I'm fiatjaf of nostr, lnurl, and zebedee, AMA
63.4k sats \ 113 comments \ @fiatjaf 1 Mar 2022 nostr
What you can ask about:
  • Ukraine
  • Nostr
  • Lightning
  • Bitcoin
  • Etleneum
  • Olavo de Carvalho
  • Programming languages
  • Spacechains
  • Drivechain
  • DLC
  • Hivemind
  • Football
  • Movies
  • Music
  • LNURL
  • Simplicity
  • ZEBEDEE
  • How to get rich
  • How to be friendly and kind with people online
  • Lightning Address
  • bolt12
  • Ethereum
  • other things
What you can't ask about:
  • If lntxbot is down
write
preview
related posts
31 sats \ 3 replies \ @prayank23 1 Mar 2022 freebie
Which bitcoin project do you think needs nostr the most?
reply
13 sats \ 2 replies \ @fiatjaf OP 1 Mar 2022
The DLC effort, for advertising oracles and bet offers.
JoinMarket would also benefit specially since they must move out of IRC.
reply
1 sat \ 1 reply \ @03df7b8c87 1 Mar 2022 freebie
Joinmarket on Nostr? Hadn't thought about it.
20 sats \ 1 reply \ @DarthCoin 1 Mar 2022
  1. In simple pleb words, can you explain what Simplicity could fix or improve for Bitcoin and / or LN?
What a simple user should understand from that? I watched Adam Back presentation, but that language is not for everybody.
  1. Are you working on a swap LN <--> onchain for LNTXBOT ?
reply
2 sats \ 0 replies \ @fiatjaf OP 1 Mar 2022
  1. It ends all the discussions around what-is-the-best-opcode-to-softfork-next-after-12-years-of-buildup and just allows everybody to do everything they want, but in a safe way. And everything includes many things we can't do today like much better Lightning, "pools" and sidechain designs.
  2. No, I'm not, unfortunately.
reply
21 sats \ 1 reply \ @plntmls 1 Mar 2022 freebie
@fiatjaf what's the best platform for building decentralized / customizable solutions to centrally controlled social media and why is it Nostr?
reply
1036 sats \ 0 replies \ @fiatjaf OP 1 Mar 2022
It is Nostr, because it scales by using conventional client-server technology and still provides censorship resistance by allowing these servers to be changed without identities and followers/etc being lost (if implemented well)(there are levels of censorship-resistance depending on the app implementation).
reply
112 sats \ 1 reply \ @jimmysong 2 Mar 2022
What's the motivation for what you do? I noticed you're into a lot of different things and want to understand where your inspiration comes from.
reply
164 sats \ 0 replies \ @fiatjaf OP 2 Mar 2022
Destroy central banks, the tyrannical States they sustain and rollback their control apparatus over citizens.
reply
23 sats \ 6 replies \ @melvincarvalho 1 Mar 2022
What does the "jaf" in fiat-jaf mean?
reply
2 sats \ 4 replies \ @fiatjaf OP 1 Mar 2022
I can't answer that one.
reply
6 sats \ 0 replies \ @nout 1 Mar 2022
I bet that's the correct way to write GIF...
reply
0 sats \ 2 replies \ @03df7b8c87 1 Mar 2022 freebie
O.O
0 sats \ 0 replies \ @ibz 7 Mar 2022 freebie
"jaf" in Romanian literally means "robbery". We also use this word to refer to something "shitty", like "a shitty car" (= "a robbery of a car").
I love fiatjaf's nickname. Couldn't be any better! I always thought he might be Romanian, or at least speak the language.
15 sats \ 1 reply \ @why 1 Mar 2022
If you could snap your fingers and invent a single consumer-facing ln application that utilizes existing platform capabilities, what would it be?
reply
27 sats \ 0 replies \ @fiatjaf OP 1 Mar 2022
I only want that deal if I could also snap my fingers and get network effect for this application. In that case it would be some Nostr-Lightning-backed marketplace for all sorts of goods used and new.
