is it profiting to run LN nodes, if not, what motivates a person to run one
Discussion
Self sovereignty. If you run your own btc node and lightning node you are in control of all your btc.. and the more nodes the stronger the network gets
You’re trusting someone else’s node to be telling the truth about your bitcoin if you don’t run your own. How do you know your bitcoin is even real without validating it yourself on the timechain?
It can be but it usually isn’t for smaller nodes. It’s a zero sum, potentially negative sum game.
Big nodes which are solely used for routing and have lots of capital can be surprisingly profitable though. The LSP model will continue to grow.
The reason why plebs run lightning nodes is to get all the sovereign benefits of lightning without having to outsource routing or verification to any third party.
seems like that. running a full time node may not be ideal for everyone
I recommend it for anyone who considers themselves a Bitcoiner and has a decent amount of Bitcoin. It’s pretty easy to do with software packages like nostr:npub1aghreq2dpz3h3799hrawev5gf5zc2kt4ch9ykhp9utt0jd3gdu2qtlmhct or nostr:npub126ntw5mnermmj0znhjhgdk8lh2af72sm8qfzq48umdlnhaj9kuns3le9ll and only requires about $150 of hardware.
The benefit of verifying transactions for yourself and having a fully self-sovereign way to interact with Bitcoin is worth the costs in my opinion.
Besides the reasons mentioned like sovereignty & privacy, it’s a fulfilling, fun activity, which can be profiting (highly unlikely though).
The advantages are: private payments, non-custodial (don't have to worry about wos rugging you), low fees if you make a lot of payments.
Probably only makes sense if you get paid in Bitcoin and need to make a lot of payments or if you run a business that accepts lightning payments.