RaspiBlitz

RaspiBlitz is an open-source project, released under the MIT license, that lets a user build and operate a Bitcoin and Lightning Network node on a Raspberry Pi. Where sealed node appliances hide their internals, RaspiBlitz leans the other way: it grew out of an in-person workshop format where participants assembled their own node from a Raspberry Pi, an SSD, and a small LCD display, learning what each component does along the way. The project provides pre-built SD-card images and a guided, menu-driven setup, but everything underneath is inspectable shell script and open-source software.

What it bundles

At its core, RaspiBlitz runs a Bitcoin Core full node paired with a Lightning implementation — it has long supported both LND and Core Lightning, letting the operator choose. Around that core, a menu system installs optional services: an Electrum-protocol server so desktop wallets like Electrum and Sparrow query your own node instead of a stranger's, a self-hosted mempool.space block explorer, web dashboards such as Ride The Lightning and ThunderHub for channel management, BTCPay Server for accepting payments, and JoinMarket for collaborative transactions. The little LCD on the front shows sync status and node health at a glance — a small touch that makes the machine feel like the piece of physical infrastructure it is.

Why builders choose it

Because the entire stack is open and scriptable, RaspiBlitz appeals to users who want to understand and control every layer rather than trust a vendor's image. The setup process deliberately teaches: you format your own SSD, watch the initial block download validate the chain from genesis, and configure Lightning channels yourself. That knowledge compounds. An operator who has assembled a RaspiBlitz can debug it, migrate it to new hardware, and reason about its failure modes — the same self-reliance that separates a miner who can diagnose a failing hashboard from one who ships every fault back to the vendor.

Running Bitcoin and Lightning at home

A home node changes your relationship with the network. On-chain, your wallet balances are validated by your own machine. On Lightning, you can send and receive payments without a custodian — though a routing node demands more operational care: channels need inbound liquidity to receive, the machine should stay online, and backups must cover channel state, not just the seed. RaspiBlitz's menus automate much of this, but the operator remains the sysadmin, which is precisely the point.

Choosing a distribution

A realistic parts list keeps expectations straight: a Raspberry Pi 4 or 5 with 4–8 GB of RAM, a 1–2 TB SSD over USB3 (the chain outgrew smaller drives long ago), a quality power supply — undervoltage is the classic Pi failure mode, familiar to anyone who has chased flaky hardware — plus the signature LCD and a case with honest airflow. Sync takes days on a Pi; that is the machine validating fifteen-plus years of history, not a defect. Operationally, the non-negotiables are backups: the wallet seed, the LND static channel backup or Core Lightning equivalent, and a note of which services you enabled, so a dead SD card is an hour's rebuild rather than a loss. The project's update path preserves the data drive across image upgrades, which is where the menu-driven design quietly earns its keep. Treat the node like the appliance it replaces — monitored, backed up, and boring — and it will disappear into the infrastructure of your household the way good infrastructure should.

RaspiBlitz is one of several Raspberry-Pi node distributions; turnkey platforms such as StartOS trade some transparency for a more appliance-like experience. Which suits a given builder depends on comfort with command-line tooling and how much of the stack they want to own intellectually. For the hands-on sovereign — the kind of person who would rather solder than subscribe — RaspiBlitz remains one of the most educational entry points to running real Bitcoin infrastructure. See our sovereignty hub for where a home node fits in the wider self-hosted stack.