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Lightning Resources |
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This page is for those seeking to develop on LND or enhance their conceptual understanding of the Lightning Network and associated technologies. It is not comprehensive, but a careful study of the materials below should be sufficient for anyone's needs.
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What is the Lightning Network and how can it help Bitcoin scale? article by Elizabeth Stark
- Accessible article explanation of the Lightning Network by Elizabeth Stark, the CEO of Lightning Labs.
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The Blockchain and Us: Interview with Elizabeth Stark
- Quick 7 minute primer on the Lightning Network and its implications.
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Joseph Poon discusses Lightning at Construct 2017 (ctrl+f for "Lightning")
- In-depth spoken explanation of the Lightning Network for the general audience. Note that this video requires providing CoinDesk an email address.
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"Understanding the Lightning Network": Aaron van Wirdum's General Explainer Series
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#bitcoin-lightning - Things to Know: Rusty Russell addresses FAQs about Lightning, including its requirements, limitations, segwit, and expected network dynamics.
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Lightning Network Tech Talk at Coinbase January 2016
- Spoken in-depth mechanics of bidirectional payment channels and multi-hop payments
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Lightning Networks: Rusty Russell's Technical Explainer Series
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Lightning Network Paper published February 2015, last updated January 2016
- The protocol has changed since this original paper, but covers the mid-level mechanics of the Lightning Network with an emphasis on the smart contracts that make it trustless
- Combines the HTLC and channel update concepts together
- Explains how the Lightning Network is represented in Bitcoin transaction based contracts, and how the Lightning Network works with the UTXO model.
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Lightning Network Community Blog, managed by Lightning Labs.
- Stay up to date with the latest about LND and the Lightning Network!
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Read the code on Github:
lnd -
Basis Of Lightning Technology (BOLTs)
- Full technical specification of the Lightning Network. BOLTs are the common standard enabling distinct, interoperable Lightning implementations.
- BOLT #0: Introduction and Index
- BOLT #1: Base Protocol
- BOLT #2: Peer Protocol for Channel Management
- BOLT #3: Bitcoin Transaction and Script Formats
- BOLT #4: Onion Routing Protocol
- BOLT #5: Recommendations for On-chain Transaction Handling
- BOLT #6: Interim Node and Channel Discovery
- BOLT #7: P2P Node and Channel Discovery
- BOLT #8: Encrypted and Authenticated Transport
- BOLT #9: Assigned Feature Flags
- BOLT #11: Invoice Protocol for Lightning Payments
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Lightning Network Deep Dive talk at SF Bitcoin Devs August 2016
- Commitment scheme: Compact revocation derivation and storage
- Revocation scheme: Pre-image derived revocation keys (homomorphic derivation)
- Lightning Commitment Protocol: the fast link-layer protocol between two Lightning nodes
- LND architecture
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Lightning Network as a Directed Graph: Single-Funded Channel Network Topology talk at SF Bitcoin Devs April 2016
- Covers single funded channels and channel exhaustion
- Covers how to construct sub-satoshi micropayments: "Pre-Image Length Probabilistic Payments"
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Onion Routing in Lightning - Laolu Osuntokun at Scaling Bitcoin Milan 2016 (starts at 2:47)
- A way to preserve privacy in the Lightning Network
- Video, transcript
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Outsourced Channel Monitoring - Tadge Dryja at Scaling Bitcoin Milan 2016 (starts at 48:12)
- Outsourced channel monitoring: delegating the task of channel monitoring to a semi-trusted peer
- Video, slides, transcript
- Developer Guides
- Guides walking you through installation, docker setup, Python / Javascript gRPC, and more
- API documentation
- API Reference documentation for the Lightning Network Daemon
- Lightning Faucet for Bitcoin testnet or
Litecoin testnet
- To read more, build from source, or deploy your own faucet see the Github repository
- LND Web Dashboard
- A web client and dashboard made by Francis Mably. Useful as a more customizable client or as a starting point for a Lightning project
- Lightning Apps and the Emerging Developer Ecosystem on LND
- A survey of existing apps built on Lightning, as of July 2017. Potentially useful as inspiration or code examples
- Neutrino: A Bitcoin Light Client used in LND
- Compact Client Side Filtering for Light Clients on Bitcoin Dev Mailing List
- Neutrino BIP (Bitcoin Improvement Proposal)
- Github repository
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LND Developer Slack
- Come here to meet the Lightning community, ask for help, and hang out!
- invite link
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#lnd IRC
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#lightning-dev IRC
If something important is missing, or you feel that additional resources or links would be helpful, please send a message in the LND Developer Slack