BlokchainB

Stacker Saloon

saloon

https://stacker.news/items/506288/edit 👀

```
| Sats Spent | Thing Bought |
|-------------|----------------|
| 23,010       | $20 NTUC      |
| 5,543         |  $5 Grab         |
```

0xbitcoiner

bitcoin

Bitcoin Inheritance. A complex topic, right? But every year, we have more and more ideas and solutions. 

I compared 5 different Bitcoin Inheritance Services: Casa, Jinca, Liana, Nunchuk and Unchained
 
https://thebitcoinhole.com/inheritance

You can also see the open source database here: https://github.com/thebitcoinhole/inheritance

A couple of weeks ago, several interesting threads about this topic happened on X. I recommend to read them, you will learn a lot.

Casa presenting their new Inheritance Service:
https://twitter.com/CasaHODL/status/1773002086843568268

Nunchuk opinion about new Casa Inheritance Service:
https://twitter.com/nunchuk_io/status/1773708200350785718

Wizardsardine opinion about Casa and Nunchuk Inheritance Services:
https://twitter.com/Wizardsardine/status/1774031874949550287

Comparing Inheritance Services: Casa, Jinca, Liana, Nunchuk and Unchained

thebitcoinhole

tech

So I bit the bullet and got a used google pixel 7a. I've installed graphene, that went okay with some minor glitches (turn Brave shields off!) but ultimately it worked.

I have some probably pretty basic questions if anyone has some time:

If I install, say, gmail or google maps on this phone, have I ruined privacy? 

Is it possible to have multiple "private" profiles? For instance, 
- one main profile, 
- one profile that's like a LitePhone - just has telephone calls, contacts, and sms (suitable for having a phone for calls, while also doing a "digital detox"), and then 
- another profile that would be like a "guest" profile, so I could give the phone to a friend, they could login, but the friend wouldn't have access to any of my apps, and I wouldn't have access to any of theirs.






Dear Graphene OS gurus - some basic questions please

Signal312

Construction_and_Engineering

# [What Makes Housing So Expensive?](https://www.construction-physics.com/p/what-makes-housing-so-expensive)

> Buying a home is by far the largest purchase most of us will make, and paying the rent or mortgage will be our largest monthly expense. In the post-pandemic home-buying boom, the median sale price of a new home peaked at almost $500,000 dollars, just under seven times the median household annual income that year (though it has since fallen). Most new homebuyers will pay around 30% of their income on their mortgage, and the median renter in the bottom quintile of income spends 60% of their income on rent.
>
>
>Because of the enormous costs of housing, it's worth understanding where, specifically, those costs come from, and what sort of interventions would be needed to reduce these costs. Discussions of housing policy often focus on issues of zoning, regulation, and other supply restrictions which manifest as increased land prices, but for most American housing, the largest cost comes from building the physical structure itself. However, in dense urban areas — the places where building new housing is arguably most important — this changes, and high land prices driven by regulatory restrictions become the dominant factor. 
>
> ![56455.webp](https://m.stacker.news/25582)
>
> ### [... read more](https://www.construction-physics.com/p/what-makes-housing-so-expensive)

What Makes Housing So Expensive?

Linux

The Linux file system was like a messy town. People built their houses wherever they wanted. But in 1994, a new guideline called the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard (FHS) was made. This helped organize the Linux file system.

FHS was like a library classification system for Linux. It provided a consistent structure across distributions, so developers and admins could find things. But does every distro follow it exactly? Not always. Some add custom tweaks for specific user needs.

To get good at using the Linux file system, you can start by exploring it. Use commands like "cd" to move around and "ls" to see what's in each directory. Think of the file system as a big tree, with the root (/) at the bottom. Have fun exploring the Linux file system.

![20240404_200400.jpg](https://m.stacker.news/25252)

Understanding the Linux File System Layout

Azik

Proof of Existence - Your Bitcoin online notary

DarthCoin

Opcodes are the fundamental building blocks of Bitcoin's scripting language, defining conditions for spending transactions. Each opcode represents a specific instruction executed within Bitcoin's virtual machine, enabling complex scripting capabilities. Opcodes are executed sequentially to validate transactions against scriptPubKey and scriptSig, determining if inputs fulfill the conditions for spending outputs.

The scripting language employs opcodes to perform operations like data manipulation, conditional execution, cryptographic verification, and arithmetic computations. This limited set ensures predictable script evaluation, mitigating risks from malicious or indefinitely looping scripts.

Opcodes enable smart contracts and multi-signature wallets within Bitcoin. Conditional logic opcodes (e.g., OP_IF, OP_NOTIF) and cryptographic operations (e.g., OP_CHECKSIG, OP_CHECKMULTISIG) enforce specific spending conditions, such as requiring multiple signatures or locking funds until a certain block height or timestamp (via OP_CHECKLOCKTIMEVERIFY and OP_CHECKSEQUENCEVERIFY).

| Opcode   | Description | Function |
|----------|-------------|-------------------|
| 0        | OP_0, OP_FALSE | Push false |
| 76       | OP_PUSHDATA1 | Push data |
| 77       | OP_PUSHDATA2 | Push data |
| 78       | OP_PUSHDATA4 | Push data |
| 79       | OP_1NEGATE | Push -1 |
| 80-96    | OP_1-OP_16, OP_TRUE | Push 1-16 |
| 97       | OP_NOP | No operation |
| 99       | OP_IF | If conditional |
| 100      | OP_NOTIF | If not conditional |
| 103      | OP_ELSE | Else conditional |
| 104      | OP_ENDIF | End if |
| 105      | OP_VERIFY | Verify condition |
| 106      | OP_RETURN | Terminate script |
| 107-108  | OP_TOALTSTACK, OP_FROMALTSTACK | Stack transfer |
| 109      | OP_2DROP | Drop 2 |
| 110      | OP_2DUP | Duplicate 2 |
| 111      | OP_3DUP | Duplicate 3 |
| 112      | OP_2OVER | Copy 2nd pair |
| 113      | OP_2ROT | Rotate top 3 twice |
| 114      | OP_2SWAP | Swap top 2 pairs |
| 115      | OP_IFDUP | Duplicate if not 0 |
| 116      | OP_DEPTH | Stack size |
| 117      | OP_DROP | Remove top |
| 118      | OP_DUP | Duplicate top |
| 119      | OP_NIP | Remove 2nd |
| 120      | OP_OVER | Copy 2nd |
| 121      | OP_PICK | Nth item |
| 122      | OP_ROLL | Move Nth top |
| 123      | OP_ROT | Rotate top 3 |
| 124      | OP_SWAP | Swap top 2 |
| 125      | OP_TUCK | Move 3rd to top |
| 130      | OP_SIZE | Size of top item |
| 135      | OP_EQUAL | Equality check |
| 136      | OP_EQUALVERIFY | Verify equal |
| 139      | OP_1ADD | Add 1 |
| 140      | OP_1SUB | Subtract 1 |
| 143      | OP_NEGATE | Negate |
| 144      | OP_ABS | Absolute value |
| 145      | OP_NOT | Not zero |
| 146      | OP_0NOTEQUAL | Not equal to 0 |
| 147-148  | OP_ADD, OP_SUB | Arithmetic |
| 149-154  | Disabled | Disabled |
| 155-158  | OP_BOOLAND, OP_BOOLOR, OP_NUMEQUAL, OP_NUMEQUALVERIFY | Boolean logic |
| 159-160  | OP_NUMNOTEQUAL, OP_LESSTHAN | Comparison |
| 161-162  | OP_GREATERTHAN, OP_LESSTHANOREQUAL | Comparison |
| 163-164  | OP_GREATERTHANOREQUAL, OP_MIN | Minimum/Maximum |
| 165-166  | OP_MAX, OP_WITHIN | Range check |
| 167-168  | OP_RIPEMD160, OP_SHA1 | Hashing |
| 169      | OP_SHA256 | SHA-256 |
| 170      | OP_HASH160 | RIPEMD-160+SHA-256 |
| 171      | OP_HASH256 | SHA-256x2 |
| 172-175  | OP_CHECKSIG, OP_CHECKSIGVERIFY, OP_CHECKMULTISIG | Signature check |
| 176-177  | OP_CHECKMULTISIGVERIFY | Multisig verify |
| 178-181  | OP_NOP1-OP_NOP4 | No operation |
| 182-185  | OP_CHECKLOCKTIMEVERIFY, OP_CHECKSEQUENCEVERIFY | Timing checks |
| 186-189  | OP_NOP6-OP_NOP9 | No operation |
| 190-193  | OP_NOP10 | No operation |

Opcodes Explained

culture

A decade-old documentary about today's culture in the west

davidw

Design

First thing first... as per my nym, I'm a designer, and am here like you to take the opportunity to improve my writing skills.

