lightningnetwork

lnd

Go2016–2024

lightningnetwork / lnd

lnd

Lightning Network Daemon ⚡️

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25Distinct people

39Mentions

0Explicit recommenders

8.2KGitHub stars

REPOSITORY AT A GLANCE

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What it is

Lightning Network Daemon ⚡️

GitHub

Where it is used

No documented product use was verified in the last source check.

What people are saying

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Also in these discussions

lightning/bolts · linked in 15 of the same discussions
lightninglabs/neutrino · linked in 11 of the same discussions
elementsproject/lightning · linked in 6 of the same discussions

Mentioned in the same Hacker News threads. That is not proof they are substitutes.

This week on Hacker News

Nov 8–Nov 15 UTC · Direct repository links and separately labeled related project stories. Indexed through 11/15/2026, 8:01:28 AM UTC.

No direct repository links were found in the indexed HN discussions over the past seven days. Older discussions are available below.

Mentions over time

HN mentions by year39 dated mentions

Observed mentions: 2016-07-14 05:09:19 UTC to 2024-07-16 00:26:21 UTC.

Counts come from the repository’s dated source evidence. Index cutoff: 2026-11-02 08:16:59 UTC.

View mention counts and date ranges

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Period	Start (UTC)	End (exclusive, UTC)	Mentions	Submissions	Comments
2016	2016-01-01 00:00:00 UTC	2017-01-01 00:00:00 UTC	2	0	2
2017	2017-01-01 00:00:00 UTC	2018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC	13	1	12
2018	2018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC	2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC	12	0	12
2019	2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC	2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC	2	1	1
2020	2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC	2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC	1	0	1
2021	2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC	2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC	7	0	7
2022	2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC	2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC	1	0	1
2023	2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC	2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC	0	0	0
2024	2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC	2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC	1	0	1

From the project README

An excerpt from the repository, fetched Nov 13, 2026.

Read the project’s introduction

Lightning Network Daemon The Lightning Network Daemon (lnd) - is a complete implementation of a Lightning Network node. lnd has several pluggable back-end chain services including btcd (a full-node), bitcoind, and neutrino (a new experimental light client). The project's codebase uses the btcsuite set of Bitcoin libraries, and also exports a large set of isolated re-usable Lightning Network related libraries within it. In the current state lnd is capable of: Creating channels. Closing channels. Completely managing all channel states (including the exceptional ones!). Maintaining a fully authenticated+validated channel graph. Performing path finding within the network, passively forwarding incoming payments. Sending outgoing onion-encrypted payments through the network. Updating advertised fee schedules. Automatic channel management (autopilot). Lightning Network Specification Compliance lnd fully conforms to the Lightning Network specification (BOLTs). BOLT stands for: Basis of Lightning Technology. The specifications are currently being drafted by several groups of implementers based around the world including the developers of lnd. The set of specification documents as well as our implementation of the specification are still a work-in-progress. With that said, the current status of lnd's BOLT compliance is: 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 7: P2P Node and Channel Discovery BOLT 8: Encrypted and Authenticated Transport BOLT 9: Assigned Feature Flags BOLT 10: DNS Bootstrap and Assisted Node Location BOLT 11: Invoice Protocol for Lightning Payments Developer Resources The daemon has been designed to be as developer friendly as possible in order to facilitate application development on top of lnd. Two primary RPC interfaces are exported: an HTTP REST API, and a gRPC service. The exported APIs are not yet stable, so be warned: they may change drastically in the near future. An automatically generated set of documentation for the RPC APIs can be found at api.lightning.community. A set of developer resources including guides, articles, example applications and community resources can be found at: docs.lightning.engineering. Finally, we also have an active Slack where protocol developers, application developers, testers and users gather to discuss various aspects of lnd and also Lightning in general. First-time contributors are highly encouraged to start with code review first, before creating their own Pull Requests. Installation In order to build from source, please see the installation instructions. Docker To run lnd from Docker, please see the main Docker instructions IRC irc.libera.chat channel #lnd webchat Safety When operating a mainnet lnd node, please refer to our operational safety guidelines. It is important to note that lnd is still beta software and that ignoring these operational guidelines can lead to loss of funds. Security The developers of lnd take security very seriously. The disclosure of security vulnerabilities helps us secure the health of lnd, privacy of our users, and also the health of the Lightning Network as a whole. If you find any issues regarding security or privacy, please disclose the information responsibly by sending an email to security at lightning dot engineering, preferably encrypted using our designated PGP key (91FE464CD75101DA6B6BAB60555C6465E5BCB3AF) which can be found here. Further reading Step-by-step send payment guide with docker Contribution guide

