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The Lightning Network is becoming more popular, so I'm back with another initiative to run LN nodes on Altcoinstalks.
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.
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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. 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:
No rewards?
After consulting with several other members of the community, I have decided to abolish merit rewards due to the potential of abuse. However, you are still welcome to send merits to people who did something cool with their node, and I myself might even send merits occasionally too.
You might receive a small amount of sats from me as part of the sending/receiving part of the marathon - you can keep those.
Why is this in the Bitcoin board?
This is to encourage more experienced members to run their own Lightning nodes, rather than newbies who barely understand bitcoin. As far as I know, no such topic exists on this site yet.
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.
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.
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.