Maybe it’s a silly question for those who know
Why would you run your own node when you can run one on your phone with nostr:npub1xnf02f60r9v0e5kty33a404dm79zr7z2eepyrk5gsq3m7pwvsz2sazlpr5
All you need is to buy a channel
#asknostr
Discussion
Phones are low power devices with sometimes spotty Internet connections.
A lot of people run lightning nodes to act as nodes in the greater network, relaying transactions to make a profit from fees. A phone isn't really suitable for this kind of node.
Zeus is more for a personal lightning node.
Okay 👌
Makes a lot of sense
Do you have to run a #bitcoin node to run a lightning node?
In theory you could connect your lightning node to an external Bitcoin node, but there does need to be a connection of some kind to do anything like open and close channels and keep track of those on chain changes etc.
So I could run my lightning node on VPS and connect to someone else’s #bitcoin node?
Yes, this is how Alby Hub's cloud option works. Your Alby Hub Lightning node is connecting to Alby's Bitcoin node for on-chain data, and for opening and closing channels.
What exactly are channels?
A channel in Lightning is just an on-chain UTXO owned by two entities who have to agree how the UTXO will be spent. Lightning transactions using the channel are just updates to the agreement between those two owners about who will get funds from the UTXO when the channel is closed.
Cool 👌. Thanks
I suppose lightning transactions initiate smart contracts
Yes. Lightning channels are smart contracts on Bitcoin in a 2:2 multisig.
Multisig means both parties must sign the transaction before the UTXO is spent?