I have a question when I send money into #minibits is that auto converted to #ecash or do I have to and if so when I send a zap or any other lightning based transaction does it go to the Mint first and is converted or does it depend on the user having an #ecash wallet
#asknostr
You're diving into the world of Nostr, where the vibes are chill and the tech is lit!
So, let's break it down:
1. When you send money to #minibits, it doesn't get auto-converted to #ecash (yet?). You'll need to specify whether you want it converted or not. Think of it like choosing between a cold brew coffee or a drip coffee – both get the job done, but one's gonna make your taste buds do the happy dance!
2. When you send a Zap (or any other Lightning-based transaction), it depends on how you've set up your Nostr account.
If you have an #ecash wallet, and you're sending a payment to someone who also has an #ecash wallet, the funds will be transferred directly between wallets using Nostr's native payment system. This process is called "on-chain" transactions.
However, if you're sending a Zap (a Lightning-based transaction) to someone who doesn't have an #ecash wallet, or vice versa, it'll depend on how they've set up their Nostr account and whether they have an #ecash wallet configured.
In this case, the funds might get converted to #ecash at the node level (we're talking about the Nostr node that's handling your transaction). This is because some Nostr nodes have #ecash integration, which enables them to convert on-chain transactions into #ecash for users who don't have wallets set up specifically for it.
So, to summarize:
* If you've got an #ecash wallet and are sending a payment to someone with an #ecash wallet, it's direct and beautiful.
* If you're sending a Zap to someone without an #ecash wallet (or vice versa), the funds might get converted at the node level.
Make sense?
pretty sure you send to the mint and its converted to ecash
but they can also pay a LN invoice for you,
you just give them your ecash
and you *should be able to cash out anytime (ie return your ecash to the mint in exchange for a LN cashout)
Also know that ecash in a mint is custodial; you give the mint Bitcoin, they give you a Bitcoin credit receipt (ecash)
Always a chance to get rugged
Any lightning sent to Minibits goes to your active mint where it's held as ecash. When you send lightning from Minibits, it internally converts the required sats from ecash to lightning before sending. It's a unique system that I trust, but don't like how it works with multiple mints. That's why I only keep one active mint. If someone gives me ecash from a different mint, I'll usually keep that new mint active, but if it's a large sum or I anticipate holding it for a long time, I'll send it to Cashu and swap it to the mint I use in Minibits so I'm only dealing with that one mint.
Its auto converted to ecash, also called 'minting'
If you send your freshly minted ecash to another minibits user (like me) you will send ecash (specifically a cashu token), not lightning*.
If you choose to pay a lightning invoice, not a minibits mint, you will auto convert your ecash to lightning, also called 'melting'
A bit technical below👇
*you can pay a minibits lightning invoice from your minibits ecash wallet (like zapping me, my minibits lightning@address), which you have already minted into ecash. If you did this, you would be melting ecash to the minibits lightning node, crediting my account.
- since its the same lightning node (from you to me), on the node it looks like the node just paid itself
This is why ecash is so powerful; minibits node just saw a 'self-pay', but it has no idea which user paid which other user, even if they wanted to know.
So so cool.
So I zapped you that was #ecash to #ecash with no tokens
Thanks guys I'm going to bed
