Blockstream Satellite API: Pay with BTC via Lightning to Broadcast Data Globally

Post by runeks » Thu, Jan 17, 2019, 1:40 PM UTC

sparkie wrote: post #59

runeks wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There are usually many possible paths for a payment, so the payment limit isn't the minimum of any possible node along the route, but the set of all possible routes from one node to another. My main gripe with LN is this: why would I want to route a payment through a bunch of arbitrary nodes (which may or may not process my transaction), rather than just establish a connection with a single node, who I pay to guara…

> why would I want to route a payment through a bunch of arbitrary nodes, rather than just establish a connection with a single node, who I pay to guarantee uptime? There are already countless systems to do the latter. You can use PayPal, MasterCard, Stripe, etc, etc. The point of Bitcoin is to eliminate trusted third-parties. Nobody can guarantee uptime, only give you an empty promise. Bitcoin can guarantee uptime i…

Post by sparkie » Thu, Jan 17, 2019, 3:02 PM UTC

runeks wrote: post #61

sparkie wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> why would I want to route a payment through a bunch of arbitrary nodes, rather than just establish a connection with a single node, who I pay to guarantee uptime? There are already countless systems to do the latter. You can use PayPal, MasterCard, Stripe, etc, etc. The point of Bitcoin is to eliminate trusted third-parties. Nobody can guarantee uptime, only give you an empty promise. Bitcoin can guarantee uptime i…

> Again, this is nonsense. Exchanges between fiat and bitcoin can operate directly on the Lightning Network. There's no need to constantly open and close channels. You would send a direct lightning payment to your exchange to deposit money, or you would issue a lightning invoice to your exchange to withdraw money. In this world where no LN-transaction touches the Bitcoin blockchain, what's the reason for having a blo…

Post by lowracle » Thu, Jan 17, 2019, 5:36 PM UTC

lawlessone wrote: post #62

lowracle wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It strikes me how uneducated people on hacker news still are about bitcoin. In 10 years, people didn't even take the time to inform themselves before posting wrong facts. >Bitcoin is completely dependent on the availability of lots of power Wrong. Bitcoin can work even if only one nuclear power station remains. The difficulty will adjust to the new hash rate, and as long as no single actor can control more of the nuc…

>the new hash rate would be 0

Post by NVRM » Fri, Jan 18, 2019, 5:37 AM UTC

RL_Quine wrote: post #50

NVRM wrote: post #41

So this seems useless for payment, but here is the real hidden interest: You can send a file up to 10Kb, and pay for byte sent. It's cheap, coast looks to be $0.0035 for a 5Kb file. The receiver can get the file, encrypted, without internet, using only a SDR tv card, amplifier and antenna, worldwide, in 10 minutes. I see there large possible applications!!! https://blockstream.com/satellite-queue/ https://github.com/…

Name even one application.

Post by wmf » Fri, Jan 18, 2019, 11:58 PM UTC

runeks wrote: post #45

sygma wrote: post #42

For those wondering about how much the lightning network is actually used, have a look at the stats [0]. Adoption is growing steadily. [0]: https://1ml.com/statistics

One of the problems with LN is that, in order to actually receive BTC (on the Bitcoin blockchain) that you can sell, you almost certainly need to go through multiple LN nodes. Due to this, the node in this path with the smallest capacity will determine the maximum amount you can transfer (before needing to touch the blockchain). From the stats we can see that " Average Channel Capacity " is 0.025 BTC/$91.77, and that…