This isn't either another explanatory article on what's the syntax and how to use it. For that you can click on the [`[M↓]`](https://guides.github.com/features/mastering-markdown/) icon in the top-right of the editor when writing. Not everyone know what markdown is, but we all know the basics of formatting text with **bold**, _italics_ and other artifacts to improve the readability of the knowledge we aim to share. 

I felt there's a general lack on this regard here on SN. Just wanted to provide some guidance on how to improve quality of your writing skills, with time, patience and maybe using some tools that allow you to save the copy, rest and return reading it with a fresh mind before publishing it.

From my experience, it has been really useful to prepare the posts offline, read them edit when needed and when possible have someone else to share it with before posting it here.

- - - 

To do that tried multiple tools, obviously open source and below you can find some of the best I was able to select:

[Zettlr](https://www.zettlr.com/) `ALL OSs`
Your one-stop publication workbench. From idea to publication in one app: it accompanies you while writing your blog post, newspaper article, term paper, thesis, or entire book!

[Ghostwriter](https://ghostwriter.kde.org/) `ALL OSs`
Enjoy a distraction-free writing experience, including a full screen mode and a clean interface. With Markdown, you can write now, and format later.

[Marktext](https://www.marktext.cc/) `ALL OSs`
A simple and elegant markdown editor that focus on speed and usability. It also has Formula and Diagrams support, unfortunately not yet supported here on SN.

[Rentry](https://rentry.co/) `ONLINE`
Fast, simple and free. A markdown paste service with preview, custom urls and editing. Nice but it has some limits like 200k characters for text field, 2-100 characters for custom url field (must contain only latin letters, numbers, underscores or hyphens) and 1-100 characters for custom edit code field (anything is allowed here).

[Stackedit](https://stackedit.io/) `ONLINE`
The in-browser Markdown editor, offers an unrivalled writing experience enhanced by WYSIWYG controls, Smart layout, Live preview with Scroll Sync and ideal collaboration functionality that allows you to insert inline comments and embed collaborator discussions in your files, just as well as famous ones does.

[MacDown](https://macdown.uranusjr.com/) `MAC only`
When current available Markdown editors are almost all for general writers, MacDown is different: It's for creative developers. Syntax highlighting, live preview, sync scroll, fullscreen mode, auto save, powerful actions, auto pair, custom themes and CSS, HTML and PDF export, enhanced CJK support. I know, it's exactly the app you want.

[Retext](https://github.com/retext-project/retext) `LINUX only`
A simple but powerful editor for Markdown and reStructuredText markup languages. One can also add support for custom markups using Python modules. Just like that! 

- - - 

It is really easy to get caught by our emotions and start ranting down anything that pass through our mind... it's also a really hard process! We think at a speed that our body can not replicate and most of our thoughts get lost during the writing process, fixing typos and rephrasing, we lose sometime the thread of what we wanted to communicate.

All of us think and speak faster than we can write, and when we are thinking and writing, guess what we’re concentrating on? One strategy is to learn a little shorthand or condensed writing that you'll expand on when reading back to edit and improve it. Another to improve your WPM (word per minute) skills with tools like [typingbolt](https://www.typingbolt.com/) and [keybr](https://www.keybr.com/) or [testing your current speed](https://www.keyhero.com/) and might also [get a certificate](https://www.ratatype.com/typing-test/)!


Other tools that you could use if you are a good speaker is to try a speech-to-text software. I'll leave that for another post! Hope you find this useful, and please, feel free to share tour tips and tricks below so we can all learn from each other experience.

Uh, and don't forget the keyboard shortcuts like `ctr`+`b` for bold text, `ctr`+`i` for italic and `ctr`+`k` for inserting a [link](#).  


Visually pleasing posts: How to improve your Markdown writing on SN

Design_r

lightning

Recently, I listened to an episode of [SLP551](https://fountain.fm/episode/JLUwVlKLRjkUpbffvQEC) featuring a discussion between @stephanlivera and @benthecarman about Mutiny Wallet. Ben illustrated the straightforward process of getting started with Mutiny—merely sending a link connects you directly to the Lightning Network. I've been curious about Mutiny for a while now, so it's about time I checked it out for myself. Let’s dive in and see what it’s all about.

## Features of Mutiny 🔥 

- Mutiny is an open source lightning mobile wallet
- Self-custodial [^1]
- Self-hostable [^2][^3][^4]
- Web app running in the browser
- Also available on [iOS and Google Play](https://blog.mutinywallet.com/mutiny-wallet-android-and-ios/) [^5] or [.apk](https://github.com/MutinyWallet/mutiny-web/releases)
- Built in Lightning Service Provider (LSP) [Voltage](https://voltage.cloud)
- Nostr integration
- Nostr Wallet Auth
- Mutiny Gifts (easy way to onboard new users)
- Federations

[^1]: Discussion here [https://stacker.news/items/453045](https://stacker.news/items/453045) and here [https://stacker.news/items/453267](https://stacker.news/items/453267)

[^2]: [Self-hosting fixes this, Oct 2, 2023](https://blog.mutinywallet.com/self-hosting-mutiny/) 

[^3]: [mutiny-deploy](https://github.com/MutinyWallet/mutiny-deploy/)

[^4]: [Setting up Mutiny in the cloud](https://github.com/MutinyWallet/mutiny-deploy/blob/master/docs/setup-docs.md)

[^5]: [How to Migrate Mutiny Wallet to the Native Apps, Nov 22, 2023](https://blog.mutinywallet.com/migrate-mutiny-wallet-to-the-native-apps/)


## Getting Started with Mutiny Wallet 🚀

To begin, we can first visit the Website [mutinywallet.com](https://www.mutinywallet.com/). Here, we have the option to use Mutiny directly [in the browser](https://app.mutinywallet.com/) or to download the app from the [App Store](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/mutiny-wallet/id6471030760) or [Google Play Store](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mutinywallet.mutinywallet).

For those who prefer not to rely on the App Store or Google Play Store, Mutiny Wallet can also be accessed directly through the browser at [app.mutinywallet.com](app.mutinywallet.com). As a Progressive Web App (PWA), you can easily add it to your home screen for quick access: on iPhone, tap on `Share` then `Add to Home Screen`; on Android, tap the `3 dots ⋮` in the top right corner followed by `Install app`. This process enables you to use Mutiny Wallet as a PWA, just like any other app, directly from your main screen.

![step-2.png](https://m.stacker.news/21137)


## Settings ⚙️ 

Tapping on the `Wheel` icon in the top right corner takes us to the settings. Let's explore some of these settings to uncover what they offer.

![step-3.png](https://m.stacker.news/21138)


### A - Lightning Channels  ⚡

In this section we are able to see how much channels we have, what our Inbound- and Outbound Liquidity levels are. Additionally there is a reserve balance. The reserve balance is the minimum amount of Bitcoin to maintain in the channel to ensure security and cover transaction fees for channel closure. [^6]

[^6]: https://bitcoin.design/guide/how-it-works/liquidity/#channel-reserve

![step-4.png](https://m.stacker.news/21139)


### B - Backup 💾

Tapping on `Backup` takes us to the next page where we will be able to backup our private seed. Here `Tap to Reveal Seed words`. Write down your 12 words. Keep them safe. Do not share them with anybody. 

