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.
