reply on: Does the second channel have to be public for routing? \ stacker news ~lightning

pull down to refresh

10 sats \ 4 replies \ @DarthCoin 23 Oct \ on: Does the second channel have to be public for routing? lightning

To receive into a private channel, you must use route hints, when you send an invoice to a payer. In the route hints will be your direct peer with who you have that private channel and he will have at least one public channel to be found.

If you do not include route hints nobody will be able to pay that invoice to a private node. They cannot see it.

If you still have a public channel, with whatever other node, when you create a LN invoice without route hints, it will be received straight to the public channel because that one is visible in the LN graph.

10 sats \ 3 replies \ @ek OP 23 Oct

I am asking if you can route payments through private channels, not about receiving.

10 sats \ 2 replies \ @DarthCoin 23 Oct

The answer is clear: NO. Is not visible so nobody can route through it.

10 sats \ 1 reply \ @ek OP 23 Oct

There is an exception though: if you have a public channel next to it, the private channel can be used for liquidity on that hop, see #737299

21 sats \ 0 replies \ @DarthCoin 23 Oct

Not for public routing (others payments through your node), but ONLY for you own payments.

Routing = take others payments and pass them through your channels and forward them to other nodes. A private channel cannot do that. Not automatically, maybe manually but is a pain in the ass to construct the payment route in CLI. Is the end of the edge.

Here is an example of including the route hints using a private channel

That way I can receive from any other node into a private channel. Forget about routing with private channels. Long time ago was a proposal by Anton (SBW dev) making private routing. But was abandoned.