Read the full README on GitHub

What Hacker News says

12 sources

roasbeef·Jul 3, 2018

Lightning Labs | Frontend Developer, Crypto Protocol Engineer, Infrastructure and Distributed Systems Engineer | San Francisco | Onsite or Remote | Full-time https://lightning.engineering/ https://angel.co/lightning/ At Lightning Labs, we build technology to scale Bitcoin and blockchains. Our current focus is the development and deployment of the Lightning Network[1], an open blockchain scalability protocol. We push the edge of innovation w.r.t blockchain scalability, privacy-preserving smart contracts, and cryptocurrency UX. Our team includes applied cryptographers and designers of the Lightning Network protocol, including Bitcoin developers such as roasbeef[2]. We’re looking for: {Frontend Developer} Frontend developer to address UI/UX challenges associated with building second-layer blockchain applications. Our applications are built o

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n React, React-Native, MobX and Electron, communicating with a Lightning daemon over a binary RPC protocol. Ideal applicants have experience building+shipping React-Native applications and maintaining open source projects. {Cryptographic Protocol Engineer} Experienced software engineer versed in applied cryptography, peer-to-peer networks, distributed systems, open source software, and cryptocurrency protocols. Tasks include working on lnd[3], the most feature-complete implementation of the Lightning Network, neutrino[4], an advanced light client operating mode for Bitcoin, and contributing to the design of the BOLT[5] specifications. {Infrastructure and Distributed Systems Engineer} Systems-oriented engineer (or SRE) to build highly-available, secure systems, lowering the barrier to entry for operating routing nodes. Tasks include writing advanced software tooling for automated channel management, initial client channel selection (autopilot), ongoing capital management and optimization, monitoring infrastructure for routing nodes, and passive analysis of the health of the network from graph theoretic metrics. To apply, send a brief description of your relevant experience, github link (optional) and resume to jobs@lightning.engineering. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning_Network [2]: https://twitter.com/roasbeef [3]: https://github.com/lightningnetwork/lnd/ [4]: https://github.com/lightninglabs/neutrino [5]: https://github.com/lightningnetwork/lightning-rfc/

In Ask HN: Who is hiring? (July 2018)

roasbeef·Jun 1, 2018

Lightning Labs | Crypto Protocol Engineer, Frontend Developer, Distributed Systems Engineer | Remote | Fulltime https://angel.co/lightning https://lightning.engineering/ At Lightning Labs, we scale blockchains. Our current focus is the development and deployment of the Lightning Network[1], an open blockchain scalability protocol[2] primarily being developed for Bitcoin. Lightning allows for high volume, low fee, instant payments on top of Bitcoin. We strive to continually push the edge of innovation w.r.t blockchain scalability, advanced privacy-preserving smart contracts, and cryptocurrency UX. Amongst our team include applied cryptographers, the designers of the Lightning Network protocol, and several Bitcoin developers making key contributions to the open source Bitcoin eco-system such as roasbeef[3]. {Cryto Protocol Engineer || Distr

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ibuted Systems Engineer}: We're looking for an experienced software engineer well versed in applied cryptography, peer to peer networks, distributed systems, open source software collaboration, and cryptocurrencies. Your job description would include working on lnd[4] the most feature-complete implementation of the Lightning Network, neutrino[5] an advanced lite client operating mode for Bitcoin, conduct novel research into cryptocurrencies (and related areas), and helping to design the next generation of smart contract applications on Bitcoin. {Frontend Developer}: Our work on the second-layer of blockchains presents a number of UI/UX challenges as we lift traditional wallets to the next layer creating a new application platform on top Lightning. As a result, we're also looking for a frontend developer to build out the key applications, libraries, and tools for the masses to interact with Lightning. Our applications are built on React, React-Native, MobX and Electron, communicating with a Lightning daemon over a binary RPC protocol. Ideal applicants have experience building+shipping React-Native applications, and have also have experience maintaining open source projects. You can contact me directly at jobs@lightning.engineering with some, or all of the following: link to your github account, resume, a brief cover letter detailing your past experience in the areas listed above, and some relevant work you've done. [1]: http://lightning.network/ [2]: https://github.com/lightningnetwork/lightning-rfc/ [3]: https://github.com/roasbeef/, https://twitter.com/roasbeef [4]: https://github.com/lightningnetwork/lnd/ [5]: https://github.com/lightninglabs/neutrino

In Ask HN: Who is hiring? (June 2018)

roasbeef·May 10, 2018

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In Ask HN: Who is hiring? (May 2018)

iso-8859-1·Apr 6, 2018

> not helping at all with Lightening Network. wrong, look here, jimpo is working for coinbase: https://github.com/lightningnetwork/lnd/graphs/contributors

In Coinbase Ventures

iso-8859-1·Apr 6, 2018

some actual results: jimpo is working at coinbase: https://github.com/lightningnetwork/lnd/graphs/contributors

