<p>It <em>is</em> bidirectional by default. In fact LND does not even allow for single-directional channels.</p>

<p>What you're experiencing though, is the drawback of having created a <em>single-funded</em> channel. That means, that all of the funds in your newly created channel are sitting on your side, which means that for now, you can only <em>send money</em> but not <em>receive</em> any money. Or in other words, you don't have any inbound capacity on that very channel. As soon as you do have both inbound and outbound capacity, you will be able to both send and receive money over that channel.</p>

<p>Note: For now the Lightning implementations do not allow for mutually funded channels, but this feature is in the works and soon to come.</p>

<p>So.. what are your possibilities <em>now</em> to circumvent this problem and get inbound capacity? Here are some options:</p>

<ul>
<li>Wait until other nodes open channels to your node</li>
<li>Push money to the other side of the channel by buying something</li>
<li>Send money over Lightning to zigzag.io and receive it back on-chain.</li>
</ul>

<p>Once you have inbound capacity and you are routing payments, your channels will get rebalanced in the process and you will hopefully get inbound capacity on all of your channels over time.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-12T09:40:08.527Z
2018-11-12T09:45:39.877Z
2018-11-12T09:45:39.877Z
Dalit Sairio
<p>I created a channel with following command.  But its not bidirectional by default.</p>

<p>lncli openchannel --node_key=02cdf83ef8e45908b1092125d25c68dcec7751ca8d39f557775cd842e5bc127469 --local_amt=390000</p>

<p>How can I make this channel bidirectional. And how can I create bidirectional channels?</p>

<p>Thank you so much for help and guidance.</p>

<lightning-network><lightning-network-daemon><ln-opening-channels>
How to create bidirectional channels using LND?
Vishal Gandhi
# How to create bidirectional channels using LND?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-11-07)

I created a channel with following command. But its not bidirectional by default.

lncli openchannel --node\_key=02cdf83ef8e45908b1092125d25c68dcec7751ca8d39f557775cd842e5bc127469 --local\_amt=390000

How can I make this channel bidirectional. And how can I create bidirectional channels?

Thank you so much for help and guidance.

**Tags:** lightning-network, lightning-network-daemon, ln-opening-channels


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-11-12. Score: 3

It *is* bidirectional by default. In fact LND does not even allow for single-directional channels.

What you're experiencing though, is the drawback of having created a *single-funded* channel. That means, that all of the funds in your newly created channel are sitting on your side, which means that for now, you can only *send money* but not *receive* any money. Or in other words, you don't have any inbound capacity on that very channel. As soon as you do have both inbound and outbound capacity, you will be able to both send and receive money over that channel.

Note: For now the Lightning implementations do not allow for mutually funded channels, but this feature is in the works and soon to come.

So.. what are your possibilities *now* to circumvent this problem and get inbound capacity? Here are some options:

* Wait until other nodes open channels to your node
* Push money to the other side of the channel by buying something
* Send money over Lightning to zigzag.io and receive it back on-chain.

Once you have inbound capacity and you are routing payments, your channels will get rebalanced in the process and you will hopefully get inbound capacity on all of your channels over time.


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