I remember back when @brianoflondon was on the No Agenda podcast talking about connecting Lightning Network to podcasts. The main problem was setting up a node to receive streaming sats. Having watched him bear the brunt of the struggle, it is now set up where HIVE/HBD is bridged to Lightning. You can swap between the two.
But, another problem was how difficult it is to acquire sats. Some of the early complaints were that listeners had to go out of their way to acquire sats for their lightning wallet. It wasn't something your everyday listener was prepared to do.
Now, v4v.app fixes the main vexing problems of having a place to catch rewards for podcasts and the acquisition of sats. Podcasts, particularly those with creators on HIVE, have a place to receive streaming sats, which is their HIVE wallet.
At the same time, it is extremely easy for Hive users to transfer their HIVE or HBD
out to the Lightning Network for spending. Yesterday was Bitcoin Pizza Day. Several people tested out the mechanism by transferring out HIVE/HBD to buy pizza using Lightning Network and Bitrefill.
The fixed QR code wallet wasn't working for me on CashApp or Strike. The apps don't know what to do with it. However, when you use v4v to create an invoice, the QR code works just fine.
What I was missing was the Breez wallet, which is a Lightning wallet that also allows you to listen to podcasts and stream sats for every minute you hear. Breez is also able to decode the fixed QR code for sending sats to an individual's Hive wallet.
For me, the problem of acquiring sats is completely solved. Strike allows me to buy sats using fiat or BTC. V4V allows me to acquire sats using HIVE or HBD. This allows me to do exactly what Value 4 Value is supposed to resolve, which is to compensate podcast creators for their content.
It just so happens that v4v also opens up so much more. It is vital that Hive has a bridge to the BTC network. Both networks are practically instant. And, with BTC being the leading crypto blockchain, Dr. BrianofLondon has attached a stablecoin, HBD, to Lightning.
Lightning network is not BTC. It is merely a 2nd layer solution for BTC. But, now it's a second layer solution for HIVE/HBD. So long as v4v can eventually be scaled up beyond its current limits, HIVE stands to be the crypto backbone for content creators.
Already in the works are Hive front ends that anybody can launch. It would not be a stretch for an artist to create a Hive wallet, launch a Hive front end, and have the payment rails for their work. Imagine fans rewarding you with streaming sats and you rewarding fans for comments on your blog.
I had to see this all in practice for the vision to click. Last night, it finally came together.
Let the value flow.