counterweight on Nostr: Imagine you run a barr. Sometimes I go there to have a beer. You also happen to hire ...
Imagine you run a barr. Sometimes I go there to have a beer. You also happen to hire me once a week to clean it.
Everytime we pay each other, the bank charges us fees. So, when I get a beer from you, we pay a fee. When you pay me for cleaning your bar, we pay a fee.
After doing this for some time, we feel a bit stupid, and we decide to do things differently. Instead of paying each other on every single interaction, we simply keep tabs on each other, and settle whenever we feel like it. This way, we save a lot on fees.
So, the LN is this:
- For Bitcoin
- Without having to trust each other (neither you nor me can run away with an open debt)
- And if I have a tab with Alice as well, you can pay Alice through me even if you guys don't keep a tab between each other
That does the trick. From this point on, I either show the beginner how to use it practically, or if he's curious about the technical bits, we jump from the metaphor to the actual implementation details.
Everytime we pay each other, the bank charges us fees. So, when I get a beer from you, we pay a fee. When you pay me for cleaning your bar, we pay a fee.
After doing this for some time, we feel a bit stupid, and we decide to do things differently. Instead of paying each other on every single interaction, we simply keep tabs on each other, and settle whenever we feel like it. This way, we save a lot on fees.
So, the LN is this:
- For Bitcoin
- Without having to trust each other (neither you nor me can run away with an open debt)
- And if I have a tab with Alice as well, you can pay Alice through me even if you guys don't keep a tab between each other
That does the trick. From this point on, I either show the beginner how to use it practically, or if he's curious about the technical bits, we jump from the metaphor to the actual implementation details.