The Fedimint Lightning Gateway is an ecash wallet that connects Fedimint users to the broader Lightning Network. Operators can earn fees by providing outbound and inbound Lightning liquidity via their existing LND node. # Key Characteristics - Trust Model: Just like a Lightning node, a Lightning Gateway is not a custodian of the payments it is routing. Lightning Gateways should trust the federations they provide liquidity services to, but users do not need to trust the Lightning Gateway. - Multi-federation support: A single gateway can service multiple Fedimints simultaneously and swap ecash when payments occur between federations, bypassing the Lightning Network altogether. - Liquidity Management: Also like a Lightning node, gateways must maintain ecash balances in each federation to facilitate incoming payments, similar to inbound liquidity in Lightning. # Operating a Lightning Gateway 1. Installing a Lightning Gateway is easy, just one click and it connects to your already provisioned LND node! 2. Make sure your LND node has sufficient connectivity to the broader Lightning Network, ideally with balanced outbound and inbound liquidity. 3. Operators must then connect to a federation using the federation's invite code. 4. After connected, operators must pegin some ecash to the federation so that there is inbound liquidity. 5. After the operator has obtained the ecash, the connection URL of the Lightning Gateway can be provided to the guardians. The guardians will then advertise that this Lightning Gateway is providing Lightning services to the federation. 6. All set! The Fedimint can now send and receive payments over the Lightning Network.
Fedimint Lightning Gateway is commonly used as a self-hosted alternative to Strike, Cash App. Replacing a SaaS tool with a self-hosted equivalent lets you avoid recurring subscription fees, keep full control of your data, and continue working even when the original vendor changes pricing, ships limits, or shuts down.
License: MIT. Built with: Rust, Shell, Nix, Just, TypeScript, Makefile, CSS, Dockerfile, RenderScript. Website: https://fedimint.org. Source: https://github.com/fedimint/fedimint.
See official install docs: https://docs.fedimint.org
Self-hosting gives you three things SaaS can’t: data ownership (the files live on disks you control), cost predictability (a one-time setup vs. recurring per-seat fees that grow with your household or team), and longevity (open-source means the app keeps working even if the maintainers move on, since you can pin a working version). The trade-off is that you take on the operational work of running a server, applying updates, and handling backups.
Most self-hosted apps run comfortably on modest hardware — a Raspberry Pi 4, a mini PC, a NAS with Docker support, or a small VPS is usually enough for personal or family use. CPU and RAM requirements scale with how many simultaneous users or how much data you push through Fedimint Lightning Gateway. Storage requirements depend on the kind of data you keep; check the README for guidance on data retention.