⚡We've added Lightning invoice decoder to Amboss Space!
Invoice decoders deliver insights about payment requests that can come in the form of an invoice, an LNURL, or a Lightning Address.
To demonstrate the insights you can derive, we've prepared a thread of wallet invoices!
Starting simple, here an invoice from BitcoinJungleCR, a custodial lightning wallet:
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Amboss Space - Lightning Network Explorer and Analytics Tools
Lightning Network Explorer and Analytics Tools. Search for nodes and channels on the Lightning Network and get detailed information on them.
Similar setups include: zbd, walletofsatoshi , and Strike
This is a BOLT11 invoice where it pays to a single node destination. Routing Node Operators will use the Payee Pubkey information to discover new nodes to connect to so that the network can have a variety of routes to pay BTC Jungle CR reliably.
Amboss Space
BitcoinJungleCR - 03797d...f86960 - Amboss Space
BitcoinJungleCR - 03797da684da0b6de8a813f9d7ebb0412c5d7504619b3fa5255861b991a7f86960 - 65 channels - capacity 768,822,960 sats - Bitcoin Mainnet - ...
Next up in complexity, a BOLT11 invoice from @Breez_Tech, a self-custodial lightning wallet:
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Amboss Space - Lightning Network Explorer and Analytics Tools
Lightning Network Explorer and Analytics Tools. Search for nodes and channels on the Lightning Network and get detailed information on them.
If you check the Payee Pubkey of the Breez invoice, you'll reach a page that says "Unable to find this node". This isn't a error; this reveals that @Breez_Tech is using "private" node destinations.
To help the lightning payment reach the destination, it will require Route Hints!
In the Routing Info is a Pubkey, revealing a well-connected 28 BTC capacity node that will convey the payment to the "private" node destination.
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031015a7839468a3c - 031015...9836e0 - Amboss Space
031015a7839468a3c - 031015a7839468a3c266d662d5bb21ea4cea24226936e2864a7ca4f2c3939836e0 - 164 channels - capacity 2,938,169,950 sats - Bitcoin Mainn...
Services with similar setups include: MuunWallet (uses a swap service), ElectrumWallet (yes they do lightning!)
"Private node" here only means unannounced to the network (like not listed in the phone book), not a guarantee of privacy.
There are many reasons to use private nodes in practice and most of them are operational: load balancing, payment reliability, failover protection, etc.
Even more complex, we have @CashApp invoices, which include 2 separate paths to reach a private node destination.
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Amboss Space - Lightning Network Explorer and Analytics Tools
Lightning Network Explorer and Analytics Tools. Search for nodes and channels on the Lightning Network and get detailed information on them.
Instead of only one potential path to pay, there are now two which can be attempted. This allows one of the public nodes to undergo maintenance while the other remains online to ensure higher payment reliability.
Makes sense when you have 50 million potential users!
Okay now it gets crazy complex: @fedibtc Bravo includes not only two separate routing paths, but there are multiple hops in the second path!
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Amboss Space - Lightning Network Explorer and Analytics Tools
Lightning Network Explorer and Analytics Tools. Search for nodes and channels on the Lightning Network and get detailed information on them.
Look how long the invoice string is! That is a lot of data to pack into an invoice, which can also make the invoices more difficult to scan as QR codes or be unable to fit into a tweet!
Setups like this one are fascinating, but each decision is a tradeoff.
In the 2-hop path, the first stop is @LQWDTech followed by "Henwen 🐷", which was also used in the 1-hop path.
This must make Henwen one of the "Gateways" into the ecash Federation.
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LQwD-Canada - 036491...4907e1 - Amboss Space
LQwD-Canada - 0364913d18a19c671bb36dd04d6ad5be0fe8f2894314c36a9db3f03c2d414907e1 - 560 channels - capacity 3,144,461,490 sats - Bitcoin Mainnet - A...
Amboss Space
Henwen 🐷 - 02f0c7...852640 - Amboss Space
Henwen 🐷 - 02f0c7b731ca40a285d7c12aa1c5c7c7caa4598d3d6d34904c3714cd0d47852640 - 45 channels - capacity 472,322,963 sats - Bitcoin Mainnet - Ambo...
Mind blower time. Let's talk about @AquaBitcoin invoices.
Amboss Space
Amboss Space - Lightning Network Explorer and Analytics Tools
Lightning Network Explorer and Analytics Tools. Search for nodes and channels on the Lightning Network and get detailed information on them.
Aqua invoices only include a single route hint, but the route hint is to a private node!
The payee pubkey is a public node, @Boltzhq, which swaps between the @lightning network and @Liquid_BTC.
Boltz is using "magic routing hints" allowing Liquid to Liquid payments within LN.
https://docs.boltz.exchange/v/api/magic-routing-hints
We hope you learned a lot from this thread!
What else would you like to know about invoices?
What other insights can you gain from this tool?
#Bitcoin #sats #lightning
Our New Research: "Channel Balance Interpolation in the Lightning Network via Machine Learning" decimates the tired and risky approach of probing to find a reliable payment route.
Combining crowdsourced data and machine learning means reliable payments on LN with less spam.
We're applying this methodology to a new pathfinding-as-a-service feature that is showing extremely promising early results.
We're looking for exchanges, rewards programs, or play-to-earn with high outbound payment volume to put our pathfinding service to a real-world test.
To learn more about our research or to join us as part of our payment operations solution, be sure to visit: 