In Coinbase Ventures

roasbeef·Apr 5, 2018

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ibuted Systems Engineer}: We're looking for an experienced software engineer well versed in applied cryptography, peer to peer networks, distributed systems, open source software collaboration, and cryptocurrencies. Your job description would include working on lnd[4] the most feature-complete implementation of the Lightning Network, neutrino[5] an advanced lite client operating mode for Bitcoin, conduct novel research into cryptocurrencies (and related areas), and helping to design the next generation of smart contract applications on Bitcoin. {Frontend Developer}: Our work on the second-layer of blockchains presents a number of UI/UX challenges, as we lift traditional wallets to the next layer creating a new application platform on top Lightning. As a result, we're also looking for a frontend developer that is able to pick things up quickly, develop skills in our interdisciplinary space, and has strong implementation ability. Applicants should be Javascript experts an eye for design, that have experience building applications with React and React Native. You can contact me directly at jobs@lightning.engineering with some, or all of the following: link to your github account, resume, a brief cover letter detailing your past experience in the areas listed above, and some relevant work you've done. [1]: http://lightning.network/ [2]: https://github.com/lightningnetwork/lightning-rfc/ [3]: https://github.com/roasbeef/, https://twitter.com/roasbeef [4]: https://github.com/lightningnetwork/lnd/ [5]: https://github.com/lightninglabs/neutrino

In Ask HN: Who is hiring? (April 2018)

roasbeef·Mar 1, 2018

Lightning Labs | Crypto Protocol Engineer, Frontend Developer, Distributed Systems Engineerg | Remote | Fulltime https://angel.co/lightning https://lightning.engineering/ At Lightning Labs, we scale blockchains. Our current focus is the development and deployment of the Lightning Network[1], an open blockchain scalability protocol[2] primarily being developed for Bitcoin. Lightning allows for high volume, low fee, instant payments on top of Bitcoin. We strive to continually push the edge of innovation w.r.t blockchain scalability, advanced privacy-preserving smart contracts, and cryptocurrency UX. Amongst our team include applied cryptographers, the designers of the Lightning Network protocol, and several Bitcoin developers making key contributions to the open source Bitcoin eco-system such as roasbeef[3]. {Cryto Protocol Engineer || Dist

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ributed Systems Engineer}: We're looking for an experienced software engineer well versed in applied cryptography, peer to peer networks, distributed systems, open source software collaboration, and cryptocurrencies. Your job description would include working on lnd[4] the most feature-complete implementation of the Lightning Network, neutrino[5] an advanced lite client operating mode for Bitcoin, conduct novel research into cryptocurrencies (and related areas), and helping to design the next generation of smart contract applications on Bitcoin. {Frontend Developer}: Our work on the second-layer of blockchains presents a number of UI/UX challenges, as we lift traditional wallets to the next layer creating a new application platform on top Lightning. As a result, we're also looking for a frontend developer that is able to pick things up quickly, develop skills in our interdisciplinary space, and has strong implementation ability. Applicants should be Javascript experts an eye for design, that have experience building applications with React and React Native. You can contact me directly at jobs@lightning.engineering with some, or all of the following: link to your github account, resume, a brief cover letter detailing your past experience in the areas listed above, and some relevant work you've done. [1]: http://lightning.network/ [2]: https://github.com/lightningnetwork/lightning-rfc/ [3]: https://github.com/roasbeef/, https://twitter.com/roasbeef [4]: https://github.com/lightningnetwork/lnd/ [5]: https://github.com/lightninglabs/neutrino

In Ask HN: Who is hiring? (March 2018)

glebedel·Mar 1, 2018

Only one of the implementation is coded by blockstream. It's a protocol, anybody else can create an implementation of it. Several other companies have created clients like LND (https://github.com/lightningnetwork/lnd) - probably more popular than clightning. > How do we know that there isn't an easy backdoor that allows this network to be controlled for Blockstream's purposes? The code of clightning is open source, so is the code of most known clients out there. > The fact that it is so complex and ill defined is dangerous and an antithesis of decentralized system design and ethos Your comment really seems like a baseless conspiracy theory full of ad hominems with no proof of what you mention: - it's not that crazy complex compared to all the intricacies / op codes and game theory of the Bitcoin base layer - it is more easily distributed

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than the base layer since it's easier to run a LN node by itself (albeit still relying on a bitcoin full node that may not be in your control if you wish it so). And like other said, Blockstream doesn't have many employees working on the base protocol (3 now afaik since Luke Dash JR & G.Maxwell do not work for Blockstream anymore). The few they have actually made very useful contributions to the code base since 2011/2012 which you can easily see through and most of their code is also used in all forks of Bitcoin aka BTG, BCH etc... > They were responsible for all the propaganda and talking points against bumping the block size leading to the BCH fork Any proof on that? Almost no bitcoin developers (albeit none apart of maybe 1 if you count Gavin which didnt contribute for years on the code base) left to work on this particular fork. There was no scientific consensus stipulating larger blocks (than 4mb) would be safe hence why the community at large did not support BCH (and why it has a minority of market share and mining share, TX usage etc).

