Seems like the ideal procedure for this (from a user perspective) would be to get an invoice to pay in a DM when it’s time to re-up
To paid relay operators:
I'm working on a concept for how service providers could add recurring LN subscriptions and I'd like your feedback.
I already drafted a spec and coded a demo for something that IMO should work with current LN tech (BOLT11 and LN Addresses).
Spec: https://oak-node.net/doc/trunk/doc/ons/ons-4.md
Demo: https://se.oak-node.net
Let me know what you think. Does it make sense? Do you see any major problems with it? Is there something I missed?
Thanks!
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Discussion
True. That's also an option, but it has user friction (open DM, click pay, switch to wallet, etc) for every invoice.
I was looking for a way to automate that.
Until BOLT12 comes, the least-friction I could come up with was a push-based schedule done on the client side, either as a bot (self-custodial) or some wallet feature (custodial).
Imo as a user I want this friction. Cancelling subscriptions and pull to pay fraud are the bane of my existence.
Seeing a new DM, clicking on it, and clicking pay is worth it to know I’m not being charged automatically for something. Just my 2 sats
Re: cancelling subscriptions, fraud etc
The way I tried to address that is by letting the user choose 1) how much and 2) how often to pay. So for a service that's 30k sats per month, a user could pay 1k sats per day, or 30k / month, or go for 3-400k to pay for a full year in advance.
My thinking is the users who want more control can go for "smaller payments more frequently". Let's say for the user who pays small amounts per day, if the service provider rugpulls or goes rogue, worst case is the user loses 1 day of funds.
Could be I'm over-complicating things, but that's what I would do if there's a service provider I don't trust or somehow looks shady :)
Does this cover your point about fraud and cancellation issues?
I think having a DM reminder option would be a perfect feature for users to know they need to update their payments. I think just letting them define a reminder period (eg 3 days of service left) and it sends a DM telling them they are low. I know I'd need this regularly.
Yes and no. I am saying I personally don't ever want an automatic payment. A prompt reminding me to send a payment, great. Then I hit Pay or Decline. But automatic pulled payments are extremely fiat imo
These would be automatic *pushed* payments, but I get your point. An optional y/n prompt, where yes results in an invoice via DM, sounds reasonable.
I hear you. But the difference between someone reaching into my pocket to take some money and a programmable robot pocket that periodically flings my money at someone have the same issue in my mind 🙃