If I can't get network effect, then I don't know, everything is useless, maybe a super good online multiplayer game that also happens to use satoshis for buying and selling clothes so all adolescents are forced to install https://sbw.app/ to do their shopping.
reply
15 sats \ 1 reply \ @Majjin 1 Mar 2022
How do you find the time for your projects? Do you work on them full time?
reply
11 sats \ 0 replies \ @fiatjaf OP 1 Mar 2022
In general I don't find much time, to be honest. There are bursts of days in which I work on them a lot.
reply
20 sats \ 1 reply \ @pseudozach 1 Mar 2022 freebie
if you could do 3 things to make Lightning a success, what would they be?
reply
20 sats \ 0 replies \ @fiatjaf OP 1 Mar 2022
I think Lightning is already a success and needs nothing more, except fixing the spam problem, fixing the excessive channel close problem and getting rid of HTLCs.
Or maybe everybody could implement this: https://sbw.app/posts/scaling-ln-with-hosted-channels/
reply
15 sats \ 1 reply \ @03df7b8c87 1 Mar 2022 freebie
I remember back in the day people were advertising Linux as free and very customizable. Looking back that was misguided as it turns out those weren't attractive to users. What do you think are the most misguided ways people advertise bitcoin? As in, features most people don't care about.
reply
12k sats \ 0 replies \ @fiatjaf OP 1 Mar 2022
There is a word people use, "self-sovereighndfnsldkfn" I don't even know how to spell.
I just don't like that, but I'm not good at convincing people, so don't listen to me.
reply
46 sats \ 1 reply \ @03b3a9d4df 1 Mar 2022 freebie
What is your hottest take on lightning?
reply
1045 sats \ 0 replies \ @fiatjaf OP 1 Mar 2022
HTLCs are broken and should be replaced by this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUAyW4pdooA
reply
11 sats \ 1 reply \ @supertestnet 1 Mar 2022
How did you come up with the idea for lntxbot?
reply
1004 sats \ 0 replies \ @fiatjaf OP 1 Mar 2022
I read something about Telegram having bots that allowed some special / commands, and I wanted to do something to experiment with Lightning. It's not as if tipping bots were a new invention by me, I had probably seen them before.
reply
11 sats \ 3 replies \ @uco 1 Mar 2022 freebie
Any updates on your Lightning Point of Sale offline reader?
reply
204 sats \ 2 replies \ @fiatjaf OP 1 Mar 2022
This one? https://github.com/fiatjaf/lnurlpos-app Isn't it working? I have no updates, I thought it was working. It is just a software implementation of Ben Arc's hardware version.
reply
0 sats \ 1 reply \ @uco 1 Mar 2022 freebie
Thanks! Follow up question:
Any thoughts on best algorithm to rank content? Whether Nostr, Stacker News, or legacy Twitter a schema is needed to rank content.
I like how SN is using sats divided by time to create a temporary ranking that diminishes with time.
Curious what you think about ranking content with sats?
10 sats \ 1 reply \ @relc 3 Mar 2022
Respect for what you do. What year was your first tx?
reply
11 sats \ 0 replies \ @fiatjaf OP 4 Mar 2022
2011, I mined 5000sat on an old CPU, then bought 4BTC but lost everything and I blame Bitcoin Core for its bad UX.
reply
10 sats \ 1 reply \ @south_korea_ln 2 Mar 2022
In case I'm not too late...
  • Did the Statechain torch come back to you? Did you learn anything useful from that experiment?
  • Has anyone taken up some of the bounties to implement specific implementation goals? How are you enforcing these bounties?
Thanks!
reply
12 sats \ 0 replies \ @fiatjaf OP 2 Mar 2022
  • It did not. I learned that people don't care to pass the torch to someone trustworthy as I wanted them to, most people will just pass it to the first random who asks. But it's been a good experiment so far (I don't know where it is now, was it stolen? I saw it about a week ago).