> Not your key, not your coins

Some additional comments by Mutiny:

> Remember to back up your seed phrase! This is the only way you can redeem your funds, and if you delete the app or your browser storage cleared, you will not be able to access your funds without it. We will be unable to assist you either. Mutiny Wallet is a self-custodial wallet. Only you can access your funds.[^7]

[^7]: [Blog: Mutiny Wallet FAQ, Nov 25, 2023](https://blog.mutinywallet.com/mutiny-wallet-faq/)

When you're finished tick the boxes and tap `I wrote down the words`

![step-5.png](https://m.stacker.news/21140)


### Encrypt your seed words 🔒

Additionally, you can add an extra layer of security to your seed phrase by setting up an password. This ensures that even if someone gains access to your phone, your funds remain secure. Click `Encrypt` to apply this extra protection, or `Skip` if you want to proceed to the next step without it.

![step-6.png](https://m.stacker.news/21141)


### C - Restore 🔄

Restore option is available via 12 word seed phrase. 

> You can restore an existing Mutiny Wallet from your 12 words seed phrase. This will replace your existing wallet, so make sure you know what you're doing! Do not use multiple browsers at the same time.

> This option ... will restore full access to your lightning and on-chain funds. However, any other metadata will be lost. Metadata includes payment history, wallet connections, etc. [^5]

![step-7.png](https://m.stacker.news/21142)

There is also the option to transferring data between devices, including exporting a State File. This allows for restore all wallet data completely, as outlined [here](https://blog.mutinywallet.com/migrate-mutiny-wallet-to-the-native-apps/#transferring-data).


### D - Servers 🖥️

For the tech-savvy, taking Mutiny into your own hands by running it on your infrastructure is a solid option. There are some resources available to guide you through this process. A good place to begin is by visiting [Github/mutiny-deploy ](https://github.com/MutinyWallet/mutiny-deploy) and for a more in-depth guide on cloud setup, the [Setting up Mutiny in the cloud](https://github.com/MutinyWallet/mutiny-deploy/blob/master/docs/setup-docs.md)

![step-8.png](https://m.stacker.news/21143)


## Receive Bitcoin 🔽
To begin, select `Receive` from the main screen. Enter the desired amount you wish to receive. Note that a setup fee will be deducted to initiate the lightning channel. By tapping on `Why`, you can gain insights into liquidity. Mutiny employs Voltage, a built-in LSP, in the background to streamline the process. This way you dont have to establish a channel, the LSP will do that for you. Additionally, you can label your transaction by filling in the `What is this for?` field. Once completed, click on `Continue` to proceed.

![step-10.png](https://m.stacker.news/21144)


This process creates a QR code in a `unified format`, ready for payment. It includes information on the setup fee necessary to initiate the lightning channel if the transaction is executed through lightning. In this example, the setup fee was `6,545 SATS`. By adding the Phoenix LN fee of `404 SATS`, the aggregate amount required to open the channel was `6,949 SATS`.

![step-11.png](https://m.stacker.news/21145)


`Choose format` will display the various payment formats available. The `unified` option allows the sender to choose the preferred payment method. Additionally, users can select either a `Lightning invoice` or `Bitcoin address` to receive Bitcoin.

![step-9.png](https://m.stacker.news/21146)


When it comes to paying the invoice using Phoenix, the unified QR code enables both lightning and on-chain Bitcoin as viable payment options.

![step-12.png](https://m.stacker.news/21147)


## Sending Bitcoin 🔼
Sending Bitcoin is also a straightforward. By configuring your `NOSTR NPUB` in the settings, you can directly send Bitcoin to your NOSTR contacts. Personally I really like this feature. Additionally there are also the options to send Bitcoin using an on-chain address or a lightning invoice.

![step-13.png](https://m.stacker.news/21148)


Specify the `amount` you'd like to send, include a label for easy tracking of your transactions, and tap `Confirm Send`.

![step-14.png](https://m.stacker.news/21149)


The SATS will magically fly into your chosen destination, truly magic internet money. ✨        

![step-15.png](https://m.stacker.news/21150)


## Nostr Wallet Auth 🔗  
Nostr Wallet Auth (NWA) is an open source protocol ([NIP-67](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/pull/851)) iteration of the Nostr Wallet Connect and simplifies wallet connections to other external services by offering a streamlined authentication process to request payments from your wallet.

To begin, navigate to `Settings` and, within the `Experiments` section, select `Wallet Connections`. Then, by choosing `Add Connection`, you're prompted to provide a name for the connection. Additionally, you have the ability to establish a budget by enabling `Auto Approve`, allowing you to determine how frequently your budget resets—be it Daily, Weekly, Monthly, or Yearly.

![step-16.png](https://m.stacker.news/21151)


This generates a code that can be scanned or copied to establish the connection, for instance, with the stacker.news account.

![step-17.png](https://m.stacker.news/21152)


On stacker.news, navigate to `wallets` and select `attach wallets`, then choose `NWC`. Paste the code here, and the newly connected Mutiny Wallet becomes the designated payment method. (ℹ️ _SN prioritizes spending from your custodial balance. If there are no funds in your wallet, it switches to your attached wallet_). The green dot will indicate that everything is set up. From this point on, zaps will deduct funds from the attached wallet when the balance is empty.

![step-18.png](https://m.stacker.news/21153)


Back in Mutiny, after a day filled with zapping, we can easily review the total amount spent throughout the day and check what remains from the set budged.

![step-19.png](https://m.stacker.news/21154)


## Mutiny Gifts 🎁 
Mutiny Gifts was [announced in Oct 2023](https://blog.mutinywallet.com/mutiny-gifts/) and makes it easy to get new users started by just showing them a QR code. When they scan the QR code, it opens Mutiny Wallet on the web, so they can get their Bitcoin. If they don't already have a wallet, it will automatically make one for them in the background and set up a lightning channel after they redeem the Bitcoin.

Mutiny Gifts is a feature for `Mutiny+` users.

> Paying for Mutiny+ helps support ongoing development and unlocks early access to new features and premium functionality.

If you want to support the Mutiny team and get early access to new features consider joining `Mutiny+` for 16.000 SATS a month. 

![step-20.png](https://m.stacker.news/21155)


## Federations 🤝 
End of last year, [Mutiny announced](https://archive.ph/K4Prm) their integration of the `fedimint protocol` for managing federated custodian funds.

> The way we've gone about the integration is to seamlessly smooth over the edges that exist in self-custodial Lightning. Our hybrid approach will use a configured Federation when needed. Otherwise, it uses self-custodial Lightning if it exists for the user. This helps things like channel reserves, channel minimums, high chain fees to get started, etc. You may add a Federation alongside your existing wallet or start with one without needing to open channels or pay on-chain costs. We recommend keeping the value low since this is a very early release, and there are some known features that we still need to develop.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to test this feature yet, as I have not come across any Federation invite codes.

![step-21.png](https://m.stacker.news/21156)


## Coming soon 🔜
As we gradually conclude, let's look ahead. What's in the pipeline?

> `Coinjoin`: Earn yield by participating in collaborative transaction, powered by Lightning Vortex. 

> `Synthetic USD`: Hold self-custodial dollar denominated value, powered by DLCs. 

The upcoming features seem interesting, I'm curious to see what they look like once implemented.

![step-22.png](https://m.stacker.news/21157)


## Conclusion 🎯
This marks the end of my review on the Mutiny wallet. For me it was interesting to explore the features this wallet is offering and learned a lot in the process. The ability to use it without the conventional app marketplaces is a significant advantage, especially considering past challenges some wallets have faced with [approvals](https://stacker.news/items/193044). Things like NOSTR integration, NWA, and federations add even more value. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know this wallet. Please let me know if there is anything I missed and I'm eager to hear how others have found using Mutiny.

