So a lot of people fear using fundraising platforms because they are worried about being 'canceled' and losing access to the funds they raise. What's Geyser's take on that situation?
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Great question!
Geyser does not hold any of your funds, we are non custodial, and rely on users holding their funds on their own wallets (mainly voltage or their own nodes for now).
In terms of projects being taken down, we have a very open policy and really only take down projects if they are spamming or scamming or breaking the law. But going forward there are things we can do about this too, whereby users own their content and can view it on other platforms as well.
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Geyser does not hold any of your funds
Sorry i am late and may not get a response for that reason but here is my qurstion. How does this work in terms of refunds, for example if a given project doesent raise enough money in time and gets canceled. Will anyone get their money back?
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Currently all funds given go straight to the creator - 'keep it all' model.
With this model it is a bit harder to get funding due to the problem of trust. The way we plan to tackle it is by allowing creators to do long-running projects, write entries/articles that can allow them to grow their trust through time.
That said, we'll also be experimenting with the 'all or nothing' model and will be launching something in the coming months related to that.
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How does Geyser compare to Tallycoin? Are you a similar or nearly the same product? Pros/cons? What are your thoughts on how Geyser differentiates itself or is different?
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Love the value that Tally has provided to the community. In terms of the differences:
Geyser is more focused on Lightning: we provide lightning addresses to all projects, we integrate with Podcasting 2.0, and soon you'll be able to create projects by plugging your lightning addresses from your wallets.
We help creators engage their communities through content: creators can publish Entries which could be stories or links to their recent podcasts. Moving away from "static" crowdfunding to make this a place where you can publish content which can get you funded.
We enable creators to add 'Rewards' - funders can receive rewards in exchange of donations, which makes it a bit more like an exchange / marketplace, and therefore drive more funding and value.
We also have plans to drive more social components to crowdfunding: crowdfunding is all about becoming part of a community and seeing these ideas happen in the real world. We have plans to integrate with nostr, whereby every funding comment is an event, and users could even chat within a project page to ask questions and even do AMAs ;)
We are more active in promoting valuable projects: we push projects that matter out into the communities thanks to our Geyser Podcast and our Twitter Spaces (which we're planning to do more of).
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Congrats on topping 500M sats contributed on the platform.
What patterns or lessons have you noticed about what projects get funded, and what projects don’t?
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Thanks KR!
We notice that projects that do well are those that engage constantly with their communities, have awesome rewards and that make bitcoiners feel part of the community!
Anita Posch is definitely at the top with over 250 individual contributors, but Bitcoin Racing also did incredibly well by allowing the community to add stickers to the Bitcoin Racing Cars!
Importantly, the surprise factor is key: what new, crazy and interesting ideas do you want to see happen in the world?
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What are you guys doing to help differentiate and stand out in a sea of other crowdfunding platforms, btc, fiat or otherwise?
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Great question.
  • We are focused on Lightning: we think the properties of lightning enhance the UX of crowdfunding, for example the interoperability made possible with lightning addresses and LNURL which allows us to integrate with the other application layer platforms on Lightning, as well as micropayments. Ultimately, it is lightning that will be the killer app for Bitcoin, so we're betting on being an early adopter of this new network.
  • We help creators engage their communities through content: creators can publish Entries which could be stories or links to their recent podcasts. Moving away from "static" crowdfunding to make this a place where you can publish content which can get you funded.
  • We plan to become more social: crowdfunding is all about becoming part of a community and seeing these ideas happen in the real world. By making these experiences more social can create deeper and more valuable experiences. We have plans to integrate with nostr, whereby every funding comment is an event, and users could even chat within a project page to ask questions and even do AMAs ;)
  • We are more active in promoting valuable projects: we push projects that matter out into the communities thanks to our Geyser Podcast and our Twitter Spaces (which we're planning to do more of).
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Some examples of contributions that were made possible by Geyser Lightning Addresses:
Lightning unlocks value in mind-blowing new ways ⚑️
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Will you crossover / work with SN ?
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We've been trying to get @k00b to allow forwarding to lightning addresses! This would make it possible to fund Geyser campaigns or Geyser Grants through lightning addresses. Embrace the power of interoperability!
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We shall see re what ends up coming through.
(1) tread lightly (2) option to opt out (avoid spamming) is key
Thanks again, man !
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"(1) tread lightly" πŸ˜‚
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Any thoughts on providing (optional) fiat on-ramps to bitcoin lightning?
It would be nice if there was some optional mode that made the crypto aspect more opaque for non techy people. That way a person could have one campaign for both kinds of people
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Absolutely, we are looking into moonpay as an option to allow funders to fund with fiat.
We are also looking at making the UI viewable in other currencies like USD to make it feel more approachable.
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Favy scifi novel?
