Carsten Otto | Connect the World
This week, in Episode 21, we talk with Carsten Otto, a developer and Lightning Network Node specialist from Germany. His routing node is at the top of the BOS score list!
He started in 2018 building his first node. And from May 2021 he really started building his routing node! He said that it was a combination of boredom and a rekindling of his initial excitement about the Lightning Network: “I wanted to understand what my node was doing, how it is being used, and how I could help the network by running it.”
They also talk about rebalance-lnd, this script Carsten wrote is a real must have for any node operator to help you rebalance your channels and also taking into account future profit!
So, get your node running and watch or listen to the full interview or start reading below! Enjoy!
Jesse de Wit | Connect the World
This week, in Episode 20, we talk with Jesse de Wit, software developer and a proficient Lightning Network enthusiast!
Shivers all over his back… Jesse had his first amazing experience when paying for an article on yalls.org with his own node… Then the true magic began! He also attended the Lightning seminar at Chaincode Labs for a real deep dive into the Lightning Network!
Jesse feels that the power of Lightning communities is that it’s a place where people can discover everything there is to know about the Lightning Network and get all the help you need!
Ultimately, they continue to philosophize about a time when Lightning is plug and play and composable and we won’t talk about communities anymore.
If you want to hear more about what it takes to run a routing node, which tools and metrics to use and about the future of Lightning, then watch or listen to the full interview or start reading below! Enjoy!
Thomas Jestopher | Connect the World
This week, in Episode 19, we talk with Thomas Jestopher, the co-founder of Amboss Technologies. They created the Lightning Network Explorer Amboss.space!
It all started with the idea to create a better, more private and user-friendly Lightning Network explorer. Together with technical co-founder Anthony Potdevin (from Thunderhub.io) they combine all P2P gossip information, history data and statistics from community projects on an astonishing website with an amazing looking user interface!
We talk about a lot of promising developments to reach the same goals in the future: Connect the World with Lightning! The next step is more education to help novice users and creating antifragile communication networks. We would like to see the Lightning Network become sustainable and support innovations.
Do you have a Lightning Node? And are you a developer?
All these things don’t matter! Because the Lightning Network belongs to everyone! And everyone can dig into it! So join us and watch or listen to the full interview or start reading below! Enjoy!
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!!
Rusty Russell | Connect the World
This week, in Episode 18, we talk with Rusty, a Linux and Bitcoin developer and a Lightning OG from Blockstream! We owe a lot to this lead Lightning protocol developer!
Rusty started hacking C-lightning in August 2015 and wrote “Reaching The Ground with Lightning” in November that same year! He described how to do Lightning using only the coming Segwit proposal. With Blockstream they were the first Lightning implementation!
We talk about Blockstream Aqua, Jade, Blockstream Green and Blockstream AMP. And Rusty also covers all the advantages of Lightning Offers / BOLT12. Implementing BOLT12 will take some time but we already can philosophize what this will do for the adoption of Lightning and for all those merchants out there!
Are you crazy about Lightning like Rusty and us? And do you like to follow all Lightning developments as closely as possible from a lead developer? Then don’t wait any longer and treat yourself to 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!