Geyser AMA 🙌 😎 \ stacker news ~AMA

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Geyser AMA 🙌 😎

22.1k sats \ 60 comments \ @geyserfund 2 Apr AMA freebie

GM, Stackers!

We're Geyser.fund, the crowdfunding and creator platform built on Lightning and Nostr.

We're here to spread Sats and answer ALL of your questions!

Have you created or funded a project on Geyser? What did you like and what would you like to see improved?

All sats forwarded to: https://geyser.fund/project/geyser

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532 sats \ 3 replies \ @grayruby 2 Apr

Have you considered a geyser curated fund (say top 5 projects plus a few new projects etc) where I can donate directly to geyser fund and you distribute amongst those projects?

226 sats \ 1 reply \ @geyserfund OP 2 Apr

That's actually a great idea, thanks for that.

It's similar to a feature we already have: the Geyser Grants. Our grants have a theme or topic (e.g. bitcoin movies), and projects on Geyser can apply.

The evaluation and distribution process is done by a panel of experts or by community voting, i.e. 1 sat = 1 vote

Here you can learn more about Geyser Grants https://guide.geyser.fund/geyser-docs/product-features/geyser-grants

115 sats \ 0 replies \ @grayruby 2 Apr

Great thanks. Would also like it if you guys would feature some projects here on SN.

134 sats \ 0 replies \ @geyserfund OP 2 Apr

Love this idea! Yes! We have considered this idea. Ideally, everyone would be able to create their bundle of projects to whom users can send payments and subscribe to ;)

322 sats \ 1 reply \ @kr 2 Apr

Curious to know what kinds of non-Bitcoin projects are being funded on Geyser these days, can you share any examples?

202 sats \ 0 replies \ @geyserfund OP 2 Apr

90% of projects on Geyser are funding Bitcoin creators. We do see, however, some large projects funding humanitarian emergencies and social causes of different types.

Two large ones have been supporting the Humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the Turkey Earthquake earlier this year.

But yea, most projects go towards supporting Bitcoin creators: creatives, educators, community builders and developers.

433 sats \ 3 replies \ @Scoresby 2 Apr

Does Geyser have a way for projects to raise funds but if a certain threshold is not met automatically return the funds to backers?

I can imagine that lightning doesn't make this easy.

388 sats \ 0 replies \ @steliosats 2 Apr

Great question! The "all-or-nothing" fundraising feature is on our roadmap and might happen towards the end of this year. We have explored different options to implement it. It's doable natively on Lightning but has pretty big limitations.

Our current bet is that it would be best to make use of Liquid as an accumulator of funds for the duration of the fundraise. With Liquid covenants we can set a threshold on the amount raised before funds can be sent out of the contract.

194 sats \ 1 reply \ @geyserfund OP 2 Apr

We don't have that "all or nothing" feature right now, but it's something we're considering building.

You are right, it might not be possible to do this with Lightning alone, but it should be possible with Liquid.

10 sats \ 0 replies \ @Scoresby 2 Apr

Thanks! I'd use it if you built it. Great job with Geyser, though. It's awesome!

524 sats \ 2 replies \ @k00b 2 Apr

Concretely, how has fundraising changed with bitcoin?

543 sats \ 0 replies \ @geyserfund OP 2 Apr freebie

Access: 85% of the world that are outside fiat rails can now actually do fundraising. 50% of all projects on Geyser are created in areas with previous no or limited access to fundraising.
Ease of fundraising: Some of our projects raised 10x more on Bitcoin than they did on fiat. We see a massive enhancement in funding with Bitcoin than with Fiat. Plebs want to Let the Sats Flow!
Immediate direct Funding: Geyser does not custody funds, so funds go straight to the creator's wallets. This empowers creators who don't have to wait weeks, months or years to receive funds into their wallets.

...and a lot more to when it comes to privacy, immediacy, UX... Abubakar just published a nice article about Geyser for more info: https://x.com/ihate1999/status/1774578678602649919?s=20

163 sats \ 0 replies \ @geyserfund OP 2 Apr

Fundraising with Bitcoin offers several advantages:

Bitcoin is a global and permissionless network , so it allows access to financial services such as crowdfunding to anyone with an Internet connection. In contrast, traditional platforms such as Kickstarter, are limited to a handful of countries.
It allows pseudonymous donations, which is very important to many contributors for sensitive projects like Bitcoin4Palestine
Allows lower fees than traditional platforms, especially when currency exchange fees are also considered
Fundraising with Bitcoin brings with it the Bitcoin community, which over the years has always been super generous and ready to donate to valuable initiatives

I hope this sums it up well ;)

483 sats \ 1 reply \ @kr 2 Apr

what is one project nobody has launched on geyser, which you think would get good traction?

