BLOG TO READ: https://blog.voltage.cloud/are-lightn...
  / voltage_cloud  
--
Nate the Support Engineer from Voltage answers a very common question, "Are lightning nodes profitable to run? Nate has been running and tinkering with lightning nodes since 2018. The reason behind running a node was for education and passion. There is a component to running a lightning node that many people are asking about and that is routing other people's payments and earning a fee.

If you do not have a direct channel open to a destination, you essentially have your payment routed through the network across various node channels to the final destination. You also as a node runner can do this for others as well. When someone sends a payment across a route, that fee goes to that node runner. You can set a base amount, flat amount, or a % amount of the payment.

Before diving into running a node and routing payments you need to consider how much capital you want to allocate. If you do not place enough capital within channels you may not get the return you are seeking.

When setting up a node you will want to look at the best pathways to set up channels. Many users simply connect channels with other top nodes which is not always the best bet. If you connect with a large node that has 700 channels, you may not get chosen for a route! You are now in competition with those other channels to those nodes. It is best to balance who you connect with. Top nodes, popular nodes, and newer nodes that are showing good traction and growth.

PROFITABILITY: Just like in business, there are expenses when managing a routing node. On-chain transactions have fees. Rebalancing channels can be done manually with 2 channels. If you have a channel with heavy local liquidity and a channel heavy in remote liquidity, you can pay yourself, but you MUST consider the fees associated with those routing your payment back to you. All things to consider.

Fees are not the only way to earn sats on the lightning network. Nodes that are established high-quality nodes can charge a premium to give inbound liquidity to another node. Lightning Labs Pool product is a blind auction service that helps people get inbound liquidity. Users can make bids and asks and get matched up and paid basis points for a timeframe for providing liquidity. Blockstream (c-lightning) also has liquidity ads is another tool that you can use to sell liquidity.

There has been some theory in the community that early nodes will be worth quite a bit one day. Large institutions may want to name your node after them, maybe that institution wants to buy that node. With so many lightning nodes and businesses popping up there is tons of opportunity.

If you are interested in running a lightning node you should absolutely do it. There will be a limited amount of people who will have this knowledge, and by investing in yourself and learning, you may even find opportunities to make money helping others run nodes.

There are some great resources out there like Plebnet (https://plebnet.wiki/wiki/Main_Page) and the Voltage blog: (blog.voltage.cloud). Plebnet also has a telegram, you can even tweet at Voltage and we can help point you in the right direction.