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It must be this one novel still to be published called "The Wizard of NΓΈnce" ;)
Neuromancer must be it: no other novel has made me feel as uncomfortable and at the same time interested in exploring the future of humanity.
Dune was also pretty epic and exciting.
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waha, and thanks again for sponsoring! πŸ™†πŸ» (I always ask this question btw).
I love both Neuro and Dune. Very Bitcoin relevant. I'm still a big fan of Babylon 5. I only read Neuromancer recently and saw how much of B5 was built on Gibson's work. Amazing read.
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Oh wow, never read Babylon 5, great to know! I'll definitely check it out! Man, I need to have more time for reading...
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It was a SciFi tv-series in the 90s. First to set the trend of multi-season storytelling. It's like LOTR, Dune, Neuromancer and WWII compressed into one thing. You should really check it out.
Can a regular hodler invest in Geyser?
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Yas! Email us at hello@geyser.fund and we can get you setup. We are currently raising with Lightning Ventures, so I can get you connected with Mike.
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Yay!
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Hello. Adoption is critically important to the success of Bitcoin and necessary to create the desired circular economy. In your opinion, how can geyser help in this regard?
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This!
We won't win people by 'educating them' about Bitcoin or Lightning. We will win people by building BETTER PRODUCTS and EXPERIENCES.
This means building a better REDDIT (Stacker News), better Podcasting (Fountain, Breez), better crowdfunding (Geyser :P)...
By building on a network that is:
  • incorruptible
  • censorship resistant
  • interoperable
  • programmable we can enable much better experiences and convert people through real world use cases. Geyser is lucky because we live on shoulders of Giants who built an amazing infrastructure, we are now bringing it to the world at the application layer of Bitcoin.
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Great thanks.
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What's the most surprising thing you've learned building geyser?
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Honestly, for me it has been the beauty of building on Bitcoin is unparalleled. The community, the people, the ecosystem. We all want to win, and we're all on the same team. As a result, other bitcoiners want you to win as well to help support adoption and growth of this space.
Secondly, I've learned about the world of bitcoiners out there that are less technical but nonetheless want to contribute to Bitcoin and help fix the world. Geyser is turning out to be a great platform for them to launch their ideas.
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Beautifully put
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What features do you wish bitcoin and lightning had that would make Geyser that much better?
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There's many that would make the experience better for Geyser users and many other Lightning services.
Two that come to mind:
  1. Recurring payments and subscriptions through BOLT12: Geyser users could subscribe to projects in a Patreon-like model to support their favourite Bitcoin builder or creator.
  2. Easy non-custodial solutions to onboard new users (eg: Breez with GreenLight) could lower the barrier to entry for new users that wish to keep full custody but don't know how to manage a node.
Working with Lightning is exciting because things are moving really fast! We're hopeful all these features will become reality soon.
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Great question!
Split payments at the protocol level could allow us to monetize more easily all the while remain non custodial.
Other things we'd love to seen soon are subscriptions and static addresses, coming with Bolt12!
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you are awesome
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Thank you, Sir!
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What are the advantages (and disadvantages) of funding a project with bitcoin compared to funding a project with fiat?
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Hey @k00b!
Bitcoin breaks down the barriers that fiat has put up. Fiat crowdfunding platforms exclude more than 80% of the world population because they use the legacy financial system. With Bitcoin anyone can get funded or fund across the globe in a matter of seconds without an intermediary that can stop the transaction.
On top of that, Lightning makes it more accessible, fun and interoperable with other services like Podcasting 2.0 apps! Bitcoin and Lightning FTW! 🀘
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Advantages:
  • Permissionlessness: we just build mofos! We don't need permissions from you banks, we just do it. It's a lot less costly and a lot more easy to build.
  • Interoperability: we connect with the entire network without asking for permissions. Thanks to other lightning protocols like LNURL and LN Addresses. This makes user experiences a lot more novel and interesting. Imagine connecting Podcasts with Kickstarter with fiat rail, or connecting newspapers to a kickstarter campaign (ps: impossible!). We can do all that. Using Lightning addresses users can fund Geyser campaigns with SMS from Machankura, from podcasts like Fountain or Breez, from payment widgets created by others, from twitter using static QR codes, from Satsback.com...
  • Network Effects: the great benefit of building on an open monetary network is that our growth is SN's growth, and vice versa. We all bring users to each other due to the fact that we each share users through the money network.
  • Global: the most important bit. anyone around the world can create a project on Geyser. Good luck trying to do that on Kickstarter, where only 30 countries can do so.
Disadvantages:
  • We early: the payment tools on lighting are still at their infancy, so we are finding that we need to build the protocols to make things work for us.
  • The regs: regulations are behind and make it challenging to get started if you're a small scale lightning startup that wants to be custodial.
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