264 sats \ 0 replies \ @geyserfund OP 2 Apr

We think podcasts are not really doing Geyser much but that is a no-brainer way to get more funding for their content. Also just more online content creators who want to receive sats for their content.

328 sats \ 5 replies \ @davidw 2 Apr

How do you think about online vs local community? Plans to setup city hubs, networks & events too?

113 sats \ 4 replies \ @geyserfund OP 2 Apr

Great question!

We need both Online and meatspace communities. Geyser has supported quite a few Bitcoin communities in their need for fundraising in the past.

Did you have anything in mind as to how Geyser may support Bitcoin communities?

40 sats \ 3 replies \ @davidw 2 Apr freebie

Your online platform is clearly your bread & butter. I just wondered if a mini Geyser roadshow & popup shops could be a neat way to bring us meatheads together.

Or perhaps the majority of your projects are so distributed already. In which case, that’s quite a story to tell, with most other funding in Bitcoin trending to U.S & European projects.

361 sats \ 2 replies \ @steliosats 3 Apr

We'll keep pushing for Geyser to be a global platform, and a tool accessible for all! Since you bring it up, here's what the current distribution looks like on the platform. This shows which regions the creators are from (green-grey), and which regions the contributors are from (colored).

https://m.stacker.news/25001 https://m.stacker.news/25002

140 sats \ 1 reply \ @davidw 3 Apr freebie

Thats awesome data! Thanks for sharing. Usually that would remain proprietary.

So ~50% of projects from Europe & US and ~75% of contributions originating from there. Much more distributed than I suspected. Congrats.

70 sats \ 0 replies \ @steliosats 3 Apr

Creators are adding value around the world, and everyone should have access to this tool. This is part of our mission, to empower creators around the world 🤙

235 sats \ 2 replies \ @k00b 2 Apr

What's been the hardest part of building Geyser?

195 sats \ 1 reply \ @steliosats 2 Apr

I'd say keeping the platform fully non-custodial while maintaining good UX is pretty high up there. But it's also been fun working around this challenge and discovering new payment flows.

For example, making use of HODL invoices to verify payments sent to third party lightning address providers. That way creators can "connect" their favourite wallet and receive funds straight into it.

163 sats \ 0 replies \ @geyserfund OP 2 Apr

Great question and great answers!

On top of what Stelios said:

Getting the right team has been a big challenge, but also the most exciting one. Once you get it right it's so rewarding. Lot's of learnings here.

284 sats \ 2 replies \ @nym 2 Apr

Hi! I created a project in 2022 seeking funding for a Nostr relay. I got a couple thousands sat, but lost my lightning login for the site and the sats are still sitting there. There are better solutions running relays by small companies now, and are more capable of what I was.

https://geyser.fund/project/nymsrelay

I found it a pretty seamless experience and I think you have a great project. Thank you for your contributions!

27 sats \ 1 reply \ @geyserfund OP 2 Apr

That's cool!! Well, thanks for the kind words. ❤️

20 sats \ 0 replies \ @nym 3 Apr

You're welcome!

216 sats \ 1 reply \ @davidw 2 Apr

What is one thing you wish people knew about Geyser Grants, above all else?

640 sats \ 0 replies \ @geyserfund OP 2 Apr

We wish more Bitcoin companies could support us in sponsoring Grants going to Bitcoin creators. We are working on it!

216 sats \ 1 reply \ @cryotosensei 2 Apr

Have Geyser’s mission n vision always remained constant? Or did you guys have to pivot as a result of changing times? Case in point: COVID

210 sats \ 0 replies \ @geyserfund OP 2 Apr

Our vision remains the same:

make crowdfunding accessible to everyone
remain as neutral as possible about the quality and value of the project
focus on Bitcoin only and primiarily Lightning, which is how we make Bitcoin more usable and scalable
We believe in the ability for everyone to transact freely towards their ideas.

255 sats \ 1 reply \ @0xbitcoiner 2 Apr

First of all, I would like to thank you for all your work.

Have you ever been robbed by any initiative? How do you choose which projects to support?

339 sats \ 0 replies \ @geyserfund OP 2 Apr

Have you ever been robbed by any initiative? We had 1 impersonator, and one scammer running away with funds. That's why it's so important to rely on the social reputation of the creator.

How do you choose which projects to support? Anyone can launch their project on Geyser, we want to make it easy for anyone to launch their idea. In the coming months/years we'll be improving the reputation system by integrating with Nostr's social graph.

133 sats \ 3 replies \ @StillStackinAfterAllTheseYears 2 Apr

Have there been any noticeable project failures in Geyser, and if so, are there lessons from them that could benefit other projects?

145 sats \ 0 replies \ @steliosats 2 Apr

There are no project failures per se. A project on Geyser can remain active for as long as the creator wants. But crowdfunding requires proof of work, and consistency. Most projects that don't receive any funding are also inactive.