  • You mean the Nostr bounties? No, no one did anything, except there is one guy tackling the Tusky fork project, but he didn't guarantee he will succeed.
reply
10 sats \ 3 replies \ @nout 1 Mar 2022
How can we use LN in situations where one person doesn't have internet connection (e.g. they are in a shelter and only have phone line connection to a friend with internet)?
reply
0 sats \ 2 replies \ @fiatjaf OP 1 Mar 2022
Use a wallet in the cloud and send signed commands to it through your friend.
reply
0 sats \ 1 reply \ @nout 1 Mar 2022
Is that actually practically available currently? Like would the best way to achieve this be LNBits with accounts somehow? Or what wallet would you use?
reply
21 sats \ 0 replies \ @fiatjaf OP 2 Mar 2022
LNbits is fine, but if you want the "signed" part you'll need to write a plugin.
reply
10 sats \ 1 reply \ @BlokchainB 1 Mar 2022
What are your thoughts on the Synonym project?
reply
15 sats \ 0 replies \ @fiatjaf OP 1 Mar 2022
I think I would be very excited about it if I hadn't been burnt out by other unscalable-DHT-based everything-peer-to-peer projects in the past. I also think it will be harder for it to get network effect.
reply
10 sats \ 3 replies \ @kr 1 Mar 2022
What is one future application of LNURL you're excited about?
Bonus points if it's one that most people haven't realized yet.
reply
1 sat \ 2 replies \ @fiatjaf OP 1 Mar 2022
Something like this: https://twitter.com/pdxcoinexchange/status/1485021988661825539
I.e. stores you can walk, scan a QR code (or NFC if that ever materializes), pay from the street even, and then get your item. Works great for food, but could also work for any store that has some sale of some special item, I don't know.
reply
0 sats \ 1 reply \ @kr 1 Mar 2022
Follow up question: Do you think LNURL will be more disruptive to in-person retail commerce or to online commerce over time?
reply
1 sat \ 0 replies \ @fiatjaf OP 1 Mar 2022
In-person.
https://github.com/fiatjaf/lnurl-rfc/issues/9
reply
10 sats \ 1 reply \ @02985844e6 1 Mar 2022 freebie
What is your preferred way of fixing the LN spam problem?
reply
1 sat \ 0 replies \ @fiatjaf OP 1 Mar 2022
But from the solutions that actually have any change, the metered payments roasbeef solution that is in the t-bast's document on GitHub -- if I remember correctly.
reply
10 sats \ 3 replies \ @03a2e7bccc 1 Mar 2022 freebie
biggest problem lightning needs to solve in order to succeed
reply
1 sat \ 2 replies \ @fiatjaf OP 1 Mar 2022
Spam.
reply
0 sats \ 1 reply \ @zuspotirko 2 Mar 2022
I agree spam is a disgrace.
Jokes aside, wdym by spam? E.g. platforms where people send single sats as upvotes?
reply
1 sat \ 0 replies \ @fiatjaf OP 4 Mar 2022
No, fake payments, probes etc.
1 sat txs are also bad, but they didn't have to be. And they are not bad in SN.
reply
11 sats \ 2 replies \ @ThrillerX_ 1 Mar 2022
Do you know of a way to do offline Lightning payments.
reply
20 sats \ 0 replies \ @fiatjaf OP 1 Mar 2022
Yes, you make an account on some trusted service and ask it to receive the payments on your behalf, then you use https://github.com/fiatjaf/lnurl-rfc/blob/luds/14.md to get the money on your https://sbw.app/ whenever possible.
reply
0 sats \ 0 replies \ @lanin99943 2 Mar 2022 freebie
Here is another interesting article on this subject: https://lightningnetwork.plus/watchtower
5 sats \ 1 reply \ @spraveenitpro 1 Mar 2022
I would like to work on Bitcoin and Lightning, should I learn Rust? I am familiar with Python and JavaScript.
reply
75 sats \ 0 replies \ @fiatjaf OP 1 Mar 2022
Probably yes since everybody loves Rust now and it is good, but don't become an annoying Rust shill.
Languages don't matter very much though. You could also learn Scala or Go and that would be good.
Actually languages do matter in the sense that languages without strict types and smart compilers are a pain in everybody's ass.
