Topic: Lightning Network

The hosts examine OnlyBoosts.social, a new platform modeled after OnlyFans for podcast boosts. While they praise the concept, they express frustration with the requirement to sign in via Nostr rather than simply providing a Lightning invoice for Strike.

Adam Curry details the technical difficulties of shutting down a large Lightning Network node with 140 channels. He describes the LND database as becoming unusable at scale, requiring the use of the lncli command-line tool and custom scripts to force-close channels over a multi-week period.

The conversation shifts to the X402 protocol backed by Cloudflare, which aims to facilitate micro-payments for AI agents using stablecoins. The hosts reflect on the philosophical disconnect between the Bitcoin ecosystem and the practical needs of average podcasters for low-fee, self-sovereign payments.

Adam Curry explores ways to evolve the podcasting funding tag to provide financial incentives for app developers. He mentions Elon Musk's "xMoney" as a potential future payment system and discusses the "splits" model originally popularized by the Lightning Network as a way to sustain the ecosystem.

The hosts discuss the technical difficulty of signaling payment destinations through RSS tags and the legal hurdles of becoming a money transmitter. They express frustration that these problems were largely solved by the Lightning Network, which has seen limited adoption due to its technical complexity.

Revenue from the Lightning Network for the Podcast Index has plummeted from $50 per week to approximately $11, making the $240 monthly cost of maintaining a Voltage node unsustainable. The decline is attributed to changes in protocols, the rising price of Bitcoin causing users to "HODL" their sats, and a general shift away from the initial excitement of streaming micropayments. The hosts are now considering whether to shut down the node entirely.

Dave Jones reports receiving his first "boost spam" via Satogram, an advertisement for Orangefriend.com. The message promoted Bitcoin to Lightning swaps and P2P markets with no-KYC prepaid cards. Jones expresses amusement at being paid one satoshi to receive spam, noting that the micro-payment model changes the economics of digital advertising.