Published on: 2017-12-16T18:55:01+00:00
In a discussion about opening channels to arbitrary nodes, Stan Kladko suggests that if you have a reason to do so, other nodes may also have a reason to open channels with you. However, if you are only connected to other nodes and no one is connected to you, then your deposit is only used by you and not other nodes. This could potentially negatively affect the availability of your deposit for your own transactions. Therefore, Stan believes it's best to connect but accept no incoming connections. Rusty disagrees with this strategy and argues that routing through your node doesn't affect your total capacity if you have two channels. It simply shifts the funds between the channels. When connecting to the Lightning Network, users have the freedom to select the nodes they want to peer with. Some implementations offer an "auto-pilot" feature that selects peers automatically based on certain heuristics. Alternatively, users can learn about other nodes that may be good to connect with through node gossip. When opening channels, they are initially single-funded, meaning there is no way to force someone else to match the funds. However, if you become a hub and earn routing fees, it is advantageous to channel with relatively new and low-connectivity nodes. These nodes may want to lock spare funds to channel to your node in case you become a prolific user of the network in the future. If you are connected to some nodes but no one is connected to you, all of your deposit is used by you only. This can potentially negatively affect the availability of your deposit for your own transactions. Therefore, it is suggested to connect but accept no incoming connections. In terms of discovering nodes on the network, there is currently no UI available to see nodes currently running. However, nodes will connect to yours and send channel funding messages. It is unclear whether there is a UI to accept or reject these connections. Regarding earning routing fees, it is not clear how much can be earned or if routing fees are the same for all hubs. Additionally, if there are many hubs when connecting to the network, it is not clear how to select which hub to connect to or if there is any performance/reputation information available for any hub.
Updated on: 2023-07-31T19:32:03.105699+00:00