## Mutiny Resources 📚 
[Website](https://www.mutinywallet.com/) | [Web App](https://app.mutinywallet.com/) | [Github](https://github.com/MutinyWallet) | [Blog](https://blog.mutinywallet.com/) | [Discord](https://discord.com/invite/x3njeHUjVd) | [Matrix](https://matrix.to/?ref=blog.mutinywallet.com#/#mutiny-community:lightninghackers.com)

Starting with: Mutiny Wallet

runningbitcoin

It's my view that we're sitting in the front row of a movie theater, popcorn on our lap, and we're watching history play out before us. Specifically, we're watching a film called "The New Economic Revolution" starring Bitcoin.

![flywheel.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/crrdlx/23z7QSvg7CBJs9BqX47c7PmKbx2XcKpyZdcK5SVg9azbLLjituYabjsbrps6e5sLpNzxZ.jpg)

Revolutions, true revolutions where the old world order is turned down and the new order is transformed up, are rare. We usually think of political revolutions when we hear "revolution," at least I do. A power overthrow is an easy thing to see and grasp. 

Social revolutions are another good example, often initiated by or aided by technological revolutions. The Protestant Revolution, aided by the printing press, unchained the Holy Bible from the gatekeepers of the Catholic church and brought it to directly to the people in their own language. 

But, economic revolutions, I'd argue, are extremely rare. How many true economic revolutions have their been?

1. The move from forager to **agriculture**, maybe? Though I'd argue agriculture has been around since the beginning.

2. The beginnings of the use of **money**. This one is hard to pin down and would depend on geography, but it's a game changer.

3. Around the 1700s there was what's called the "agricultural revolution" or "**enclosure**." (This was the second agricultural revolution, the first being #1 above.) Enclosure might be the better word, because it's essentially just fencing off land. In this way, enclosure is essentially capitalism being carried out, the move from the communal to private property. See the next number below.

4. Adam Smith's free market **capitalism**. Capitalism has raised the standard of living of more people than anything I can imagine. Historically, it liberated millions, maybe billions, from mercantilism and the clutches of the haves controlling the have-nots. Today, with capitalism, a have-not with an idea, grit and determination can achieve great things. Certainly, a gritty person stands to live a better life in capitalism than in any other economic system.

5. **Bitcoin**. I rank bitcoin right there among these other landmarks because it disconnects money and value from power-brokers and connects that value directly to the people. This is, of course, why they dislike and fight bitcoin.

So, is bitcoin in the four or five greatest economic revolutions of history? I think it is. The technology it revealed aside, the way-of-thinking it awakened to so many people might be its most incredible achievement. Like Plato's cave allegory, coming out of the cave is difficult and can be frightening and painful. Yet, once out of the cave and viewing the beautiful world outside, no one crawls back into the cave to live a life in darkness.

In bitcoin, we hear the term "flywheel" used fairly often. It's a great analogy: the flywheel, once spinning, creates its own inertia to generate greater spin and greater inertia, and thus, its own energy. That bitcoin flywheel is spinning, and speeding, and not everyone likes the revolution its creating.

We're watching this movie play out in real time. I'm not even talking price here, though that is one effective measure and easy-to-handle metric of the revolution. I'm talking about a complete change from "your" money and "my" money being liberated from gatekeepers and power brokers and placed directly into your and my hands. It is the scripture from Latin to the vernacular.

On the topic of religion, I think back to the patriarchs of the Old Testament, particularly Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob of Genesis. They became wealthy, influential, and powerful men. Their wealth was not in money as we think of it. It was not in gold. It was not even in land for much of their lives. Their wealth was in livestock...an asset or commodity that would literally walk around with them as they traveled to and fro across the Holy Land. My point here is that they were the actual holders, the custodians of their wealth. They held their flocks and herds with them, completely divorced from any governmental or institutional overseer. Their money had four feet, ate, sleep, defecated, and got eaten themselves. But, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob controlled their own wealth.

Bitcoin effectively returns us back to herding sheep and goats. We can trade a sheep, slaughter a goat without anyone's permission and without anyone taking a fee for us doing so. With legacy money, this is not the case.

Anyone who is old enough to have lived through the period when the internet became accessible to normal folks, the 90s and early 2000s, they might see how we've been blessed to witness a couple of revolutions. First, we saw the information revolution play out, and we've lived it out. Anyone who did research pre-internet understands the difference between looking for things on microfiche and searching the 'net. The ease of the search, the wide spread of the net that's cast, and the accuracy and pertinence of the results are ridiculously better now. It's not that information could *not* be found prior to the internet, it's that the entire process has been sped up to an incredible degree.

As a quick and simple example, suppose you ask, "What was the name of the first song the Rolling Stones came out with?" Pre-internet, you'd have to take an afternoon to go to the library, find a book on rock 'n roll music history, if your library had one. Else, you had to request it. Then wait a few days, then go back, then thumb through it. Maybe it would have the answer, maybe not. If not, request another book. Or, maybe dig rather aimlessly through the microfiche and pray. 

To research that question now...do a search. There's your answer.

And secondly, we're able to watch the revolution of money that bitcoin started and which the flywheel is now fueling. The combined technological revolution of the internet and the economic revolution of bitcoin, are, well historic to say the least.  I'm convinced that in 20 years people will look back at this time in awe. Certainly in 50 years and a hundred and hundreds, this period will be in the history books properly recorded as truly revolutionary. 

We're blessed to be sitting and watching this amazing time. Out of roughly 5,000 years of recorded history, we're living in one of the few times where we get to witness such transformative changes. There haven't been many changes this big, and we get to live it. 

Be thankful, humble, and enjoy the movie and the popcorn.



We're witnessing history

crrdlx

devs

Someone in plebdevs asked me this question recently I'm writing a longer form post with a lot of grueling detail about my specific path but I'll drop some high level thoughts here and would love to hear some anecdotes from the stackers.

All in all it took me about 10 months to land my first programming job out of my fullstack bootcamp. Over these ten months I applied to 250+ positions. I didn't start with the best resume/portfolio/process for the job hunt but I learned over time through trial and error.

If I could go back in time with the knowledge I have now I feel like I could have cut it down to 2-3 months max, but hey that's not life works right.

For someone whose starting fresh I would begin with the mindset and understanding that this might take a very long time. Of course once you land your first position it is way easier to get another. It's always the zero-to-one that's the real barrier to entry.

### From my experience I suggest you focus on these 4 things:

#### 1. History of Work
#### 2. Resume
#### 3. Portfolio
#### 4. Job hunt system

### History of Work:
Create history of work that shows you have the skills to be a developer. Use Github, portfolio, and deployed projects to show this off. Make sure the biggest and the best are front and center on your portfolio website. Push code everyday if you can. Build a personal project that solves some kind of problem for yourself or someone else. Contribute to open source, do example projects from YouTube tutorials, build free websites for your friends lawnmowing business, etc. Literally just push as much relevant work as you can.

- Push commits on github everyday if you can. Build up as long/strong of a history of work on github as you can.
- Create "Side projects" that solve some kind of problem for yourself or someone else. The more niche/specific/unique the better. If you are able to get ANY users for this project that is the best case scenario. Be sure to make it clear your project has users on your portfolio. - 
- If it was YOUR unique creation and you built it from scratch and especially if you had any users than this is some of the highest signal work you can ship (as far as landing a job).
- Create "Example projects" following a tutorial. Frame it as "Example" not a tutorial project, and you don't need to mention you took a tutorial to build it. These example projects are best when you take one to learn a new tool such as tailwind. You might build a whole todo list app or netflix clone following a tutorial just to pick up tailwind and have an example of it. That's perfect as an example project.
- Create "Freelance projects". This can be any kind of programming related task or project that you do for someone else or some company/startup. Does your friend have a lawn mowing business? Build a website for it and put it on your portfolio! Does your brother cut hair? Build him a badass barber website. Put these projects on your portfolio and frame them as "freelance" work.
- Contribute to open source. Find an open source project that you love or are familiar with and scour their github issues for a "good first issue" tag (this is the best place to start). Any contribution you make to an open source project is a huge green flag for recruiters and will help you stand out from other candidates.

### Resume:
Build a developer resume that frames your journey, shows off your relevant experience/skills, and passes all pre-screening steps whether it be automated CV scanning software or an HR lady without her coffee.

