Want to grow the network?

Consider running a proxy! You'll help others improve their privacy and maybe even earn money. Learn more here: https://github.com/supertestnet/the_rack (scroll to "How can I help?")

What is this?

On the lightning network, payments pass through routing nodes called "hops." Each hop adds additional privacy to your payment, but each one also adds more latency and raises the likelihood of a payment failure.

Many lightning wallets focus on ensuring payments are fast and reliable, so they optimize payments to use as few hops as possible, which harms user privacy. This website lets you turn that around by using the excellent lnproxy network to manually add extra hops to your payments. (A proxy is a type of routing node on the lightning network that focuses on user privacy.)

To use the site, take any lightning network invoice, paste it into the form on this page, and click "Add a hop." The website will return a new lightning invoice with one extra hop added to your payment, and routing fees added on top. You can add additional hops to your payment by clicking the button more than once.

For good privacy, 3 extra hops are recommended. You may continue adding hops if more proxies are available, but more than 6 extra hops is not recommended, as payment reliability falls greatly with that many hops.

What? I can make money by running this software?

Yep! Bitcoiners who are interested in privacy are often willing to pay extra for it. By running this software, you become a routing node that offers a distinct privacy enhancement, so you can charge higher fees than other routing nodes.

How do I do it? Gimme gimme gimme!

Install a copy of nodejs and the npm package manager
Install a copy of LND, either from here or using something like Voltage
Open some channels -- I recommend buying inbound capacity from one of these LSPs -- make sure you have some inbound capacity AND some outbound capacity
Create a directory on your computer called the_rack and enter that directory
Download a copy of the index.js file from this project and put it in the_rack directory
Open the index.js file in a text editor (e.g. Microsoft Notepad) and modify the top four lines, namely: insert your admin macaroon, your LND endpoint, and set a base fee (recommended: 10 sats) and a parts-per-million fee (recommended: 5000 parts per million)
Using your command line or terminal, run this command to turn your directory into a nodejs app: npm init -y
Install the app's dependencies by entering the following command into your command line or terminal: npm i request crypto bolt11 noble-secp256k1 ws
Run the app by entering the following command into your command line or terminal: node index.js

That's it! Your app should immediately list itself on nostr as a proxy for the lightning network, and people may select you as an extra hop in their payments. You earn extra fees and they get extra privacy. It's a win-win!

5 sats \ 0 replies \ @Scoresby 8h

Super is soooo good at naming his projects. The only other people who come close are the Cashu folks. Pretty interesting concept.

0 sats \ 3 replies \ @OT 7h

Would setting this be exposing your node?

0 sats \ 2 replies \ @supratic OP 7h

what do you mean? if your node runs in the clearnet is already exposed...

5 sats \ 1 reply \ @OT 7h

So if I understand correct, the hops are added at the beginning. Bob wants to pay Lisa privately. Lisa generates an invoice which Bob pastes into rack. Bob pick out your node to initiate more hops and another invoice is generated.

At this point is my node exposed to Bob?

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @klk 4h

If you are the middle proxy hop runner, Bob needs to know your pubkey and Lisa's payment hash. And you need to know Lisa's pubkey and payment hash that either Lisa or Bob share to you.

For Lisa to receive a payment from Bob without revealing her pubkey to him, she would be the one wrapping the invoice.

If Bob is using a custodial service and want's to hide that he is paying to Lisa, then he could wrap Lisa's invoice to hide her pubkey from the custodial platform.

If you are a middle proxy hop runner, you reveal your pubkey whenever you wrap an invoice for someone. There's no other way for the wrapped invoice to be paid otherwise. At least not without BOLT12 which would remove the need for a proxy completely.

Does it really make sense to add multiple hops though?

After all just with one lnproxy hop, the lnproxy admin only sees the payment hash and the destination pubkey (apart from the amount). But does not know where did the payment come from (only though which of his channels he received it). So adding more hops does not change that 🤔

Additionally, proxies support paying BOLT11 blinded path invoices, so users are probably better off by creating a blinded path invoice that hides the destination node, wrapping it, and sharing a regular BOLT11 invoice that any LN implementation can pay. While hiding the destination pubkey 😎

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @d680ecaa8e 5h

You need to disable avast antivirus for this script to run without problem from personal trial.

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @ek 6h

Open some channels -- I recommend buying inbound capacity from one of these LSPs -- make sure you have some inbound capacity AND some outbound capacity

If all hops are connected to the same LSP, I don't think this adds any privacy. All hops will route through the same LSP.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @ek 6h

asked @supertestnet on nostr: