📢 AMA with gandlaf: Unveiling PROXNUT! \ stacker news ~bitcoin

8469 sats \ 23 comments \ @gandlaf21 27 Sep 2023 bitcoin

Hey Stacker Community! It's gandlaf here. 🚀

I'm thrilled to announce that I'll be hosting an Ask Me Anything (AMA) session about PROXNUT. PROXNUT is a Cashu proxy crafted to protect and monetize web resources, and I can't wait to delve deeper into it with you all.

📌 What's PROXNUT All About?
At its core, PROXNUT integrates seamlessly with a Cashu, enabling users to access protected web resources using tokens. It's a bridge between content providers aiming to monetize their content and users who value it. The system works completely stateless and requires no accounts and no sign ups, and enables monetization of APIs, content and more, with privacy by default.

📅 Date & Time: Drop your questions now! I will be answering them tomorrow from 08:00 till 11:00 AM CEST

📍 Where: Right here on stacker.news!

Why Join the AMA?

Behind-the-Scenes: I'll share the inspiration behind PROXNUT and the challenges during its development.
Direct Answers: Have questions or feedback? I'm here to address them all.
Peek into the Future: Discover what's next for PROXNUT and how you can be a part of its journey.

How to Participate:

Save the date for our AMA.
Think of any questions or feedback about PROXNUT.
Join the conversation and let's engage!

For more insights, check out the PROXNUT website and our GitHub Repository.

I genuinely believe PROXNUT can redefine the way we approach web resource monetization. Whether you're a fellow developer, a content creator, or just curious, I'm eager to chat with you!

Spread the word, and let's make this AMA a knowledge-packed session! 🎉

Catch you soon,
gandlaf

view all related items

41 sats \ 5 replies \ @DarthCoin 27 Sep 2023

Will be able these squirrels to use it?

for those curious about squirrels intelligence, here is part 2 and 3

21 sats \ 0 replies \ @gandlaf21 OP 27 Sep 2023

If they put the nuts on the line, they can use it 🥜🥜🥜

20 sats \ 2 replies \ @TheWildHustle 27 Sep 2023

My wife showed me this video a while back,

Yes they will

31 sats \ 1 reply \ @DarthCoin 27 Sep 2023

I am just imagining those squirrels using Cashu to trade nuts between them or even going to the guy that built all those maze and pay him with Cashu for nuts and not doing all those gymnastics anymore. 😂😂😂

10 sats \ 0 replies \ @TheWildHustle 27 Sep 2023

Ha!

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @dtonon 28 Sep 2023

That's amazing! Haha

27 sats \ 1 reply \ @MoritzK 28 Sep 2023

I love this use case of monetizing APIs. With the Lightning HTTP 402 Protocol there is another lightning protocol based approach to enable charging for API usage. In case you are familiar with L402, what are the advantages of using that one or Proxnut from your point of view?

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @gandlaf21 OP 28 Sep 2023

thanks for the great question!

I haven't had the time yet to dive into the details of L402 but as far as i know the main difference is that L402 is stateful.

Meaning that you pay an invoice and you receive back a macroon that grants you access for the next n requests. The server has to keep track of the state, to ensure you don't overdraft.

I think one big advantage of this is that macroons can be used for granular authorization which gives more control if you need to be able to lock specifc things down.

PROXNUT is stateless, which means every request is completely isolated from all other requests. You need to provide valid ecash on every interaction, and there is no linkability (other than network level) between the requests.

The advantage for users is that they benefit from having the 'the data monopoly' on their side (no state keeping on server), and at the same time the provider benefits from a simpler setup.

Another advantage is, ecash is centralized and backed by 'anything', so it is easy to have a system where tokens are representing something other than cash.

Ecash has a very low overhead (even compared to lightning, where you have to rely on the network liquidity and things like that) which makes a lot of sense for high frequency payments.

I hope someone that understands L402 can correct me if i'm wrong, or give their POV on the differences!