- Look at developer resume's online and copy the format/structure for your own.
- Create a short contact section with your name, email, location, and link to your portfolio website.
- Create an about section that is short and concise but at the same time tells your story and frames yourself as a fast learner who is passionate about becoming a developer
- Don't call it "Work" or "Projects" on your resume frame it as "Experience" and under the experience section you can put your biggest and best dev projects as well as any actual work experience you have.
- Add a skills section that is 2-3 lines in total and lists out technologies you know and utilize in your projects such as JavaScript, Tailwind, Git, C++, etc. This will serve you by helping your resume pass keyword scans that HR will run every resume through (bigger companies and some startups do this)
- The experience section should take up most of your resume, the skills should take up 2-3 lines, you should have contact info at the top, the about me below that. At the very bottom you can put an "Education" section. Keep yours as short as you want (mine was incredibly short cause all I had was a GED)

### Portfolio:
Build a personal website / portfolio that shows off EVERYTHING you have but is still easy to read and scroll through. Recruiters, hiring managers, or lead engineers will be looking at this as you're applying. They will only give you seconds of their time, make sure what they see in those seconds gets you to the next round.

- Create a personal website/portfolio with a domain name that is close to your name/nym online
- Look at as many dev portfolio website examples as you can for examples on how you should structure yours.
- Keep it dead simple at first.
- Make sure it renders fast (within 3 seconds MAX)
- If you're a frontend dev it has to look pretty (on every viewport size!). If you're a backend dev just make it simple/clean
- Put your name / contact / about section at the top (don't take up too much space)
- Put your project section right at eye level as soon as it renders.
- Link to each projects repo and deployment (if it has one)


### Job hunt system:
the job hunt is a grind. Create a system for consistently finding jobs, applying to jobs, improving your career artifacts, and shipping new work. If you do these 4 things: (find, apply, improve, ship) then winning is inevitable it's just a question of how long it will take.

- Create a spreadsheet listing out positions you're going to apply for and those that you have applied for.
- Search for positions on typical job boards like indeed/zip recruiter but also look on the angel list job board, YCombinator job board, and of course all of the Bitcoin specific job boards (Bitcoiner jobs, SN, Bitcointalentco)
- Create a cover letter for positions you're very interested in or that look like a perfect fit.
- The first cover letter is hardest to make but once you have it you can pretty easily refactor it for new positions. As you continue to refactor it with more and more positions you will refine and improve it over time.
- Take ANY feedback you get from companies you apply to, list it on your spreadsheet and learn from it.
- As you get past the first round with any positions look up the company on glassdoor or similar resources and see if you can figure out what their technical interview is like. Practice any specific algo problems, take home projects, or technologies they use for their technical interviews.
- Practice doing technical interviews by yourself. roleplay as if you are in the interview, verbalize your thought process, turn zoom/screenshare on, get comfortable trying to solve hard problems with silent observers.
- Watch YouTube tutorials for developer job hunting and technical interview practices

Some tips for landing your first developer job

bitcoinplebdev

privacy

Apple - love it or hate it? 🍏

Someone just mentioned they are starting out on the Plebnet telegram and asked a few questions and it got me thinking about what I would like to have known before I started my first node.

Here's a non-exhaustive starting list off the top of my head (but what about you, comment with yours):

1. Launch a testate/regtest/signet node or cluster of nodes and play with rebalancing tools and other sidecar apps—always keep your testnet/regtest/signet nodes running so you can test software/hardware upgrades before enabling them on your main node. On testnet, you can [connect to other testnet nodes](https://mempool.space/testnet/lightning/node/03eb9a1df4d067f7e9575dae8fd0c471d2d14694dee34772b3494c4819c365b796), and on regtest, you can just spin up a bunch of your own nodes and test. Using Multipass, Proxmox, or raspberry pi nodes is great for test clusters. Getting testnet/signet coins is a huge pain, but there are ways
2. Don't open tiny channels or liquidity pool loops with new nodes that don't have contact info (open very intentional channels to nodes that have contact info and that you can build a relationship with). 
3. Make a plan for your first set of 5-10 channels and batch open them in one go to save on opening fees, except for whatever channels you can arrange dual-funding to open. Generally, if you are not dual funding, use batching to save on fees when opening.
4. Tune your node configuration settings (and understand all of them in detail before you launch)
5. Your first set of channels should probably be around the same size (e.g. you might want to open 5-10 2M or 5M sat channels if you have 0.1-0.5 BTC to start out)—if you open a 10M channel to one node and four 1M channels other nodes, that one bigger channel will be wasted since you can’t send anything bigger than just under 1M through your node anyway. 
6. Look for a triangle swap that has really good partners and balance the triangle immediately after opening (again, coordinate fees and activities with your node partners and use your testnet cluster to learn hands-on)
7. Be mindful of your startup hardware. A lot of nodes die because they are using cheap external HDD/SDD attachments to a raspberry pi. These are great for your test nodes with fake funds, but use better hardware or cloud hosting like Voltage for your production node (I almost launched my first node on a raspberry pi, luckily dodged a bullet)
8. Be mindful of database issues—this is the most common cause for nodes dying and losing funds. If you are on LND and are using channels.db (default), make sure you have good hard drive storage and RAID redundancy (or as some node runners have had success, a plan to test and migrate your M2 drives every few months). If you are running a custom LND with postgreSQL (e.g. https://github.com/blckbx/lnd_postgres), think about database replication and backup. Whatever you decide for your software/hardware needs, make deliberate choices rather than just installing and running whatever is default. Also think about this when you plan for your failover scenarios. Get a UPS but you might want your network to fail before your node shuts off to prevent HTLC updates and db writes during what could be a poweroff event
9. Use an auto-fee tool and ensure you have good partners that do the same to make rebalancing economical for each other
10. Beware of opening your first channels directly to sinks (large nodes that just eat your inbound liquidity if you set the rate too low and you don’t see that come back for a long time if ever)

- Happy noding from Zap-O-Matic: [026d0169e8c220d8e789de1e7543f84b9041bbb3e819ab14b9824d37caa94f1eb2](https://amboss.space/node/026d0169e8c220d8e789de1e7543f84b9041bbb3e819ab14b9824d37caa94f1eb2)

Things You Would Tell Yourself Prior to Launching Lightning

zapomatic

`lnd` uses boltdb files (like `channel.db`) to store its data (unless you're already using the new SQL database backend). It's necessary to "compact" these files every now and then, as deleted data still consumes disk space. Compaction is just a "copy-paste" process, where only non-deleted data is copied to the new file - which hopefully is a lot smaller than the original file.

During compaction, `lnd` reads and writes rather small updates from/to these files. If your file system is slow (HDD based), this massively slows down the compaction process. If you're using a file system where it is possible to (temporarily?) disable the "sync" feature, you can make use of this to make compaction much faster. In my case, using ZFS, I can use `zfs set sync=disabled tank/lnd` (where `tank/lnd` is the file system I use for the boltdb data). Note that you should ONLY do this for compaction. Once `lnd` is running normally, you absolutely need the "sync" feature. Otherwise, you're at risk of catastrophic financial loss (penalty transactions from your peers). However, for `lnd` installations that only serve as a watchtower service, this might still be an acceptable risk (as the watchtower itself is just a backup).

Also see https://github.com/lightningnetwork/lnd/issues/8502

Furthermore, you can improve compaction and `lnd` startup time in general by reading the boltdb file once, for example using `cat channel.db > /dev/null`. This way, instead of taking data in smaller chunks, the OS can read the file sequentially (which, usually, is much master) and store its contents in memory for future access. 

Speed up your lnd boltdb compaction (and startup) speed

C_Otto

Direct Link to new bitcoin-dev Mailing List using Google Groups.

