Cowboy credits ARE so that stackers with insufficient lightning setups can participate on SN
Cowboy credits ARE because real lightning payments, and especially lightning application connections, are not foolproof - far from it
Cowboy credits ARE created by stackers zapping or being zapped with insufficient lightning setups or by stackers buying them
Cowboy credits ARE rapidly decaying into reward sats and territory revenue every time they're spent - they have a half life of two zaps when zapped (only 70% of a CC survives each zap), and decay immediately into reward sats and territory revenue when spent on posts, comments, boosts, donations, or poll votes
Cowboy credits ARE NOT there because SN wants you to have CCs instead of sats
Cowboy credits ARE NOT created by SN as part of some supply schedule
Cowboy credits ARE there only to deal with the insufficiency of lightning, lightning services, and SN's and stackers' inability to leverage those lightning services
Cowboy credits ARE bridging the gap between where lightning and lightning literacy are today and where we believe it will be in the future
Cowboy credits ARE effectively SN gift credits that SN accepts as if they were sats, in the place of sats
why do CCs exist
CCs exist to accommodate stackers when things outside of SN's control aren't present or fail. That is, CCs exist for situations where stackers:
- don't have an external lightning wallet
- haven't attached one or don't want to attach one
- where their external lightning wallet is unavailable
- where their external lightning wallet fails to make or receive a payment
- or SN has a bug, or inadequacy, that prevents an external lightning wallet from making or receiving a payment
In such situations, to still allow participation on SN, we allow stackers to spend and receive CCs which can be spent on activity that will earn them sats through daily rewards.
CCs do NOT exist because SN wants you to have CCs instead of sats. They exist because SN cannot legally transmit custodial sats to other people on your behalf, lightning is not foolproof, and most stackers won't be able to participate on SN consistently otherwise.
where do CCs come from
CCs are created:
- spontaneously, when the sender or receiver of a zap cannot make a real lightning payment
- that is:
- the sender doesn't have a means of sending bitcoin via lightning with an attached wallet
- the receiver doesn't have a means of receiving bitcoin via lightning with an attached wallet
- either the sender's or receiver's attached wallet is unavailable
- SN has a bug prevents it from reaching the sender's or receiver's attached wallet
- or SN has a limitation where it can't use real lightning, like in the case of a post that splits zaps to multiple stackers
- that is:
- or when a stacker buys them
CCs are NOT created by SN as part of some supply schedule. They are created by the actions of stackers - either by not having lightning setups or by buying CCs directly. If all stackers had reliable lightning setups for both sending and receiving, and connected them to SN, CCs would cease to exist.
won't CCs just accumulate to infinity?
No.
Every time a CC is zapped, 30% of it is put in the rewards pool and territory revenue which will be paid out as sats.
Every time a CC is spent to post, comment, boost, donate, or vote in a poll, 100% of it is put immediately in the rewards pool and territory revenue which will be paid out as sats.
Once a CC is created, which only happens as the result of actions by other stackers, it goes out of existence fast. e.g. If Alice has 100 CCs, then zaps Bob 100 CCs, Bob receives 70 CCs and the rewards and territory revenue pool increase by 30 sats. If Bob then zaps Carol his 70 CCs, Carol gets 49 CCs and the rewards and territory revenue pool increase by 21 sats, and so on. Alternatively, if Carol posts in a territory that cost 49 CCs to post in, the rewards and territory revenue pool will increase by 49 sats and the 100 CCs we started with are gone forever.
i have attached wallets, why am I getting CCs as zaps
There are many reasons why this happens (which we will improve at communicating over time):
- you are receiving zaps as part of a zap forward/prism/split on a post
- the sender doesn't have a sending wallet attached
- the sender's attached wallet is unavailable
- your attached receiving wallet is unavailable
- we predict that paying your attached receiving wallet will fail, be too expensive, or take too long to settle
- the sender has a high sending dust limit (they've indicated in their settings that if a zap is less X sats, they want to send CCs)
- you have high receiving dust limit (you've indicated in your settings that if a zap is less X sats, you want to receive CCs)
- SN has a bug that makes it believe one of the above is true
i have attached wallets, why am I sending CCs
There are many reasons why this happens (which we will improve at communicating over time):
- you are zapping a post that has a forward/prism/split
- your attached sending wallet is unavailable
- the receiver's attached wallet is unavailable
- we predict that paying the receiver's attached wallet will fail, be too expensive, or take too long to settle
- you have a high sending dust limit (you've indicated in your settings that if a zap is less X sats, you want to send CCs)
- they have high receiving dust limit (they've indicated in their settings that if a zap is less X sats, they want to receive CCs)
- SN has a bug that makes it believe one of the above is true
i hate you, you're a scammer, how do i protest CCs
We aren't going to be custodial again anytime soon, so if that's what you're hoping to change, you should leave and let us cook and eat without you.
Otherwise, the best solo protest is running a node, opening a well balanced/maintained direct channel to SN, and attaching it to avoid every CC that might possibly come your way or you might possibly send.
The next best thing is using a third party custodian, but your protest will likely be less effective in the long run, because now neither you or SN control the availability of that third party custodian, the fees to and from it, and you might receive CCs as a result of actions of that third party custodian.
If you're so serious you want to help other stackers protest CCs too, here are some ideas:
- run a custodial lightning account service for them and provide attachment mechanisms SN supports. LNBits might be the easiest way to do that. When Alby Hub has subaccounts, that will be a great solution too.
- write guides and help stackers out as they have issues with lightning and attaching stuff. Help get them off CCs. That'll teach us a lesson so good.
i don't hate you, i don't think you're a scammer, but i think attached wallets and CC communication/UX needs to improve
We agree with you. Did you think we are stopping here? Help us learn what to improve, avoid wailing ill-informed nonsense if you can (I know some of you are nontechnical but most of you write and think better than average so check your shit please), and we'll do our best to integrate your ideas into our plans.
A+
There's no difference