30 sats \ 3 replies \ @nikicat 27 Sep 2023

What are the disadvantages of this way of content monetization compared to classical mechanisms (like topping up a balance using a credit card)? What will happen if the user clears his browser's local data? Will funds be lost?

104 sats \ 2 replies \ @gandlaf21 OP 27 Sep 2023

There is a few differences between the account/balance model, and the ecash model. I think there are both advantages and disadvantages:

disadvantages:

you store tokens locally, so they can be more easily stolen or lost
there is no 'syncing' between devices
doing identity stuff makes no sense

advantages:

no need to set accounts / get tracked
every interaction is stateless
no data honeypot / data stays decentralized, on the users machine

I don't think one is strictly better than the other, but each of them is definitely better than the other at certain things!

If you need identity, account model if you don't, ecash!

30 sats \ 1 reply \ @ursuscamp 28 Sep 2023

Presumably each API call also needs to make a round-trip to the mint, right? This extra latency could be considered a disadvantage.

3 sats \ 0 replies \ @gandlaf21 OP 29 Sep 2023

correct, that should be seen as a disadvantage. If PROXNUT gets to a point where it is deployed into production environments and performance and speed are crucial, the mint should either run alongside proxnut, so verification time is negligible, or if we need to squeeze out even more performance, PROXNUT itself should become a mint.

20 sats \ 1 reply \ @MoritzK 28 Sep 2023

eCash makes sense if no user accounts are needed/available or just accounting is very hard to do. But user accounts with the usage history and an email address usually have the advantage for apps to reach out for upselling for instance. Do you already have a feeling which industries or even concrete use cases would benefit from going accountless?

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @gandlaf21 OP 28 Sep 2023

That is correct, ecash only makes sense if there is no need for identity.

IMO, this is a whole new (old) way of doing things. It is shifting the data balance back to the users. I think of this as a solution for companies and customers that want to opt out of the data collection business model and just go back to the "I sell this, you pay for this" model.

I think this can be used in any industry, it just depends on what the providers and consumers value.

Me personally, i dislike everything that requires a signup/email just for the purpose of advertising/selling me more stuff, and i would hope other customers feel the same way and force the market in that way.

But maybe it's just me, in which case this will remain niche

20 sats \ 2 replies \ @BlokchainB 27 Sep 2023

Can we get an example of how this works I’m already an avid eNutter but I’m curious to know how I can use this

50 sats \ 1 reply \ @gandlaf21 OP 27 Sep 2023

a demo is at https://demo.proxnut.com

to implement it on your own infrastructure, peek at:

https://github.com/gandlafbtc/proxnut/wiki/07.-Usage

10 sats \ 0 replies \ @BlokchainB 27 Sep 2023

Cool! Thanks for the demo

10 sats \ 1 reply \ @2bithits 27 Sep 2023

Where does the content monetization come from? Tips or advertising?

50 sats \ 0 replies \ @gandlaf21 OP 28 Sep 2023

From direct payments/payment for content.

It's like a subscription, but instead of paying monthly, you "top-up" ecash and pay for each interaction separately.

It gives users the option to cash out back to Lightning if they don't need the tokens anymore

10 sats \ 1 reply \ @032a468716 27 Sep 2023 freebie

If I pay for something using cashu notes: is there any way I can see what I paid for?

If I pay for some service using an accounts based service, I can get a list of my purchases.

Bit if I pay with cashu, is there a way for my wallet to say: here are the cashu tokens I spent. Please show me a list of the purchases I made.

Almost like a way of viewing historic transactions, but instead if logging in I provide a list of spent cashu tokens

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @gandlaf21 OP 28 Sep 2023

yes!

What's even better: the history would be stored on users device (there is no account, so storing on server makes no sense) which gives the user data ownership.

But yeah, a transaction history is definitely possible, and is going to be part of the proxnut-wallet webcompoment in the future 100%!

10 sats \ 1 reply \ @einarkuusk 27 Sep 2023

wen Netflix

21 sats \ 0 replies \ @gandlaf21 OP 27 Sep 2023

the subscription model is out of fashion. 2weeks ™