Breez app on Google Play or the App Store
- Alby Hub
- Phoenix Wallet
- Muun app
- LNDhub
- Ride the Lightning
- Raspiblitz
- Rent one from Bitnoder, Voltage, MyNode, or Alby.

Over time I am going to add docs for all of these on the Bitcoin Wiki for greater accessbility.

Why is this in the Bitcoin Discussion board?

This is to encourage more experienced members to run their own Lightning nodes, rather than newbies who barely understand bitcoin.

Here is a good LN thread, but it's quite old and the OP hasn't logged in for a long time. Besides, it is in the Technical board of the forum, which is more confusing to normal bitcoiners. So here is a topic where people can learn and start their own LN nodes easily with even a basic understanding of Bitcoin.

Can I join this marathon even if I am already running a node?

If your node is complete and you can send and receive sats, then no, you cannot participate with that node. However, you are welcome to help by opening channels to participants.

Additionally, you can join even if you're not registered. I accept reports from Nostr. Send them to this account, by mention (recommended for most reliable delivery) or DM. Obviously, you will be ineligible for merit prizes (even if you do register in the future), but you will still get some sats.

My node is not syncing! How do I recover?

It's probably because you're using Neutrino mode (see below). Turn that off, and ask me for dedicated RPC connection parameters to a real Bitcoin node.

What Lightning node software can I use?

Whatever works for you. You can run c-lightning, lnd, or eclair in a terminal, you can start a node through your Umbrel or Raspiblitz device, or you can even order one from Voltage or MyNode. By no means are you limited to just these options. Also see "How do I run a node?".

Do I need a Bitcoin Core node to run a Lightning node?

Yes, although you might get away with enabling "Neutrino" in your LN configuration. Note that Neutrino is an experimental protocol, so don't be surprised if your node has syncing issues because of it. You do not need the entire block history to sync it however - a pruned node will do.

Where can I spend sats?

Here is a directory of LN websites: https://getalby.com/discover


I reserve the right to modify or end this marathon at any time, with immediate effect, for whatever reason.

Good luck, and happy node running!

Disclaimer: Lightning Network Quest is not a challenge. That means you should not expect to receive any rewards for participating. Therefore, this should be used by bitcoin enthusiasts, and not bounty hunters or "Games and Rounds" farmers. Moving this topic might compromise the visibility of this initiative.

[NotATether]

Reserved for stats

By the way guys, as I have stated above, feel free to ask anything about Lightning Network in this thread!

[NotATether]

Bump 

Running a Lightning node will save you fees over the long run. If you want to start one then just reply here.

[icopress]

bump

[NeuroticFish]

OK, I'll break the ice. Shame on me, I've never set up LN.
Yeah, there's a mix of laziness and lack of time, plus the fact the price was going mostly up lately made me consider also saving a little, for a change.
However, since I'm here, I am open to try, especially as you've written that it's a marathon. Then, no matter how slow I am, I'll try to finish it. Of course, I don't need merits and so on, the fact I'll finally have LN is good enough for me.


PS. Super cool initiative, I am surprised that nobody came around yet.

[bSpend]

This is a very good initiative, and I am actually very surprised that no one is yet participating.

I am absolutely brand new to lightening network, this is not the first time coming across the topic but I've never did understand it as clear as I did while reading through the setup steps provided by the op, I am super hyped to jump on this but unfortunately, my pc recently developed a rather serious screen issue which I am hoping I can afford to fix soon, and as soon as I do, i will definitely get on this to learn how to setup my own LN.

I initially had two questions, the first was..
1. Do I need to download the full bitcoin network before I can be able to setup my own LN - This I already found the answer in the op, and it's a No, that a pruned node will do (I will find out what pruned node is later)

2. This maybe a stupid question, but forgive me if it actually is, I am interest to know if there are any special pc specifications required to be successful with the LN setup (like from the beginning to the last step), any special kind of pc (with maybe any special feature or specifications like memory size, storage size and all) required for this?

Thanks for the answer (in anticipation).

[NeuroticFish]

I will find out what pruned node is later

A pruned node still downloads the entire blockchain, just doesn't store it (it only stores a rather small amount of data).

What Lightning node software can I use?

Whatever works for you. You can run c-lightning, lnd, or eclair in a terminal, you can start a node through your Umbrel or Raspiblitz device, or you can even order one from Voltage or MyNode. By no means are you limited to just these options.

I have a dilemma.
I do have a Bitcoin node (and a Fulcrum) which I fire up now and then for sync and when I need it for transactions (from Electrum). It's not running 24/7 and this may be an issue, I guess.
I've seen that LND does have Windoze binaries and I could use it, but to only set it up for a week-end may not be the best use of time and may not be the way LN is supposed to be set up.
This being said, I'd use very much an advice:
* is there something I've missed and I should just go on with LND?
* should I maybe use something like Phoenix wallet for Android (although my phone is also not online 24/7 - is that a problem?)
* do you have a better solution?

[NotATether]

What Lightning node software can I use?

Whatever works for you. You can run c-lightning, lnd, or eclair in a terminal, you can start a node through your Umbrel or Raspiblitz device, or you can even order one from Voltage or MyNode. By no means are you limited to just these options.