Alternative answer: if you haven't yet, do something useful with what you know before trying to learn new languages.
reply
5 sats \ 3 replies \ @cameri 1 Mar 2022
1.What's your favorite Nostr client? 2. What are your thoughts on porting @lntxbot to other platforms? Discord? Nostr? Twitter? 3. What's your favorite podcast?
reply
3 sats \ 2 replies \ @fiatjaf OP 1 Mar 2022
That one in Haskell that doesn't exist yet. And the one in Clojure from that guy who is friends with Uncle Bob Martin.
reply
0 sats \ 1 reply \ @cameri 1 Mar 2022
I could post again so I edited my original and added two more questions if you still have the chance :) Much appreciated!
reply
1 sat \ 0 replies \ @fiatjaf OP 1 Mar 2022
You should have asked them here, now I can't answer there again.
  1. I think it's a noble effort but I don't want to do it right now.
  2. Bob Murphy show? I don't know.
reply
5 sats \ 2 replies \ @cryptocoin 1 Mar 2022
I will answer questions for free with no cost for the price of zero and we don't require you to provide a credit card upfront.
Didn't this cost me 1 sat to get you to answer this question? So, technically, not "free"?
reply
11 sats \ 1 reply \ @fiatjaf OP 1 Mar 2022
Did it? I didn't know, please don't sue me.
reply
10 sats \ 0 replies \ @earnbitcoin 1 Mar 2022
You're safe, I think.
The comment (asking the question) did incur a fee to SN for 1 sat, but your reply (answer) came at no additional cost to the asker. So I don't think a lawsuit would win.
reply
5 sats \ 3 replies \ @redshark03 1 Mar 2022 freebie
Do you think any other blockchains can be a threat to bitcoin if its fails to adopt bips like simplicity, noinput, ctv ect?
reply
2 sats \ 2 replies \ @fiatjaf OP 1 Mar 2022
Other blockchains cannot ever replace Bitcoin, but they can (and they are) getting in the way of more rapid and better Bitcoin adoption -- and ultimately cause everything to fall and fiat to win. I think having these other things would make Bitcoin better, so I the answer is yes? Or maybe?
reply
0 sats \ 1 reply \ @felipetleite 1 Mar 2022 freebie
Are you an advocate for BIP 300/301 to help get shitcoins out of the way of bitcoin adoption?
1 sat \ 3 replies \ @k00b 1 Mar 2022
  1. What do you do at zebedee? Do you get paid as a pseudonym?
  2. What's a belief you hold about the future of Bitcoin that hasn't occurred to most bitcoiners or that most bitcoiners don't believe?
  3. What's your view on DIDs? Will we end up using the more involved standards/protocols people are building on these things in the future?
reply
1003 sats \ 2 replies \ @fiatjaf OP 1 Mar 2022
  1. I've done work in the Telegram and Discord bots, CSGO integration, the core payments backend, the mobile wallet, the browser extension, I do whatever I can I guess. No, they know my name.
  2. I believe Bitcoin will have a lot of custodianship in the future to be able to scale but that won't be a problem once governments get out of the way with their draconian anti-custodianship laws.
  3. Every time a protocol says "oh you can do this same thing in multiple ways" what it is actually saying is "every implementation will have to support all ways to remain compatible". That kills protocols, kills network effect, kills adoption, kills decentralization.
reply
1 sat \ 1 reply \ @k00b 1 Mar 2022
Your answer to (3) is very insightful, thanks.
One last question: how do I get rich?
reply
20 sats \ 0 replies \ @fiatjaf OP 1 Mar 2022
I have no idea.
reply
1 sat \ 3 replies \ @earnbitcoin 1 Mar 2022
What's your GamerTag?
reply
10 sats \ 2 replies \ @fiatjaf OP 1 Mar 2022
fiatjaf
reply
2 sats \ 1 reply \ @earnbitcoin 1 Mar 2022
100 sats sent to fiatjaf@zbd.gg
Don't spend it all in one place.
reply
10 sats \ 0 replies \ @zuspotirko 2 Mar 2022
username checks out
reply
1 sat \ 2 replies \ @felipetleite 1 Mar 2022 freebie
Can you help me get a job at ZEBEDEE as Community Manager? I would kick ass at it! https://bitcoinerjobs.com/job/247739-community-manager-americas
0 sats \ 5 replies \ @pueblerino 1 Mar 2022
What's with the hivemind, Ser; any thoughts on a possible loosen of the individuality of the Self?
