diff --git a/bitcoin.js b/bitcoin.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..142044e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bitcoin.js
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+// setup bitcoind rpc
+const config = require('./config');
+let jayson = require('jayson/promise');
+let url = require('url');
+let rpc = url.parse(config.bitcoind.rpc);
+rpc.timeout = 5000;
+module.exports = jayson.client.http(rpc);
diff --git a/controllers/api.js b/controllers/api.js
index 32885d7..0bafb0b 100644
--- a/controllers/api.js
+++ b/controllers/api.js
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ let router = express.Router();
 let assert = require('assert');
 console.log('using config', JSON.stringify(config));
 
-// setup redis
 var Redis = require('ioredis');
 var redis = new Redis(config.redis);
 redis.monitor(function(err, monitor) {
@@ -14,40 +13,8 @@ redis.monitor(function(err, monitor) {
   });
 });
 
-// setup bitcoind rpc
-let jayson = require('jayson/promise');
-let url = require('url');
-let rpc = url.parse(config.bitcoind.rpc);
-rpc.timeout = 5000;
-let bitcoinclient = jayson.client.http(rpc);
-
-// setup lnd rpc
-var fs = require('fs');
-var grpc = require('grpc');
-var lnrpc = grpc.load('rpc.proto').lnrpc;
-process.env.GRPC_SSL_CIPHER_SUITES = 'HIGH+ECDSA';
-var lndCert;
-if (process.env.TLSCERT) {
-  lndCert = Buffer.from(process.env.TLSCERT, 'hex');
-} else {
-  lndCert = fs.readFileSync('tls.cert');
-}
-console.log('using tls.cert', lndCert.toString('hex'));
-let sslCreds = grpc.credentials.createSsl(lndCert);
-let macaroon;
-if (process.env.MACAROON) {
-  macaroon = process.env.MACAROON;
-} else {
-  macaroon = fs.readFileSync('admin.macaroon').toString('hex');
-}
-console.log('using macaroon', macaroon);
-let macaroonCreds = grpc.credentials.createFromMetadataGenerator(function(args, callback) {
-  let metadata = new grpc.Metadata();
-  metadata.add('macaroon', macaroon);
-  callback(null, metadata);
-});
-let creds = grpc.credentials.combineChannelCredentials(sslCreds, macaroonCreds);
-let lightning = new lnrpc.Lightning(config.lnd.url, creds);
+let bitcoinclient = require('../bitcoin');
+let lightning = require('../lightning');
 
 // ###################### SMOKE TESTS ########################
 
diff --git a/lightning.js b/lightning.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ff02047
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lightning.js
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+// setup lnd rpc
+const config = require('./config');
+var fs = require('fs');
+var grpc = require('grpc');
+var lnrpc = grpc.load('rpc.proto').lnrpc;
+process.env.GRPC_SSL_CIPHER_SUITES = 'HIGH+ECDSA';
+var lndCert;
+if (process.env.TLSCERT) {
+  lndCert = Buffer.from(process.env.TLSCERT, 'hex');
+} else {
+  lndCert = fs.readFileSync('tls.cert');
+}
+console.log('using tls.cert', lndCert.toString('hex'));
+let sslCreds = grpc.credentials.createSsl(lndCert);
+let macaroon;
+if (process.env.MACAROON) {
+  macaroon = process.env.MACAROON;
+} else {
+  macaroon = fs.readFileSync('admin.macaroon').toString('hex');
+}
+console.log('using macaroon', macaroon);
+let macaroonCreds = grpc.credentials.createFromMetadataGenerator(function(args, callback) {
+  let metadata = new grpc.Metadata();
+  metadata.add('macaroon', macaroon);
+  callback(null, metadata);
+});
+let creds = grpc.credentials.combineChannelCredentials(sslCreds, macaroonCreds);
+module.exports = new lnrpc.Lightning(config.lnd.url, creds);