Hakuna | Connect the World

This week, in Episode 16, we talk with Hakuna, an IT specialist and node operator from Germany who is running a very successful routing node!
Hakuna tells us about the journey he made with his lightning node HODLmeTight. For example, switching from his Raspberry to a NUC, which more than doubled routing and changed the HTLC response time from 1.9 seconds to 0.1!
Running a Lightning Node is an ongoing process of studying data and making your Node more attractive for payment routes, which will eventually lead to more growth! But don’t forget to always be patient and ask for help!
So if you want to know more about what it takes to run a routing node and about LND Hybrid mode for better stability and higher speed, then watch or listen to the full interview or start reading below! Enjoy!!

Severin Bühler | Connect the World

How to build a powerful node!
This week, in Episode 17, we talk with Sevi, founder of LnRouter.app! This is a great web tool that helps node operators make informed decisions! A real must-see!
LnRouter.app provides tools and custom metrics, for example: the Terminal Debugger, Node Routing Score, Channel Recommender (my personal favorite!), Liquidity Adjusted Hops and a Liquidity Ad Marketplace. The main goal is to optimize payment speed and deliverability and give users the ability to build a powerful node!
We also talk about the future of Lightning Nodes, the effect of the physical channel distance, node hardware, security and a lot more!
If you want to create a powerful node or just want to know more about the inner workings of a Lightning Node within the graph, then watch or listen to the full interview or start reading below! Enjoy!

Gijs Van Dam | Connect the World

This week, in Episode 14, we talk with Lightning Scientist Gijs van Dam who wrote two papers about the Lightning Network. During his research on the balance disclosure attack, he found a way to remotely close down channels between other nodes. A large amount of channels, representing 17% of the entire capacity of the Lightning Network was potentially at risk!

In his second paper he describes a possible solution to mitigate balance disclosure attacks by using extra payments of a random amount to obscure the actual amount.

Of course we also talk about the use of Lightning, the adoption of the Lightning Network in Malaysia and about a possible future in which we trust peer nodes even more than a random node!

Of course you want to know everything about this research! And do you think security is just as important as Gijs does? Then watch or listen to the full interview or start reading below! Enjoy!

Madelyn Ash | Connect the World

The magic of being your own bank!

This week, in Episode 13, we talk with Madelyn Ash about the role of Lightning communities such as Plebnet and Connect the World. They discuss increasing adoption by average users around the world! These social networks enable connecting some of the brightest minds to pass around ideas and develop new tools!

Madelyn also elaborates on running your own Lightning Node. And she speaks about the magic to be your own bank and to have non-custodial access to your own sats.

Watch or listen to the full interview or start reading below, if you are just as excited as Madelyn about supporting the Lightning Network, making your channels suitable for routing transactions and discovering everything there is to know about Lightning…

Enjoy!

Smallworlnd | Connect the World

This week, Episode 11, we talk with Smallworlnd about his project and website lnnodeinsight.com.

It’s an easy-to-use interface for anyone to explore and understand all the Lightning Network features.
On the website Node operators can check a lot of metrics about their node. For example, the channel simulators which allows you to see how a potential channels can change the position of your node in the LN. The rebalance simulator can reveal an opportunity or possible red flag, depending on the result.

If you’re also all about data then dive with us into the “small world” of node ranking and simulators! Watch or listen to the full interview or start reading below! Enjoy!

Soul Exporter | Connect the World

This week, in Episode 2, we talk with SoulExporter, one of the founding fathers of the Rings of Fire concept!

Rings of Fire originated on 18th of Januari 2021 from the desire to reduce single points of failure when everyone is connecting to the biggest nodes. And also to reduce trust when setting up balanced channels.
Soul also convinces us of the Meshtadel principle opposite to the Citadels when talking about Hyper Bitcoinization.
This is a real layer 2 conversation about one of the largest community efforts in the field of Lightning. It’s all about Connecting the World!

Watch or listen to the full interview or start reading below! Enjoy!