In Show HN: Lightning Network Search and Analysis Engine

tlrobinson·Mar 1, 2018

This is pure FUD. Satoshi himself proposed the first version of payment channels [1]. The Lightning Network paper has zero authors from Blockstream [2]. At least two other entirely independent companies are working on Lightning Network implementations [3][4]. It's well understood how trustless LN transactions work [5]. The spec [6] and code are open source, feel free to look for a "backdoor". 1. https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Payment_channels#Nakamoto_high-fr... 2. https://lightning.network/lightning-network-paper.pdf 3. https://github.com/lightningnetwork/lnd 4. https://github.com/ACINQ/eclair 5. https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Hashed_Timelock_Contracts 6. https://github.com/lightningnetwork/lightning-rfc

In Show HN: Lightning Network Search and Analysis Engine

kbody·Feb 4, 2018

Sure. - Onion Routing Protocol: https://github.com/lightningnetwork/lightning-rfc/blob/maste... - P2P Node and Channel Discovery https://github.com/lightningnetwork/lightning-rfc/blob/maste... This repo contains specs for a lot of parts of the LN, although probably there may be changes I imagine. As for code, one of the implementations, LND (Go): https://github.com/lightningnetwork/lnd/tree/master/routing but there are at least 3 other implementations in the works. https://github.com/ElementsProject/lightning (clang) https://github.com/ACINQ/eclair (Scala) https://github.com/mit-dci/lit (Go)

In Bitcoin has a huge scaling problem–Lightning could be the solution

roasbeef·Feb 2, 2018

Lightning Labs | Crypto Protocol Engineer, Frontend Developer | Remote | Fulltime https://angel.co/lightning https://lightning.engineering/ At Lightning Labs, we scale blockchains. Our current focus is the development and deployment of the Lightning Network[1], an open blockchain scalability protocol[2] primarily being developed for Bitcoin. Lightning allows for high volume, low fee, instant payments on top of Bitcoin. We strive to continually push the edge of innovation w.r.t blockchain scalability, advanced privacy-preserving smart contracts, and cryptocurrency UX. Amongst our team include applied cryptographers, the designers of the Lightning Network protocol, and several Bitcoin developers making key contributions to the open source Bitcoin eco-system such as roasbeef[3]. Cryto Protocol Engineer || Distributed Systems Engineer: We're

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looking for an experienced software engineer well versed in applied cryptography, peer to peer networks, distributed systems, open source software collaboration, and cryptocurrencies. Your job description would include working on lnd[4] the most feature-complete implementation of the Lightning Network, neutrino[5] an advanced lite client operating mode for Bitcoin, conduct novel research into cryptocurrencies (and related areas), and helping to design the next generation of smart contract applications on Bitcoin. Frontend Developer: Our work on the second-layer of blockchains presents a number of UI/UX challenges, as we lift traditional wallets to the next layer creating a new application platform on top Lightning. As a result, we're also looking for a frontend developer that is able to pick things up quickly, develop skills in our interdisciplinary space, and has strong implementation ability. Applicants should be Javascript experts an eye for design, that have experience building applications with React and React Native. You can contact me directly at jobs@lightning.engineering with some, or all of the following: link to your github account, resume, a brief cover letter detailing your past experience in the areas listed above, and some relevant work you've done. [1]: http://lightning.network/ [2]: https://github.com/lightningnetwork/lightning-rfc/ [3]: https://github.com/roasbeef/, https://twitter.com/roasbeef [4]: https://github.com/lightningnetwork/lnd/ [5]: https://github.com/lightninglabs/neutrino

In Ask HN: Who is hiring? (February 2018)

nikcub·Jan 24, 2018

You'll be happy to hear then that a lot of progress has been made on Lightning since MtGox imploded I probably should have linked to these from my original comment - rather than removing anything Specifically with lnd the lightning daemon[0], BOLT's (the equivalent of Bitcoin BIP's) 1 through to 11 have been implemented in the core daemon[1] There is also the Neutrino light client[2] (screenshot [3]) Far from being vaporware - you're only a few docker commands away from trying it out yourself[4] [0] https://github.com/lightningnetwork/lnd [1] https://github.com/lightningnetwork/lightning-rfc [2] https://github.com/lightninglabs/neutrino [3] https://blog.lightning.engineering/assets/images/app-chans-g... [4] https://github.com/lightningnetwork/lnd/tree/master/docker#c...

In Ending Bitcoin Support