Onchain funded channel

[gzuuus]

Can I open a channel using onchain funds, or can I only create a channel using lightning funds?

[pm47]

We call this feature "swap-in", currently it's not available in phoenixd (due to using mempool.space api instead of electrum for accessing the blockchain). We thought it was probably not going to be very useful for phoenixd users but can add it if needed.

[gzuuus]

I see, but I was thinking of the use case of using phoenixd and being able to spend the funds you receive from the start, for that you need a channel, because if you don't have a channel you can receive funds, but those funds are unusable as they remain as fee credit, right? so until you have enough fee credit to open a channel the funds you receive are unusable. It is only when you have a channel and have received funds that you have a balance to spend. Correct me if I'm wrong, I just want to understand how this works.
Thanks for your answers.

[MasterixCZ]

If I understand phoenixd correctly, the entire application relies on the new "Request liquidity" feature introduced in mobile Phoenix. So you can't open your own channel with ACINQ (now), you can only buy inbound liquidity which will open a channel with you (with size of requested liquidity specified in --auto-liquidity= parameter) and now you can receive (and with enough outbound liquidity send) Lightning sats.
I hope this helps!

[pm47]

until you have enough fee credit to open a channel the funds you receive are unusable

This always true, with or without the fee credit. You need to be able to cover the channel creation cost before sending Lightning payments. If you don't want or need inbound liquidity because you plan to mostly send, you can set --auto-liquidity off.

the entire application relies on the new "Request liquidity" feature introduced in mobile Phoenix

Not exactly. It's a major and very useful feature of phoenixd for sure, but if your use case is, e.g. do a giveaway where you just send payments, you won't need it.

[MasterixCZ]

But still you need a channel to send sats, and if you can't open one with sending on-chain funds (like in mobile Phoenix), you need to use "Request liquidity" feature, right? Or you can open a channel, but only through sending sats from different Lightning wallet?

[killer21m]

I also noticed that PhoenixD doesn't allow swap from on-chain. So if I wanted to pay 2m sat LN Invoice it wouldn't make sense to use PhoenixD, as I would need to send 2m sats from another LN wallet I control before sending the invoicd from PhoenixD. Whereas with Phoenix mobile, I can send 2-3m on-chain to Phoenix and use that channel to pay my LN invoice.