Today I have some spare time so I am willing to answer your bitcoin questions.
Ask your Bitcoin only questions, about apps, nodes, wallets, merchant solutions, protocols, issues, improvements, support with specific use cases etc.
Please keep it Bitcoin related and serious discussions about technology and not price and other bullshit. I encourage everybody that knows the answers to those questions to get in and give support or a pertinent answer. If you are not sure that you will give a correct and pertinent answer, you better stay out and just read.
Don't be shy to ask questions, we know you are a noob and without knowledge in these things so we will just try to help you.
Please do not zap this post. I am not doing it for sats or CCs. I am doing this to help noobs to learn more about how to use Bitcoin.
Important is that people will start asking pertinent questions and they get their answers. Zap the interesting questions and answers that you consider helpful.
Still new to Zeus and learning the ropes. Today I'm wondering:
Why do some on-chain --> LN swaps sometimes fail on Zeus? I've already done several in the past successfully, but today I've twice gotten "Invoice failed to pay" messages and had to refund. It feels random.
So not the swap in itself failed, but the payment to the invoice you were generated. That means:
Appreciate it — that's actually very helpful and I'm sure one (or more) of those is the thing I'm fucking up. I'll troubleshoot it this afternoon & update 🫡
ur presence on the internet is a great gift to humanity; ur spirit is indomitable;
thanks!
I agree with fiatjaf on this https://fiatjaf.com/d5031e5b.html
If is a friend or I have some level of trust, I would send him a direct link from my own personal NAS. If is not so trusted, or I do not want to leak my domain/IP, I would use:
The other questions are some kind of personal questions not about Bitcoin. Not related to this saloon.
Not zapped as requested. Some good questions already. That is all!
yeah people start asking really good questions. I like it.
And the answers are no nonsense…. Which I like :)
Is it worth it for me to open channels with small UTXOs, around 100k sats? I read that today it's possible to spend on the LN through more than one channel, together. Another thing, it's always said that a channel should be opened between two people, but there are two UTXOs, can't one person open a channel with themselves? I saw you talking about NWC as a very rudimentary form of "Uncle Jim Bank" and I liked the idea. How does NWC work together with LN if they are different protocols?
Yes, is called MPP - multi-path payment. I very often talk about them in my guides.
Not really. Do not think about how to spend those channels, think about the cost to close them and also how many payments you can do through them without refilling. Refiling have a cost also and you are interested into reducing that cost. This is where most of new LN users do not get it and they consider LN very costly, is because they do not use it efficiently. I've talk about these aspects in this previous post on SN: #1305794. Worth reading it.
To the same node? No is impossible, You must open between 2 peers not 2 UTXOs. But you are free to have multiple LN nodes, nothing wrong with that. I have 4 embedded LN nodes in of my devices with Zeus. 4 different peers.
Good question. LN is a payment protocol. NWC is a communication protocol. And yes, LN needed a good communication protocol like NWC, is a perfect match. Through NWC you only send instructions to LN nodes. NWC could provide secure and private communication but nothing else for a LN node. I have good expectations for NWC and LN in the future. See for example nostr markets, are really underrated. Here I wrote a guide about them https://darth-coin.github.io/merchants/nostr-market-with-lnbits-en.html
Dear Darth, can quantum computing hack/decode Electrum's master public key which was accidentaly leaked on the internet or random Electrum servers? We already know that single public key can potentially be decoded by quantum after spending UTXO from address so address reuse is rightly discouraged.
Can random Electrum servers actually see my master public key while they are used for watch-only wallet? Or they just see addresses which are currently used and also ones with previously spent coins?
Thanks in advance dear Darth!
QC is a buzzword. Forget it. It was launched only to scare the shit out of clueless people, to make you buy products that are "QC protected"... If you believe in that bullshit QC, sell now all your sats and forget about Bitcoin.
A public key cannot be "decoded". Most of what somebody can get from a pubkey is a a bunch of addresses linked to that pubkey. But they cannot do anything with that. Totally useless.
Yes. Better use https://bitcoin-safe.org with a neutrino sync if you do not want to reveal your xpub. The problem is not that you reveal your xpub, but you link it to an IP/identity. A random xpub means nothing if is not linked to a real identity.
