skwp/lnd — explained in plain English
Analysis updated 2026-07-11 · repo last pushed 2019-02-06
Build a messaging app that charges tiny fractions of a cent per message.
Create a content platform with pay-per-article micropayments.
Programmatically create invoices and send Bitcoin payments from your application.
Run a Lightning node that forwards payments for others and earns routing fees.
| skwp/lnd | ashutosh-swain-git/dahmer | audriusbutkevicius/gohashcompare | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stars | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Language | Go | Go | Go |
| Last pushed | 2019-02-06 | — | 2016-07-09 |
| Maintenance | Dormant | — | Dormant |
| Setup difficulty | hard | easy | moderate |
| Complexity | 4/5 | 1/5 | 2/5 |
| Audience | developer | developer | developer |
Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.
Requires a Bitcoin backend (full node or lighter client) and configuration of a Lightning node, currently intended for testnet use only.
The Lightning Network Daemon (lnd) lets you send and receive Bitcoin payments that are nearly instant and cost a fraction of a cent. Instead of waiting minutes or hours for a standard Bitcoin transaction to confirm, you can use this software to open payment channels that settle instantly. It is a complete implementation of a Lightning Network node, meaning it handles everything needed to participate in this faster, cheaper layer built on top of Bitcoin. At a high level, the software manages payment channels between you and other participants on the network. You can open a channel, send or receive payments through it, and close it when you are done, with the final balances settled back on the regular Bitcoin blockchain. It also handles the routing of payments, meaning if you want to pay someone you do not have a direct channel with, the software can find a path through other connected nodes to get your payment there. Payments are encrypted in a way that hides the route details, and the software can automatically forward payments for other people, earning you small fees along the way. This software is built for developers who want to create applications that accept or send Bitcoin payments quickly and cheaply. For example, if you were building a messaging app that charges tiny fractions of a cent per message, or a content platform that does pay-per-article micropayments, this would be the engine powering those transactions behind the scenes. It provides APIs that let your application talk to it, so you can programmatically create invoices, send payments, and manage channels without dealing with the underlying cryptography yourself. The project is built in Go and fully conforms to the Lightning Network's official specifications, known as the BOLTs, which are still being drafted by implementers worldwide. It is designed to work with different Bitcoin backends, including full nodes and lighter clients. The README notes that the APIs are not yet stable and may change significantly, and at the time of writing it was deployed on Bitcoin's test network rather than mainnet. The team takes security seriously and provides a PGP key for responsible disclosure of vulnerabilities.
A complete Lightning Network node implementation in Go that lets you send and receive Bitcoin payments that are nearly instant and cost a fraction of a cent, with APIs for programmatic control.
Mainly Go. The stack also includes Go, Lightning Network, Bitcoin.
Dormant — no commits in 2+ years (last push 2019-02-06).
No license information was mentioned in the explanation, so the licensing terms are unknown.
Setup difficulty is rated hard, with roughly 1h+ to a first successful run.
Mainly developer.
This repo across BitVibe Labs
Verify against the repo before relying on details.