One does not simply add dollars to lightningOne does not simply add dollars to lightning
I saw this post on X earlier today:
My trembling hand went to my brow and I felt the spirit of Boromir descend upon me.
It's one thing to "Dollars via Lightning" but it is quite another to put some greenbacks on the fastest money known to man.
First off, ain't no one actually put a dollar on Lightning. The closest we've come is a token representing a dollar that promises to have the same value as a dollar.
(Maybe Galoy's implementation of Stablesats counts, although even that doesn't allow you to send dollars from your bank account to a lightning wallet, so it seems it is not yet on par with actual dollars.)
But I was curious, so I downloaded the pre-release app.But I was curious, so I downloaded the pre-release app.
Once you create a new wallet and tap on the receive button, you have the option to receive dollars:
I tapped on that option and got a qr that was quite a but more complicated looking than your standard lightning invoice.
Then, to test it I paid the invoice from a normal lightning wallet. It took longer than normal, but not too long (maybe five seconds?).
Then I got a notification in the Blitz app:
But, like, how did I get to Mordor?
So my question is how are getting dollars on lightning?So my question is how are getting dollars on lightning?
Which is what I asked:
As you can see, I got an answer: it is USDB.
We meet againWe meet again
You may remember that USDB came up last month when the Park CEO paid for coffee with these tokens (#1327410).
Blitz described USDB as a "stable coin native to Spark" and mentioned Flashnet, which they describe as a "trustless swap protocol." This is different than how I understood things working when I wrote the post in December.
Also, there was this comment from that post (#1333987)
👋 Ethan here (building Flashnet)
Magic eden has nothing to do with this flow whatsoever! They were previously a distribution partner for USDB, but that's no longer the case.
The demo shows a Spark wallet paying a Lightning invoice with USDB, where USDB is swapped to BTC on Flashnet and on receipt of BTC forwarded to a Lightning invoice.
This helps a little, but clearly I need to do more research on USDB.
I can't find the flashnet source code.
The closest I've found is their sdk, but I replied to Ethan Marcus on X to ask if he could point me in the right direction (no answer yet) for code about their AMM
USDB uses Spark's BTKN protocol, and I was able to find code for that: https://github.com/buildonspark/BTKN (although...I'm unclear if they're still using this repo...nothing new for 9 months).
This is the token address for USDB: https://sparkscan.io/token/btkn1xgrvjwey5ngcagvap2dzzvsy4uk8ua9x69k82dwvt5e7ef9drm9qztux87?network=mainnet
But sparkscan doesn't seem to give me a way to inspect the contract.
Their sdk seems to make swaps through a REST client, indicating that there's a server component to this. That's also what I understood from the docs.
So what one ideally would need is the server code, to self-host, so that there won't be a thirdparty to subpoena for access logs. Otherwise you'd be sending JSON about your transactions (or, best case, timing-correlatable inquiries) to a potentially coercible entity.
If a get a response on x, I'll ask about it.
lol trustless! Spark isn’t trustless
I wonder who pushed the devs to add tjis crap?
This wallet is the shame for bitcoiners. Should not be included in any article.
#1410732
source
In good news, @januszgrze posted on X about the differences between Arkade and Flashnet, which helps a little with understanding what is going on:
https://twiiit.com/januszg_/status/2010727600939786694
It has a very simple POS system, does it seem like it has Apple Pay enabled? Surely you don't manually enter debit card info each time. Tap-to pay integration on IOS for direct fiat to sats conversion would go crazy
It’s even worse than we thought.