I have a dilemma.
I do have a Bitcoin node (and a Fulcrum) which I fire up now and then for sync and when I need it for transactions (from Electrum). It's not running 24/7 and this may be an issue, I guess.
I've seen that LND does have Windoze binaries and I could use it, but to only set it up for a week-end may not be the best use of time and may not be the way LN is supposed to be set up.
This being said, I'd use very much an advice:
* is there something I've missed and I should just go on with LND?
* should I maybe use something like Phoenix wallet for Android (although my phone is also not online 24/7 - is that a problem?)
* do you have a better solution?

It might be a good idea to use a web frontend like Ride The Lightning for Windows once you run the LND program in the terminal.

https://dev.lightning.community/tutorial/

More information: https://www.fjordblock.com/how-to-run-a-bitcoin-lightning-node-on-windows/

It is definitely better to run LND as a windows service, but I haven't seen instructions on how to do that yet.

[NeuroticFish]

once you run the LND program in the terminal.

I come again with my main concern related to LND:
will it be an issue if my computer is stopped an average of 20h/day?


On chain, I know that after I've broadcasted the tx I'm fine and I know that my coins will come in even if my wallet is closed ("the coins are not in the wallet"). With LN I think that I have to keep LND running to keep the channel(s) open and I hope that wrong, so please tell me.

[Cricktor]

~~~

While I had my first Lightning node up and running about 2-3 years ago, I didn't use it much and I'm still learning about Lightning Network.

It's not ideal to have your Lightning node offline for prolongued time. Don't trust me and I can't say confidently that about 20h offline time will be just fine. If you don't have channels open, it doesn't matter, but no channels is mostly pointless.

The trustless nature of Lightning means you shouldn't need to trust your channel partner. If your channel partner plays foul and posts a wrong channel state, means he tries to steal parts or all of your channel balance fraction then your Lightning node will penalize him. Apparently, your node can't do that in a timely manner when it's offline.

Not all hope is lost though, because your channel partner usually can't screw you immediately or in very short time, as far as I understood it. To minimize risks I would avoid too long offline periods. What is too long? Can't say, really. Don't stay offline with your Lightning node (LND or c-Lightning) for longer than maybe one or two days. In my opinion that's just too risky (of course it depends on your channel capacity, but I don't like loosing even a few thousand sats for no reason).

Don't perceive this as a discouragement. Lightning is interesting by design, it's also here and there complicated and a joy when it just works. Well, most coins have two sides, haven't they?

[Ammar M. A.]

New to this, then saw an interesting video by BTC Sessions on Youtube about a tutorial on how to run the Lightning Network. Is that all we need to participate in this quest?

Source:
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KItleddMYFU

- Ammar M. A.

[NotATether]

New to this, then saw an interesting video by BTC Sessions on Youtube about a tutorial on how to run the Lightning Network. Is that all we need to participate in this quest?

Source:
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KItleddMYFU

- Ammar M. A.

Yes, that is perfect! Do update us with your progress, preferably when you run programs, when the application is running properly and stuff like that.

[Ammar M. A.]

Yes, that is perfect! Do update us with your progress, preferably when you run programs, when the application is running properly and stuff like that.

Not sure since I have to learn all the stuff there first before doing the setup, but I will definitely update the progress if I finally decide to run a lightning node.

- Ammar M. A.

[Gooner0]

This sounds really good, considering how you enlightened more on the setup.
I'm totally hearing this for the first time though, and honestly I would really love to participate, considering you've explained this like this which is quite understandable.
But asides what you have said about this LN are there more to this than, that we really need to understand further?

[NotATether]

This sounds really good, considering how you enlightened more on the setup.
I'm totally hearing this for the first time though, and honestly I would really love to participate, considering you've explained this like this which is quite understandable.
But asides what you have said about this LN are there more to this than, that we really need to understand further?

Not much, but here are some other ways you can run a Lightning node.

You might be able to get away with running Breez app on your phone, but I haven't tried this app yet. Maybe I will connect it to my node tomorrow and see how it is.


Alby Hub if I can get it to work might be a good way for you to run a Lightning Node as well. It has the same look and feel as a Bitcoin node. Even has a desktop app. But I found a bug in the login process that I'm trying to help the dev team fix.

[NotATether]

Guys, if you think it helps, would you like me to make detailed connection instructions for each piece of software? Such as for Electrum, Phoenix, BlueWallet and so on?

[icopress]

Guys, if you think it helps, would you like me to make detailed connection instructions for each piece of software? Such as for Electrum, Phoenix, BlueWallet and so on?

[NeuroticFish]

Guys, if you think it helps, would you like me to make detailed connection instructions for each piece of software? Such as for Electrum, Phoenix, BlueWallet and so on?

While I do like to see tutorials and while I am sure it would make the life easy for some, making and maintaining one may be a bit big effort. So I'd wait for more answers.

But even myself, I have a lot of n00bish questions/dilemmas, as you've seen (btw, I am still incredibly unsure which wallet would be better for me).
I know that Electrum may be relying on watchtowers, which may sound intriguing (I'll also have to get to understand what are they about).

However... tutorials and too many questions/answers may make this topic difficult to follow and may need to be handled separately. On the other hand, unless more people start coming in here,... it's too quiet...

I've handled that for you

[NotATether]

However... tutorials and too many questions/answers may make this topic difficult to follow and may need to be handled separately. On the other hand, unless more people start coming in here,... it's too quiet...

That's what Bitcoin Wiki is for, I can just dump most of the stuff there.

[NotATether]

Friends, we are now awarding merits to anybody who puts in the effort to run a Lightning node with these steps. A few merit sources will be collaborating with this. It is a great way for you to rank up if you are stuck between ranks. Please read the OP for details.