Kathleen_Croteau

ecash

How Ecash works - animated slides

AR0w

Education

Howdy Stackers! We started a new season of Meet the Makers interviews! Our first speaker of this year is Bryan from ATL Bitlab. We started focusing on maker origin stories. This is a very educational talk, so give it a listen and make sure to subscribe to our channel for more podcasts like this! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bgo1pNHTyjs

How Bryan made his career with automation and code

boltfun_btc

Minibits.cash - Cashu wallet with Lightning-Ecash ⚡ addresses with zaps on nostr

calle

Full format post here: https://medium.com/breez-technology/the-past-present-and-future-of-offline-payments-1ddb46054e11

Nobody is more critical of Lightning than its most passionate proponents. [Guys like me](https://medium.com/breez-technology/lightning-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel-overcoming-bitcoins-ux-challenges-5738171c759e). Guys like Ben Carman. [In a recent Stacker News post](https://stacker.news/items/379225), he highlights liquidity and offline payments as aspects of Lightning that impede the UX and deter self-custody. This might seem like just another complaint about how the future isn’t living up to its promise. We were promised flying cars, and all we got was the miracle of the internet. [Everything is amazing and nobody is happy](https://youtu.be/PdFB7q89_3U?t=18).

On closer inspection, though, Ben’s got a point. I’ve been talking about the Lightning UX for years, including the challenge of offline payments. We even proposed a solution to the offline payment problem [back in 2019](https://medium.com/breez-technology/introducing-lightning-rod-2e0a40d3e44a) (I’ll explain below why we never implemented it).

It might feel as if the promised future is perpetually out of reach, but building Lightning is a lot like climbing a mountain. Climbers never really see the summit until they’re standing on top of it. They often can’t even see over the next ridge. Planning the ascent is important, but most of the time you’re simply concentrating on the next foothold. But the steps add up. Just like the view from the top is the reward for all that effort, a brighter monetary future will be our reward for building the network bit by bit. That’s how Lightning has progressed from an idea to a functioning bitcoin payment network, and it’s how we’ll reach our destination.

![0_-_J_jFzhqlXIwq4L.png](https://m.stacker.news/13638)

And like mountain climbing, none of us will get there alone. (Image: Sylvain Mauroux)
Since offline payments are a longstanding UX challenge, let me review where this problem comes from, what tech is currently available to deal with it, and what’s on the horizon. (I’ll review Ben’s other beef — channel liquidity — in a coming post.)

## The Problem

People who’ve only ever experienced fiat, on-chain bitcoin, or custodial wallets might not even be aware that “offline payments” are a thing. Fiat and custodial wallets solve the problem by taking control of users’ money. The bank/custodian receives funds/IOUs from other users’ banks/custodians and sends the funds/IOUs when users ask them to. If the user never actually has custody of the funds, it doesn’t matter whether they’re online or not. Only those who actually control the money need to be online. With on-chain bitcoin, a sender needs only the recipient’s address.

Self-custodial Lightning is more challenging because both parties to a transaction need to be online simultaneously. The recipient needs to send an invoice to the sender, the sender needs to initiate the payment, and the recipient has to sign it. This arrangement restores users’ control over their own money, but it can also be a pain in the UX.

## The Past: Trials and Errors

There were 11 recorded attempts to climb Everest before Norgay and Hillary finally succeeded. Breez’s first attempt to crack offline payments was called “Connect to Pay,” which prompted the sender to notify the recipient when a payment was about to go through so the recipient would open their Lightning app. The underlying UX idea was analogous to a phone call: just get both parties occupied with the same thing simultaneously. But the ability to receive payments without conscious effort is simply too ingrained. It’s the UX we all expect, and nothing less will do. ([People don’t even like phone calls](https://leadferno.com/blog/survey-texting-is-the-preferred-way-to-communicate). They [sing songs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aL8TdgkNUDA) about it.)

Our next idea, which we called [Lightning Rod](https://medium.com/breez-technology/introducing-lightning-rod-2e0a40d3e44a), was more sophisticated. The idea was to use HODL invoices to let a routing node between the sender and the recipient intercept the payment until the receiver became available. Therefore, it was a lot like Zeus’s Zaplocker idea.

Although Lightning Rod works, we never put it into production because HODL invoices don’t scale for routing nodes. They tie up funds. When a routing node holds a transaction, it’s basically extending an interest-free loan to the recipient. Liquidity must flow. Solving the problem of async payments by freezing them en route just aggravates the liquidity problem.

We were on the right mountain, but taking the wrong lines up.

## The Present: Existing Means to Support Offline Payments
The good news is that technologies have evolved to deal with offline payments. No existing approach is a perfect solution in that they all have trade offs, but each is useful in different ways.

### LNURL-Withdraw

The first is LNURL-Withdraw. Recipients can scan a QR code or enter a URL that instructs their app to request funds from a sender. For example, a user who wants to withdraw funds from an exchange can “pull” their funds at their convenience instead of the exchange pushing while they are offline.

There are two major drawbacks with this approach. First, it requires the sender to have a node running on a server that’s perpetually online, so it’s inappropriate for non-custodial mobile or web clients. Second, the “pull” model only applies to very specific use cases when users know they have funds to redeem. For example, it would be hard to spontaneously tip someone.

### The Breez SDK Approach: Leverage Mobile Notifications

Mobile notifications are another means to support offline payments. Triggering a mobile notification in iOS or Android can even give the client app enough time on the CPU to receive the payment. Using mobile notifications to process incoming payments doesn’t require active involvement from the recipient and provides a natural, non-intrusive solution to the simultaneity problem. That’s why we’ve included [a new feature in the Breez SDK to facilitate offline payments](https://sdk-doc.breez.technology/guide/payment_notification.html) using push notifications. It’s a major UX improvement for SDK users requiring just a little work from developers.

The Breez SDK approach works like this: first, the devs create a webhook that an LSP can call when a payment is en route. As soon as the payment hits the LSP as the last hop before the recipient, the LSP calls a Notification Delivery Service (NDS) via webhook, and the NDS sends a push notification to the user’s phone with instructions. It requires a little legwork on the developers’ part in the form of setting up an NDS, but the result is a much better UX because users don’t need to keep the app in the foreground to receive payments. It also enables mobile users to receive payments using a static address (e.g. Lightning address, LNURL-Pay or BOLT12).

![0_8q-eFa1pRlyIf0n_.png](https://m.stacker.news/13639)

Mobile notifications are an improvement, but not a cure-all. They only work on mobile devices, obviously, and this approach won’t work if the device is off or the user has disabled the notifications required. Moreover, Google or Apple could negate its effectiveness by changing how their operating systems handle notifications. That’s why we need a solution built into the Lightning protocol.

## The Future: Building Async Payments into Lightning

[The idea behind the next phase of offline payments](https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/lightning-dev/2021-October/003307.html) is simple: make payments asynchronous. Since the simultaneity problem affects self-custodied mobile and web users most acutely, and practically all such users connect to Lightning through LSPs, why not leverage their always-online LSPs to synchronize the payment when the sender or receiver are offline?

LSPs can decompose the payment flow in time by intercepting HTLCs, which eliminates the simultaneity problem or, rather, shifts it to the level of LSPs, for whom it is no problem. It all starts with a message embedded in the invoice indicating that the recipient is offline but connected to an LSP. The sender sends the payment with a message to their own LSP to hold it with a long expiry time pending further instructions. The sender then messages the recipient’s LSP asking it to alert their own LSP (who is still holding the payment) when the recipient is back online. At this point, it’s basically up to the LSPs. When the recipient comes back online, their LSP signals the sender’s LSP to forward the payment.

This model doesn’t compromise the overall liquidity of the network because the only node where the funds can be frozen is the sender’s own LSP, which is what the user actually wants.

As simple as it sounds, this approach requires more tech to work optimally: static invoices, onion messages, blinded routes, trampoline payments and eventually PTLC. It’s complicated, but those who want to dig deeper can watch [my Honeybadger 2023 session](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsPqVqX5VJc&t=14164s). While some Lightning implementations already support some of these features, it will take some time before the entire network adopts them, which is crucial for interoperability.

