My first NFT, JPG, is for sale for only one satoshi. Lightning Network custodian addresses.
I found out a few days ago about a custodian wallet called Alby, a web browser wallet extension like Metamask, and others. You could use your own Lightning Network macaroon and certificate, but I don't feel like that application has enough trust in the community, nor I have made my research on the wallet just yet to verify their code doesn't have hidden doors to steal my LN node funds. Because of that, I decided to use the wallet as a custodian and not link my own LND node.
https://insatgram.getalby.com/
francis105d1@getalby.com
The same creators of Alby launched InSATgram today, which is a clone of Instagram. It is a website for uploading images and getting paid for by those who buy image files. The idea is simple: create an image, upload it, put a price, post it and finally wait for someone to buy your art.
I think the website was just created today by Alby, so they will have a lot of features we all may expect but are not available yet. Still, the website developers will probably work on bringing new features to bring attention to it and even make it profitable. I am pretty sure their business will be to have a cut on all the art that gets to be sold on the website and maybe even bring advertising to it too.
At the moment, you can't create your separate account, and as such, your work will be posted on a last posted, first seen basis, and the format is a thread, meaning it is just one image after another from the previous post up to the earliest at the bottom. And you can't separate your work by author and not even name. It is all in a single messy thread.
The other bad thing is that since you use LN addresses instead of invoices when you get paid, your satoshis will be held by a custodian. It means the creators of the wallet Alby and the creators of the website will keep your earnings from your artwork and have it until you go and withdraw your funds. That means you can lose your payments because the custodian decides you are not worth their time, because they think you are making too much money, or because you posted something that doesn't go with their public policies, or any other reason, you may think.
You don't need to rely on second-layer solutions to receive payments with Bitcoin Cash. Still, since Bitcoin BTC transaction costs can be unpredictable or outright expensive for small amounts, developers in the Core network have decided to reinvent the wheel by creating custodian Lightning Network addresses. You can't reuse LN invoices, and for NFTs or repetitive transactions, you need a different solution; they invented the custodian LN address. (francis105d1@getalby.com).
I may be wrong in the following assessment. Still, I feel like even when you do everything in your power not to use a custodian when it comes to Bitcoin and Lightning Network, developers create something new so that you are forced to use a custodian for one reason or another. I run my own LND node over Tor, and it runs 24/7. I see myself constantly having to use a custodian even when I don't want to because there is something I use that I can't do without using a custodian. I guess that will be a subject for another article.
The latest LN innovation is to use custodians for what you used to do on-chain without the need to ask for permission for repetitive payments. With Bitcoin Cash, I can reuse my old addresses and receive as many payments as needed without paying an arm and a leg to receive and send those funds. Transactions under one penny and you are done. LN is reinventing the wheel and a custodian one too.
