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I am new to the Lightning Network / Bitcoin and am trying to get an understanding as to how it functions.

Basically, suppose I have a Lightning Node (created with "lightningd"). It is my understanding that this is a daemon that starts at a certain port: 9735. On my picture, it is the box with "My Node".

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Question 1: is there only one wallet inside of this node? If so, is there a way to have additional wallets inside of the same node? Does one use the wallet address when one receives/sends funds (kind of like the way the Bitcoin address to receive/send funds)?

Question 2: Is there a limit to the number of Channels I can create from "My Node"?

Suppose I have some relatives that do not use Smartphones but want to send/receive money over the network. They are represented in my picture with "Grandma", "Grandpa", "Mom", "Dad", and "Aunt Wilma".

Since they are older, they do not know much about computers, I am running their LN Nodes for them on my own computer.

Question 3: In this case, would I need 6 extra Lightning Network daemons ("lightningd") on my computer? If so, then would each daemon have to assign a different port address? Is there be a better way to do this?

TIA

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Question 1: is there only one wallet inside of this node? If so, is there a way to have additional wallets inside of the same node? Does one use the wallet address when one receives/sends funds (kind of like the way the Bitcoin address to receive/send funds)?

A wallet is not the same thing as an address. A wallet is a collection of addresses and their private keys or scripts. A Lightning Node is also a wallet; there is only one wallet, but there are still multiple addresses and private keys.

Question 2: Is there a limit to the number of Channels I can create from "My Node"?

In theory, no. In practice, your computer could run out of resources to maintain open connections. Regardless, you can have multiple channels open and it should not be a problem unless you are trying to have hundreds or thousands of channels.

Question 3: In this case, would I need 6 extra Lightning Network daemons ("lightningd") on my computer? If so, then would each daemon have to assign a different port address? Is there be a better way to do this?

No, one daemon can have multiple channels.

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  • @@Andrew Chow - thanks for the response. Pls see comment section.
    – Casey Harrils
    Apr 13, 2018 at 12:23
  • Please do not edit an answer as a reply to the answer. Any comments should be made as a comment.
    – Andrew Chow ♦
    Apr 13, 2018 at 15:22
  • The last answer is a bit short. I think the asker would like to know whether there is a way to keep funds for multiple parties separate on a single node. E.g. I thought you'd specify a node as the recipient in any invoice, not a channel. Then it would require a separate layer of accounting to keep track of who owns which funds and it would be difficult to give spending access only to the separate owners only.
    – Murch ♦
    May 3, 2018 at 14:29

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