![0_NUUe963oxN6jUbM4.png](https://m.stacker.news/13640)

## When Will the Future Arrive?

Of course the sun will rise tomorrow, but it’s already shining today. My point is that we already have different, functional ways of handling offline payments on Lightning without relinquishing custody, each suited to a different use case. LNURL-Withdraw already works for some commercial contexts, and the new Breez SDK feature enables offline payments for mobile devices.

That’s cool! We didn’t always have that, but now we do. We’re already living in yesterday’s future.

A protocol-based solution remains a work in progress. Many implementations like Eclair, LDK, lndk and Core Lightning (yes, I’m looking at you lnd) are making progress on the features required to make it happen. When implemented, async payments will represent a huge UX improvement. It’s a future worth pursuing.

When we get there, I’m sure there will be other challenges on the horizon demanding our attention and testing our patience, but let’s never forget how high we’ve climbed already.

The Past, Present, and Future of Offline Payments

We've all been been there, a channel gets closed, no-matter yet if it was a cooperative or force-closed, but somehow the close transaction hangs around and doesn't get confirmed. You want to clear the house, or need the pending onchain sats, but wonder how to go about it? Follow this guide and you'll hopefully find remedy.

But before, read [this article](https://docs.lightning.engineering/lightning-network-tools/lnd/unconfirmed-bitcoin-transactions) from LND. Then [read it](https://docs.lightning.engineering/lightning-network-tools/lnd/unconfirmed-bitcoin-transactions) again. Once you think you understand it, [read it again](https://docs.lightning.engineering/lightning-network-tools/lnd/unconfirmed-bitcoin-transactions). It's not super cohesive, since a number of things from the top need to be understood to grasp the section **[Channel closing](https://docs.lightning.engineering/lightning-network-tools/lnd/unconfirmed-bitcoin-transactions#docs-internal-guid-5647dd03-7fff-dc71-47cf-5f7e2155a44d)**, so ensure you spend some time in there.

## Situation
This is written for LND, but similar methodologies are applicable for CLN. Eclair folks know their way around anyway.
You identified a channel-close, either in one of the GUIs you use, or from a Bot notification. But it doesn't confirm. First thing to do is SSH into your node via `ssh user@node-ip` and get an overview of all pending (open, and close) with 
`lncli pendingchannels`[^1].
```terminal
{  
  "channel": {  
	"remote_node_pub": "123456789889786857463636288291929458767688493999392324",  
	"channel_point": "dhksfkeh8458734kldjfksd39393932033fkk3003022244:1",  
	"capacity": "10000000",  
	"local_balance": "9999711",  
	"remote_balance": "70137",  
	"local_chan_reserve_sat": "10053",  
	"remote_chan_reserve_sat": "10053",  
	"initiator": "INITIATOR_REMOTE",  
	"commitment_type": "ANCHORS",  
	"num_forwarding_packages": "2",  
	"chan_status_flags": "ChanStatusBorked|ChanStatusCommitBroadcasted|ChanStatusLocalCloseInitiator"  
  },  
  "limbo_balance": "9999711",  
  "commitments": {  
	"local_txid": "eeof599490930002dcc0db3bfa789eb4afbd89a37794a4c49a5f529ddb1b23e85b3",  
	"remote_txid": "ta48849fkkek39947uuc80371ec96a88297465821ee79ff0b85f8624f83a7455f1cc",  
	"remote_pending_txid": "",  
	"local_commit_fee_sat": "2510",  
	"remote_commit_fee_sat": "2510",  
	"remote_pending_commit_fee_sat": "0"  
  },  
"closing_txid": "eeof599490930002dcc0db3bfa789eb4afbd89a37794a4c49a5f529ddb1b23e85b3"
```
What we see here is that our LND sees that channel as borked, we have a an *opening_tx* (`channel_point:vout`), a *local_tx* and a *remote_tx*. What's usually the next step, we wonder why it's not closing, so we copy the 
```
"closing_txid": "eeof599490930002dcc0db3bfa789eb4afbd89a37794a4c49a5f529ddb1b23e85b3"
```
and copy it into our favorite mempool tool. Just for guiding sake, we check with [mempool.space](https://mempool.space/), and now it's the time to split into two scenarios
### Scenario 1: mempool.space shows the closing-tx, but it's unconfirmed and the fee is too low
What many runners don't know, mempool.space runs with a mempool-size of 2GB, while most standard node-systems run with just 300MB. This is usually enough, but not in high fee environments.
So let's check if your local mempool has it: 
```
bitcoin-cli getrawtransaction eeof599490930002dcc0db3bfa789eb4afbd89a37794a4c49a5f529ddb1b23e85b3
error code: -5
error message:
No such mempool or blockchain transaction. Use gettransaction for wallet transactions.
```
In this case your mempool probably purged the transaction, or LND never published it due to it's low commitment fee. Let's jump to the next section to see what we can do about it.

### Scenario 2: mempool.space shows `Transaction not found`
Okay, we can assume that your closing-tx probably never hit the public-mempool, we can cut things short here and move to the next section, but just to be safe, let's check if our local bitcoin-mempool has it
```
bitcoin-cli getrawtransaction eeof599490930002dcc0db3bfa789eb4afbd89a37794a4c49a5f529ddb1b23e85b3
error code: -5
error message:
No such mempool or blockchain transaction. Use gettransaction for wallet transactions.
```

## Complication
Why are there transactions of channel-closes with too low fee? Can't LND figure out what fee is necessary and get things just out there? I want my funds!
Well... and this is already way better than earlier last year
![Screenshot 2024-01-22 11.37.14 PM.png](https://m.stacker.news/13421)

Let's assume best intend, no-one built that protocol to make things intentionally complicated. But since you have two parties involved in the process, and we should assume no-trust between those, we need to install processes to keep things fair, balanced and transparent. Read up on the [HTLC-detail guide from Elle Mouton](https://www.ellemouton.com/posts/htlc-deep-dive/) to make yourself more familiar with the details.

In short, we have 2 (out of 3) possible ways for a channel-close: 

 1. **cooperative-close**, where both parties are online, one of the two sends a channel-close signal, and then both nodes get to court and negotiate a closing price. Since only the opener pays for the closing-cost, it's imminent it's not sky high. There are settings in `lnd.conf` like `coop-close-target-confs=100` which help to keep things rational from your side if the other side triggered the close.
 2. **force- or uncooperative-close**, where either one of the two parties is unresponsive / offline, or other protocol / node-OS disagreements happen (like expiring HTLCs). In either case one of the two parties force-close, there is no court-negotiation, but based on the last channel_commit agreement the two nodes handshaken on, will be used for the closing-fee.  Those agreements are also based on a few `lnd.conf` settings, like `max-commit-fee-rate-anchors` and `bitcoind.estimatemode`[^2]. 

Either have their intricacies, but when the channel-close is not in **your local mempool, or too low fee in the public mempool**, you can't get the channel closed and the onchain-sats stay locked away. 

## Proposed Solutions
We won't outline every possible scenario, but a couple of most happening ones. Some will work, others not. To avoid this article becoming a master-class, let's go through a couple of those which are doing no-harm, but helping you worse case to get some more information what's happening.

For each of those attempts, **prepare a second terminal window** to your node, and filter (`grep`) the channel-point and pubkey of the channel, so you'll be more informed after of what's happening. This terminal will monitor your `lnd.log` and show only entries where either the Pubkey of your to be closed channel-peer, or your mutual channel-point is triggered.
```
sudo tail -f .lnd/logs/bitcoin/mainnet/lnd.log | grep -e 'PUBKEYOFCHANNELPARTNER|CHANNELPOINT:VOUT'
```

While Terminal 2 stays open, let's move to Terminal Window 1 for the next couple of commands. We'll try one after the other, and this guide will be verbose if there's risk or sat-spending involved. It's sorted from lowest risk / spend to highest, top down.

### 1. Reconnect
Many coop-close attempts fail, because when both nodes go to court, there is a possibility to not find consensus on the closing fee. Let's see if this is the reason, you'll see entries like commit-fee proposal staggering up, and whether you'll find consensus
`lncli disconnect PUBKEY && lncli connect PUBKEY@ADDRESS:PORT`
If the closing attempts fail, you'll see that each time, the delta between your node and your channel-peer will get closer. Eventually it'll work, if not, check your `lnd.conf`  settings and eg change `bitcoind.estimatemode=ECONOMICAL` to `bitcoind.estimatemode=CONSERVATIVE`.

