An interview with Open Node (TLC 2019)

## Open Node Interview (TLC 2019) - Summary

1. Narrative Summary:

This podcast interview features Rui and Cardinal Quau Chua, the founders of Open Node, a company building infrastructure to enable merchants to easily accept Lightning Network payments. The idea for Open Node arose from a lack of readily available tools for e-commerce platforms to integrate with the Lightning Network. They began by developing an open-source e-commerce plugin, and have since expanded to offer a comprehensive, custodial solution – an “all-in-one shop” – for businesses wanting to embrace Lightning payments. While the company is experiencing rapid growth and learning as they go, they're focused on providing a developer-friendly API and tackling challenges like channel management and improving user privacy through techniques like coin joins. Despite a surprising discrepancy in transaction volume (98% by count on the Lightning Network, but 90% of value still on-chain), Open Node is optimistic about the future of Lightning and actively working to lower barriers to adoption.

2. Main Topics Discussed:

• Open Node's Origin Story & Services: The company's founding, mission, and all-in-one payment processing solution.
• Technical Architecture: Custodial model, full Bitcoin and Lightning nodes, API for developers, and LND implementation.
• Lightning Network Adoption & Challenges: Current transaction volume split (on-chain vs. Lightning), wallet integration barriers, and channel management.
• Network Evolution & Liquidity: Improvements in Lightning Network reliability and liquidity over time.
• Lightning Service Provider (LSP) Potential: Exploring the possibility of becoming a more active LSP.
• Privacy Enhancements: Internal coin joins, equal balance transactions, legal considerations, and external liquidity.
• Developer Focus & API Utility: Highlighting the API's role in enabling third-party applications and use cases (e.g., Lightning Gifts, IoT devices).
• Withdrawal Incentives & Efficiency: Free withdrawals via Lightning and on-chain transactions, batching on-chain transactions, and utilizing SegWit and Bech32.

3. Key Quotes:

• "There were no infrastructure for like this kind of e-commerce platforms to accept Lightning payments." - Rui (highlighting the initial problem Open Node addresses)
• "We do, we're like a. All in one shop for anyone that wants to accept the coin and not have to worry about infrastructure." - Rui (describing Open Node's comprehensive service)
• "Most of our transaction volume... 98% comes from LN... But the transaction value that it's like 90% on-chain." - Cardinal Quau Chua (pointing out the current imbalance in transaction volume)
• "We are very early so very reckless." - Rui (acknowledging the experimental nature of their work)
• "I don't remember the last time I had a routing failure." - Reflecting the improved network stability.

4. People Mentioned:

• Rui (Open Node Founder)
• Cardinal Quau Chua (Open Node Founder)
• Jack Miles (Project mentioned as inspiration)
• Alex Both (Creator of balance of Satoshi's app)
• Elen (likely referring to Elenapay)
• Breeze Wallet
• Francis (Canadian payment processor, legal argument regarding coin joins)
• Ben Arc (Developer using Open Node's API)

5. Bitcoin Price:

No specific Bitcoin prices were mentioned in these segments of the podcast. Early network liquidity was around 10-20 Bitcoin.