Thank you very much for these recommendations. I now have my own full Bitcoin node and EPS connected to it but at the very beggining I've accidentally connected to 10 random Electrum servers so I leaked my IP. Since few years passed since that, do you recommend me creating completely new wallet from new seed and move coins there for max privacy?
Nah, don't be so paranoiac. Nothing really will happen for that "accident". The question is: from WHO you are really so scared? You know that fear is a tool of control, right? If you can control your fear, nobody can control you...
Nah, I'm not scared, if I was I would've already created new wallet. :)
But thanks for calming words. I've read almost all your guides so I'm not exactly a n00b xD
https://postimg.cc/ThQmQGbg
But seriously now, give it a try to bitcoin-safe wallet, using a neutrino sync is really cool and no need anymore for all that heavy duty EPS and shit... But yes, if you already have an EPS, don't throw it away, is still useful.
Thank you, I will definitely give it a try!
Is it really necessary to run your private node? Isn’t enough for someone who lacks technical skills to use a self-custody wallet?
Running a full bitcoin node is NOT really necessary. You can easily and safely connect to a friend node and is perfectly fine.
But unfortunately nowadays many people use this "run your own node!" as a virtue signaling that do not serve for nothing.
Just because Bitcoin is decentralized it doesn't mean we should eliminate any trust. See for example the guide I wrote about running private LN banks for family and friends, local communities: https://darth-coin.github.io/merchants/private-banks-over-ln-en.html
Such scenarios could make bitcoin adoption to explode, not dumb apps the hide everything from user in a fancy UX.
Sometimes my lightning channels will show incomplete totals for liquidity: ie, either some of the inbound or some of the outbound isn't reported, so a channel with a million sats might only appear to have 700k.
What's going on there? I think it has to do with neutrino peers but I'm not sure how exactly.
Good question. That is because:
Sometimes the channels balance is affected by commit fees that can fluctuate, but is not the case right now, those are fluctuating only in onchain high fees fluctuations.
No, neutrino peers are ONLY to sync and read the chain blocks, nothing to do with LN channels.
Thanks!
@DarthCoin, if you want to discourage zaps I can pin the post.
It got pinned right under the main hot page Boost! Ahah
Interesting! I never saw that coming. I get very confused about the inner workings of SN.
This is a total Pandora's box. Aha
Yes I do not want to assmilk people just for asking me and others questions about bitcoin. This territory is about bitcoin education. I want to help.
I zap these to make them more visible. It's a great service you're offering that people should take advantage of.
These questions also makes me and maybe others to review my own knowledge. Is a good training for everybody.
I agree.
That goes without saying😀
I'll pin it now.
May I suggest a noob frendly electrum LN guide? When is ideal to use? What is difference between Blixt/Zeus and custody options? How to protec privacy? Why is my "can send" way lower than ln sats? How to use as "current", "spendl", "hodl"?
Explain like I'm 5 and regarded No rush obrigado
Electrum is one of the oldest and most strong wallet apps ever existed in Bitcoin. I use it from day one and I still use it.
Depending on the user use cases mostly. But now that they have also LN integrated, it can be also a daily driver wallet app.
Indeed the mobile version is not so friendly and fancy as many want, but old bitcoiners like me doesn't care about fancyness, but looking more to utility and stability. And Electrum was always a beacon of stability. Very few times in its history had fatal errors or clunky and dysfunctional processes.
I would say that if you use a lot bitcoin on a desktop machine, Electrum MUST be your companion. For mobile version just sporadically or emergencies.
The LN implementation works excellent and with the swaps integrated is all that you need for a private LN node. Is simple and intuitive, without any bullshit. Now is even ready for nostr use.
So yes, the ideal use will be for somebody that do not want/cant to run a desktop LN node is perfectly fine. And I mention it in one of my guide about private LN nodes and how to use it.
Electrum is not really much different than Zeus or Blixt, in the LN terms. You can open the same LN channels as in Zeus and Blixt.
But yes in Electrum you have 2 modes of using LN: using trampoline channels or regular LN channels. But you cannot use both in the same time. Ah damn it I forgot to talk about trampoline channels in may recent guide on SN about LN channels types. The best explanation of these trampoline channels is here: https://www.voltage.cloud/blog/what-are-trampoline-payments-on-lightning-network And here is also a list of peers that support these type of channels: https://lightningnetwork.plus/node/03ecef675be448b615e6176424070673ef8284e0fd19d8be062a6cb5b130a0a0d1/node_channels
The other difference between these types of LN nodes, is that Electrum do not use neutrino to sync and read the chain blocks. It uses an Electrum server. That means you will have to connect to your own EPS/Fulcrum or use a well known public one, but be sure you are not leaking your IP/identity, so Tor/VPN will be required. But if you connect to a friend node, will be another trust level and no need for Tor/VPN. Now there are many local communities that offer these kind of servers for their members.