Crowdfunding is inherently social, so the best way to increase your chances of success is to communicate a lot and build up a community around your project. If you can build a group of people that love what you do, the funding will follow.

145 sats \ 0 replies \ @geyserfund OP 2 Apr

We had 1 impersonator, and one scammer running away with funds and not sending their promised rewards.

That's why it's so important as a contributor to rely on the social reputation of the creator as a key signal of trust.

Which is why creators should login on Geyser with their social accounts where they have accumulated trust.

62 sats \ 0 replies \ @geyserfund OP 2 Apr

There have been a few rare cases of projects impersonating or running away with funds, but the vast majority of projects are super honest.

As for failures, I can't think of any major examples. However, there is always room for improvement, which is why we are creating step-by-step guides to help creators get the most out of Geyser

https://guide.geyser.fund/geyser-docs/guides/step-by-step-tutorials

142 sats \ 1 reply \ @k00b 2 Apr

What's the most surprising project you've seen do well on Geyser?

100 sats \ 0 replies \ @geyserfund OP 2 Apr

Definitely: https://geyser.fund/project/bitcointradingcards

112 sats \ 2 replies \ @BitcoinIsTheFuture 2 Apr

I haven’t yet, but am interested to learn more. What’s your vision to mature the platform over the next few years?

10 sats \ 1 reply \ @geyserfund OP 2 Apr

Great question! Our vision is to transform Geyser from a simple crowdfunding platform to an open creator platform that allows creators to raise funds not just through donations but also rewards (which are live now), subscriptions (we are testing them out), memberships and more.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @BitcoinIsTheFuture 2 Apr

Sweet sounds awesome!

70 sats \ 2 replies \ @Cje95 2 Apr

I have to ask... did anyone else read this as Gensler at first or was that just me?!

459 sats \ 1 reply \ @geyserfund OP 2 Apr

https://m.stacker.news/24777

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Cje95 2 Apr

Perfect depiction of him lmao

62 sats \ 1 reply \ @Malachi17 2 Apr

What is Geyser's main mission in terms of fundraising? I've seen suggestions, but it appears most stuff that looks for funding on there features bitcoin construction.

10 sats \ 0 replies \ @geyserfund OP 2 Apr

Great insight. Most projects on Geyser are about Bitcoin - in fact around 90% of them.

But our broader mission is empower creators around the world to leverage this important and powerful tool of fundraising! :)

113 sats \ 1 reply \ @nikotsla 2 Apr

I know it's a border case but... do you have something blocking or not prepare to access your site via Tor Browser (https://www.torproject.org/download/)?

106 sats \ 0 replies \ @steliosats 2 Apr

We're not actively blocking any traffic from Tor, and respect users' need for privacy. This has been brought to our attention before and we're working through the problem with our cloud provider.

63 sats \ 1 reply \ @riberet19 2 Apr

What are the new developments or new implementations that Geyser is considering or working on?

168 sats \ 0 replies \ @steliosats 2 Apr

Our focus in the medium term is to increase accessibility even further. We have plans to integrate fiat payment methods which auto-convert to Bitcoin, ie: fiat-in, bitcoin-out for the creators.

We are also long-term bullish on Nostr. We have already turned all Geyser projects into a Nostr profile like this: https://primal.net/p/npub15pwt5pvwgu9rfq6j99lmwf055g2eawaf57ark49x0mcpkykg6t3qa28wdn

And you can expect a lot more Nostr integrations in the future!

50 sats \ 1 reply \ @suraz 2 Apr

Great crowdfunding platform. By the way how much funding has Geyser raised till date?

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @geyserfund OP 2 Apr

Over 31BTC overall!

50 sats \ 1 reply \ @Coinsreporter 2 Apr

Any story behind naming the platform as 'Geyser'?

1 sat \ 0 replies \ @geyserfund OP 2 Apr

The peer-to-peer pressure that makes it possible for the potential energy of a community to come together in a beautiful display of water!

30 sats \ 1 reply \ @itsTomekK 2 Apr

Are you guys coming to the European Halving Party?

I met some of you at the Bitcoin FilmFest last year, we did voting on movies with sats using your platform. It's so much more than crowdfunding!

10 sats \ 0 replies \ @geyserfund OP 3 Apr

100% Thank you Tomek! We love the European Halving Party event you put together, hopefully we'll be able to come.

20 sats \ 2 replies \ @NoStranger 3 Apr

I don't know if it's possible yet, but do you have any way to embed a funding project within a JavaScript project?

For example to let users donate directly in the app from a dedicated page or similar.

50 sats \ 1 reply \ @geyserfund OP 3 Apr

That's a plan!

Our open source community was working on an open source widget. I think it was @sepehr: https://github.com/geyserfund/geyser-app/pull/1282

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @NoStranger 3 Apr

Amazing! This for sure is a great feature, hope it'll get merged soon. 🤞