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Micropayments for content seths.blog/2022/11/micropayments-for-content/

563 sats \ 8 comments \ @kr 20 Nov 2022 bitcoin

77 sats \ 1 reply \ @timechain 21 Nov 2022

A reason why I am worried this might take a while to catch on is there is a perception that interoperability is bad.

Think of a video arcade. You put a dollar into a machine and get back 4 tokens. The games can take quarters just as easily, but they frequently don't.

Also reminds me of in-game item NFTs. This idea that all these different companies would let a sword from someone's game and a helmet from someone else's game be used on their game rarely happened. No game designer wanted to lose the chance of selling their own in-game item NFTs.

However, history shows that interoperable open networks beats walled gardens. I can earn sats playing THNDR's solitaire, and tip someone here, who tips someone on fountain, who hires someone on stakwork to do a transcript, etc. Everyone elses work makes others' projects more valuable.

42 sats \ 0 replies \ @kr OP 21 Nov 2022

good point.

in seth’s example, the “network coordinator” seems like an entity worth eliminating. and of course, sats should be the standard.

instead of a 25% cut going to some company in the middle, i wonder if some open source coordination software could enable unencumbered access for all

64 sats \ 3 replies \ @BTC_LN 21 Nov 2022

Lightning payments is perfect for this. But how do we get people to start using it?

10 sats \ 0 replies \ @kr OP 21 Nov 2022

agreed that lightning is the right tool for this job.

one way to start something like this is by going after influential creators who already paywall their content. substack writers come to mind.

imagine if substack said “it’s $25/month for a substack buffet”. they’re large enough that they’d have enough content for readers to binge on, and participating writers would probably see a meaningful revenue bump.

more writers would flock to substack, and more revenue would flow through the system.

this could even exist alongside the current business models for substack creators.

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @chairman_pretense 21 Nov 2022

It’s a bit chicken and egg. Getting those first sats into users hands without having them jump too many fiat hoops is the issue. Cashapp probably does this best so far.

The next big jump may well be a gaming or streaming platform.

If people get their first sats from a view/play to earn scheme (e.g. watch this ad and we give you 100 sats) that might be enough to get the snowball rolling.