### 2. Restart LND
Sometimes closing attempts miss a broadcast due to a missing connection to bitcoind. Restarting LND rebroadcasts every pending channel-close and sweeps, so give this a shot and check your terminal 2 while LND is taking it's time to come back up. Really, you need some patience here.

### 3. Reinitiate coop-close (and force-close)
Try to close the channel again, in rare cases this would solve something which 1. didn't: `lncli closechannel --chan_point CHANPOINT:VOUT --sat_per_vbyte XX`. This may offer some more insight in your Terminal 2 window. You can do the same for the force-close, just need to adjust the command slightly. For the record, I never had this situation, but it's not doing any harm in case you know it's a force-close anyway: `lncli closechannel --chan_point CHANPOINT:VOUT --force`. We can omit the target sat/vbyte setting since force-closes use the last agreed commit-fee of both you and your peer.

### 4. Increase local Mempool size
This solves for a couple of things, both Scenario 1 and Scenario 2 above, at least as a preparation. Open your bitcoind-configuration with `sudo nano .bitcoin/bitcoin.conf` to lookup and edit the following entry to `2000`, which increases it to 2GB:
```
# Increase Mempool size
maxmempool=2000
```
Restart bitcoind (typically `sudo systemctl restart bitcoind` to take this setting into effect. And either LND already restarted by itself, or trigger a manual restart with `sudo systemctl restart lnd`. Watch Terminal 2, to see whether your 300MB previous mempool was too limited to accept your LND-closing. With 2GB, that limitation is lifted (a little) and potentially allows your LND to broadcast the closing-tx.

### 5. Manually broadcast the closing-transaction
Eventually 4. allows your local mempool to pick up the closing transaction. Sometimes it doesn't. Or your mempool has it, but the public mempool didn't. Without either your bitcoind node, or the public mempools knowing about this tx, your channel can't get closed. In this event, let's look at how to broadcast it manually and see what response we get in both Terminals. 

 1. Local Mempool check: Follow Scenario 1. 
 2. If it's a *No*, does [mempool.space](https://mempool.space/) have it? Then open the tx there, and grab the RAW-tx by appending the txid here: `https://mempool.space/api/tx/[TXID]/hex`. Copy the whole long string, and execute the local broadcast in your Terminal 1 with `lncli wallet publishtx RAWTX`. 
 3. If that's a *No* too, check your LND, it should have it (only in rare circumstances, like SCBs, LND doesn't have the raw-tx: `lncli listchaintxns --start_height 818181 --end_height -1`. Substitute `818181` with the current mempool height to filter the transaction output **showing only not confirmed pending transactions** (utxos). You'll get the raw-tx there, and can use it with `lncli wallet publishtx RAWTX` as above.
 4. If your local Mempool has it, but [mempool.space](https://mempool.space/) doesn't, there is no harm broadcasting it there as well.  Follow Scenario 1 to retrieve the raw-txid from your local mempool, and copy it [in here](https://mempool.space/tx/push).

### 6. Increase the closing-fee
So mempools know about your closing-tx, but it's way too low. Let's assume it hangs at 10sat/vbyte (like many pending closing-tx these days), but let's also assume we won't see <30sat/vbyte anytime soon. Because you'd always have the option to wait for 10sats, your tx will eventually confirm. But you don't want to wait, then you'll need to pay up.
Disclaimer: This one is costing you. No matter who the opener of the channel was (who always pays for both un- and cooperative-closings), the next step costs *You*. So be concious about it.

The LND Guide linked above has a succinct [closing channels section](https://docs.lightning.engineering/lightning-network-tools/lnd/unconfirmed-bitcoin-transactions#docs-internal-guid-5647dd03-7fff-dc71-47cf-5f7e2155a44d). And since you inhaled that guide, you'll know the next steps:

 1. For Coop-Closes, you can `lncli wallet bumpfee -h` to make yourself familiar with the options. It's pretty self-explanatory, `lncli wallet bumpfee --conf_target 6 CHANPOINT:VOUT` will ask your local mempool for a sat/vbyte target and set the new closing fee. With `lncli wallet bumpfee --sat_per_vbyte 36 CHANPOINT:VOUT`, you can set a confident 36 sats/vbyte yourself. Watch Terminal 2 and see what lnd.log tells you.

 2. For Force-Closes, you need a so called CPFP (Child Pays For Parent) transaction, which will become a child of your existing closing fee, and at the same time expensive enough, that both parent + child and their fees will be attractive enough for a miner to pick up and mine it. You can either do some pre-calc [with a helper script](https://gist.github.com/TrezorHannes/9caa88cb8d287cc6ab6a9cb5fb892195), or try current mempool medium fee x 2. Not a problem if you don't start high enough, you can follow step 1. above here with this new child-transaction and bump it's fee with RBF any time later: `lncli wallet bumpclosefee -h` for the options:
  
   - `lncli wallet bumpclosefee --conf_target 6 CHANPOINT:VOUT` will ask your local mempool for a sat/vbyte target and set the fee for the child-tx.
   - `lncli wallet bumpclosefee --sat_per_vbyte 100 CHANPOINT:VOUT` will set the child-tx at 100, presumably ending up with 50 sats/vbyte effective rate for both your parent and your child to be mined.

Note that none of this works if your local mempool doesn't have that txid. So follow steps 1-5 before trying this one.
Now but if it worked, you'll be prompted with a new txid for your child, which you can later check in your local mempool, and ideally it'll land in the public mempools to be mined as well. If it ended up too low, bump it with RBF (replace by fee) described in point 1, but targeting your child.

### 7. Go out of band
Just for completion, there are various miners who offer their mining service for your tx for a hefty cost. This sometimes might be necessary, eg for your channels where the other side force-closed on you, but you only have a static channel-commitment. If your peer is unresponsive or not cooperative to do a CPFP on their side, you'll wait until forever. Check your favorite search engine, ViaBTC or [mempool.space](https://mempool.space/) for their acceleration services.

Hope you enjoyed this article. Please do share feedback and suggestions for improvement.
If this guide was of any help, I'd appreciate if you share the article with others, give me a follow on X [![Twitter URL](https://img.shields.io/twitter/url/https/twitter.com/HandsdownI.svg?style=social&label=Follow%20%40HodlmeTight1337)](https://twitter.com/HodlmeTight1337) or [nostr](https://njump.me/npub1ch25m5lkk8kfepr63f0jnpd9te8l9f585pfpr2g2ma4pre9rmlrqlu0yjy), perhaps even donating some sats to [hakuna@getalby.com](https://getalby.com/p/hakuna)

I'm also always grateful for incoming channels to my node: [HODLmeTight](https://amboss.space/node/037f66e84e38fc2787d578599dfe1fcb7b71f9de4fb1e453c5ab85c05f5ce8c2e3)

See the [gist of it on my github](https://gist.github.com/TrezorHannes/7378c2f3ca5466ffcdafa6ab9ecd2e43).

[^1]: For `umbrel`, you need to jump through some loops for the command `lncli` and `bitcoin-cli`. You need to add this whole string before: `~/umbrel/scripts/app compose lightning exec lnd lncli` and `~/umbrel/scripts/app compose bitcoin exec bitcoind bitcoin-cli` respectively. To simplify things, create a temporary alias with `alias lncli="/home/umbrel/umbrel/scripts/app compose lightning exec lnd lncli"` and `alias bitcoin-cli="~/umbrel/scripts/app compose bitcoin exec bitcoind bitcoin-cli"`, then all of the above commands should work.
[^2]: Wonder what your channel-peers current commit-fee is? And whether they use anchors or static channel-fee commitments? Check out this [bash-script](https://github.com/blckbx/NodeTools/blob/main/anchor_check.sh), among other Node-Tools available as open-source.