Geolocation Map

The geolocation map provides a geographic perspective on gossip propagation, showing where in the world peers are located and how the message wavefront correlates with physical distance.

IP-to-Location Mapping

Lightning nodes that advertise clearnet (IPv4/IPv6) addresses can be geolocated using IP geolocation databases. For each peer connected to our observer, we resolve their advertised IP address to approximate latitude/longitude coordinates.

Out of ~978 connected peers, a subset have mappable clearnet addresses. The rest use Tor (.onion) addresses or don’t advertise any address at all.

The Map View

The map uses Leaflet.js with dark CartoDB tiles. Each geolocated peer appears as a circle marker on the map:

• Color matches the peer’s community assignment (same as the propagation replay)
• Opacity/brightness reflects propagation state during playback — peers brighten when they receive the current message
• Clicking a peer on the map highlights it across all four dashboard quadrants

When a single peer is selected, the map pans to center on it. When multiple peers are highlighted, the map adjusts its bounds to fit them all.

What the Map Reveals

• Geographic clustering: Many peers concentrate in North America and Western Europe, reflecting where Lightning infrastructure is hosted
• Propagation vs distance: Messages don’t always reach nearby peers first — network topology matters more than physical proximity
• Regional patterns: Some messages show clear geographic wavefronts; others spread unpredictably

Limitations

Geographic data should be interpreted carefully:

• Tor nodes (~30-40% of the network) have no mappable location
• VPNs and cloud hosting place nodes at datacenter locations, not operator locations
• IP geolocation accuracy varies — city-level at best, sometimes only country-level
• A node’s advertised address may not match its actual network path