Alternative question: Your ideal football eleven
reply
101 sats \ 4 replies \ @fiatjaf OP 1 Mar 2022
I don't understand the question.
Kafunga; Murilo e Ramos; Mexicano, Zé do Monte e Afonso; Lucas, Lauro, Carlyle, Lêro e Nívio.
reply
0 sats \ 3 replies \ @pueblerino 1 Mar 2022
Alright, a serious one on adoption, please:
TL;DR Question: Name your authors on sociology, philosophy and architecture (if any)
Long Question: Say we have a 'bitcoinized' place: a) We have a geographical region and within: human settlements, each with its own social/cultural structures of parts:whole; b) Some/or the whole of its inhabitants bitcoin is destined to 'build and maintain channels' (infrastructure whatsoever: roads, bridges, transport); and, c) The region is self sufficient, resources speaking; the only 'out-border' exchanges are cultural ones. Would you:
  1. Find reasonable to 'lock' this regional bitcoin quantity and atomize it in order to monetize 'public work' within its inhabitants?
  2. If yes: Each region of the World might be developed under similar market structures, differentiated only by the relation of bitcoin-qty:regional-needs; Would this be a form of 'tokenized/federated' bitcoin that might work like bitcoin itself these days (lightning, c-lightning)?
  3. If no: Which other ways of 'riddance of fiat, now and for all' might be suggestible? The lock of bitcoin mightn't be a new recipe: pre-colombine era were more or less like it: lesser settlements related to a 'center' yet, each with it's own culture AND token/form of money.
Cheers Jaff, thanks for the AMA
reply
101 sats \ 2 replies \ @fiatjaf OP 1 Mar 2022
Thank you, but your questions confuse me.
TLDR: Olavo de Carvalho. Long:
  1. You mean some overwhelming force will prevent people from spending Bitcoin outside of this place? Then no.
  2. If you're talking about "regional community currencies" thing I don't like that. I think it's anti-economical and doesn't really benefit anyone except for the fact that it looks peculiar. But maybe it would work if people voluntarily moved to this place with the goal of making it a fully bitcoinized experience. In this sense it would also work with gold, friend-to-friend credit channels or some other money.
reply
0 sats \ 1 reply \ @pueblerino 1 Mar 2022
Thank you too; sorry for the confusing questions: trial and error, now that I think.
Last one that should had been the first and only: Personal definition of experience and, if possible, of 'the' bitcoin-experience
reply
101 sats \ 0 replies \ @fiatjaf OP 1 Mar 2022
ahahah, I give up.
reply
0 sats \ 5 replies \ @hodlbod_fr 6 Apr 2022 freebie
Resurrecting an old thread, but what is your opinion of Zion and Slashtags?
0 sats \ 2 replies \ @f321x 10 Mar 2022 freebie
  1. Are you a single person or a group?
  2. c-ln vs lnd for normal plebs?
  3. how to get started in lightning/bitcoin projects starting from 0 dev skills?
0 sats \ 1 reply \ @ladysatsstacker 5 Mar 2022 freebie
I wonder how i can pursuade my friends to adopt using lightning address. How can i change their old belief...it seems im the first and only one in the community adopting crypto. Its hard to talk to them about crypto..tsk tsk
0 sats \ 1 reply \ @030e529174 1 Mar 2022 freebie
Have your thoughts on IPFS changed at all?
0 sats \ 1 reply \ @0x6d65 1 Mar 2022 freebie
When ZEBEDEE minecraft server where diamonds are backed 1:1 with sats?
0 sats \ 1 reply \ @raphael 1 Mar 2022 freebie
Is your lntxbot node profitable and which lightning node implementation do you use?
0 sats \ 1 reply \ @herman_skledar1 1 Mar 2022 freebie
Thoughts on galoy?
0 sats \ 7 replies \ @lucasdcf 1 Mar 2022 freebie
is lntxbot up?