With Electrum yes there's a problem when connecting to a random public Electrum Server / Fulcrum. So as I said before Tor/VPN is required.
That's because Electrum is not showing you directly the channel reserves and commit fees. I wrote a quick guide on Blixt FAQ page about this aspect that apply also for Electrum: https://blixtwallet.github.io/faq#balance
Very good question! In fact Electrum can be used on all three stages... but mainly for the "cache" level, the middle level where you do all the funds management in/out.
It can be used also for hodl/cold together with a TailsOS or just as a watch-only/deposit.
Electrum is really powerful if you know it better and can help you organize your funds, UTXOs, LN channels, liquidity etc.
I wrote about these scenarios in this guide: https://darth-coin.github.io/wallets/lightning-cleaning-machine-en.html
A TLDR: you can use Electrum as a buffer zone to receive sats from many different sources, small or large amounts, KYC sources or non-KYC, it doesn't matter. You are using a disposable wallet anyways.
You receive, accumulate the amount you are willing to re-distribute and then compartmentalize it in many different UTXOs and LN channels or move liquidity through LN, make swaps etc.
That's why I said that Electrum MUST be your desktop companion.
I hope this mini guide explained most of your questions.
Yes Darth, thanks infinitely
I also recomend it to use instead of dedicated software for hardware wallets. And if I want to make a Ln payment without revealing the sender
Trampoline channels are really underrated but we still need more providers of these channels. I see improving it in time.
Definitely Electrum must be an app used for any user that call himself bitcoiner.
Thank you for asking about Electrum, maybe like that more stackers will read this mini guide and start using Electrum too, among other apps.
Yeah many people asked me why I didn't wrote any guide about Electrum. My answer was because Arman the parman already wrote some good guides about it and also Electrum itself have good docs.
I try to write guides where mostly the apps docs lack of content or there's more to say, filling the gaps...
But yes, thank you for pointing out those aspects, I will try to give the specific answers. Let me grab a beer...
Maybe @siggy47 wants to pin it? How else are we going to give reach to your efforts other than by zapping?
Even the boosts are flawed on SN... If I boost this post it won't even be listed on top... so why would throw away the valuable CCs into the rewards pool ? 😂😂 So the shitcoiners and assmilkers will get rewards? No fucking way!
I really have to be not lazy soon and start reading SN's source code. There must be a way to keep an item
hotwithout boosts, and withouttrust, this ought to be doable by anyone, not just territory owners and SN devs.Is simple and I was screaming out loud here for long time:
But anyways, SN consider me a troll saying out loud all these aspects... when in fact I love SN (remember I am one of the oldest members here) and I just want to be a good tool for bitcoiners (not shitcoiners and assmilkers).
Not many territories are profitable; that's why there's churn. It's a net cost for me too.
So what I really like in the recent change is that downzaps no longer go for 70% to the territory, but fully to rewards. This takes away an incentive for the territory to have bad content (because bad content would before generate relatively high income) It also redistributes sats to those that wrote good content - for their trouble of being confronted with the bad content?
I agree with pay-to-post > post-to-earn.
Is really hard to think how to re-distribute downzaps. We want them to be like a punishment / slap on the face / warning but if we give back the sats to a pool, the same zaps are redistributed to the same user that was downzapped in the first place, even that is in a small portion.
Is really a complicated situation for k00b / SN.
I personally do not downzap too much, I do it more as a personal "mark" of users, with small amounts, only few times with higher amounts. Because I know is kind of useless. Once I mark a user with a downzap, it remain forever for my own judgement. Then before I will interact again with that user, first thing I look into his history and if I see a single downzap, I know with who am I talking too... I have no remorse.
Most of stackers here are zapping without looking into others history... just instinctively zapping... and is a waste.
most of stackers read the "recent" feed so they will see it. Who doesn't... is not interested in bitcoin anyways :) Also k00b removed the ranks so is useless to zap a post to be "seen".