Hi HN, long time lurker, first time poster. We've been working on a new funding model for the web as we believe content creators should be paid for their hard work. satotious.com is a unique twist on paywall, users can access content by viewing ads or with micropayments(on the Bitcoin Lightning Network).
We think the time is right to try micropayments again as an increasing amount of content is going behind subscriptions and ad revenue is declining. Reasons we are different:
1. We have a free option with ad views.
2. We run on the Bitcoin Lightning Network as it makes micropayments feasible without the need to track users.
3. We tackle cognitive cost associated with micropayments with our browser extension/app which can auto-pay the paywalls.
For more details of our vision have a look at our site and blog posts, satotious.com. Right now we're in beta and are looking for content creators, no matter how big or small, please get in touch: [email protected]
You can test out the paywall on our site, all feedback welcome :)
Hi! Super cool extension for readers, seems easy for publishers too. I like that it isn't baked into the browser like the Brave BAT.
Just curious - what split have you seen so far between readers picking ads v micropayments?
Question before I try it out -How do you serve up ads? Are you a part of a network? I noticed you collect all data from sites with the extension, curious to know if the ad alternative is collecting my data and targeting me with personalized ads.
Hey! Really love this concept, especially because a lot of smaller creators/bloggers/etc are getting pulled between hosting and owning their own content on their own platform (but getting very little in ads) vs. hosting on someone else platform where they may get more in ads but don't own their content.
This type of thing is exactly why I was excited by the bitcoin whitepaper a decade (ish) ago and why I have been so frustrated by the day-trade lambo culture that bitcoin grew into.
I would be much more enthusiastic about Satotious if I had any remaining confidence in the stability/security of BTC or its derivatives; BTC Lightning in this case.
The problem with traditional payment methods like credit cards, visa, paypal etc is the transaction costs. You can't make a $0.01 payments unless you aggregate those. The problem with aggregation for us is the fact we would need to track the sites users visit(huge privacy problem)
How does this contrast with Brave Attention Tokens (not technically, but how different is it product-wise)?
How do you solve the problem of an average Internet user having to setup a bitcoin-wallet etc; Is it seamless / friction-less for them?
Do these micro-transactions count as donations?
What kind of attack vectors do you foresee especially when the user is an average reader and might not be particularly tech savvy? How do you plan to overcome them?
Did you consider stellar.org as possibly creating your own coin? Or, is something of this sort on the roadmap? This would be exciting since, if whatever Brave was doing with BAT was made opensource and deploy-able to any and all browsers, such a product could take off, imo.
Nevertheless, I think you're aiming for simplicity above all else. So, keep at it.
Thanks :) In terms of our difference with BAT, we are much simpler. Content creators set their price and users pay, we dont track the amount of time spent on a site, we dont make a browser, we haven't created our own coin. It takes 5minutes for a content creator to add the paywall, as easy as adding a script tag. We hope to bring micropayments to the masses, having the option to view an ad hopefully solves the chicken and egg problem as users dont need to convert to micropayments straight away for creators to make money.
To make the process are simple as possible for non-crypto users we are working on a browser extension/app which will act as a wallet and autopay to create a seamless experience. We are working to integrate with an exchange so that users can top up straight from their credit cards and don't need to know anything about Bitcoin.
I guess the biggest threat for the user is the wallet/extension being drained. We recommend users don't store lots of money in there, but given that we are dealing with micropayments there shouldn't be need for high amounts anyway. Giving users more control comes with more risk, but that's the tradeoff and we aim to help educate on ways to mitigate these risks.
We use Bitcoin Lightning Network as it lets us do micropayments without tracking users, we aren't interested in creating a coin or doing an ico.
I chose to pay and was presented with a QR code. I wondered how to use it from my phone, where I was reading the article.
I touched it... nothing. I saw there was a text code above in a box with a copy button, but nothing right there told me how to pay.
It did say that if I didn’t have. ‘Satotious’ wallet then I could get one... but I think if you’re hoping people will get themselves a wallet and use it, it might be better to optimise first for the case of not having one.
Yes, our initial target audience was users that most likely already had wallets so we didn't want to make it difficult for them to pay.
We will be focusing more on UX for non-cyrpto users for the future.
We actually hope that both regular and cyrpto users will opt for the extension as it acts as a wallet and also has the auto pay feature.
It is very new but if you wanted to test it today then download it and email us (ruby at satotious.com) and we will credit your account with 10 Sats so you can test it for free.
Congrats, first of all, its always a great achievement if you launch.
I remember a discussion on why flattr did not take of. The user argumented, that micropayments are not interesting for normal content creators, cause they will only get peanuts at the end of the month. Macropayments instead, which you receive via patreon are much better. You may have a couple of supporters whos payments still might accumulate to a couple.of hundrets.
Well I would argue ads are micropayments, roughly an ad view is like $0.001. A model based around few users making macropayments, influencing the content that is produced, doesnt speak for everybody.
If you are trying to pay on the paywall:
You will see a QR code if you click pay - you need a Lightning wallet to be able to scan it. Or, our browser extension acts as a wallet so makes it accessible for non-crypto users. It is very new and a goal for slightly into the future but if you wanted to test it today then download it and email us (ruby at satotious.com) and we will credit your account with 10 Sats so you can test it for free.
[+] [-] satotious|5 years ago|reply
We think the time is right to try micropayments again as an increasing amount of content is going behind subscriptions and ad revenue is declining. Reasons we are different: 1. We have a free option with ad views. 2. We run on the Bitcoin Lightning Network as it makes micropayments feasible without the need to track users. 3. We tackle cognitive cost associated with micropayments with our browser extension/app which can auto-pay the paywalls.
For more details of our vision have a look at our site and blog posts, satotious.com. Right now we're in beta and are looking for content creators, no matter how big or small, please get in touch: [email protected]
You can test out the paywall on our site, all feedback welcome :)
[+] [-] rvrabec|5 years ago|reply
Just curious - what split have you seen so far between readers picking ads v micropayments?
Question before I try it out -How do you serve up ads? Are you a part of a network? I noticed you collect all data from sites with the extension, curious to know if the ad alternative is collecting my data and targeting me with personalized ads.
[+] [-] aashnisshah|5 years ago|reply
Can't wait to see where this goes!
[+] [-] shuntress|5 years ago|reply
I would be much more enthusiastic about Satotious if I had any remaining confidence in the stability/security of BTC or its derivatives; BTC Lightning in this case.
[+] [-] emteycz|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] varbhat|5 years ago|reply
Many people don't know/use bitcoin/crypto. Then your platform isn't of much use.
[+] [-] satotious|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ignoramous|5 years ago|reply
How does this contrast with Brave Attention Tokens (not technically, but how different is it product-wise)?
How do you solve the problem of an average Internet user having to setup a bitcoin-wallet etc; Is it seamless / friction-less for them?
Do these micro-transactions count as donations?
What kind of attack vectors do you foresee especially when the user is an average reader and might not be particularly tech savvy? How do you plan to overcome them?
Did you consider stellar.org as possibly creating your own coin? Or, is something of this sort on the roadmap? This would be exciting since, if whatever Brave was doing with BAT was made opensource and deploy-able to any and all browsers, such a product could take off, imo.
Nevertheless, I think you're aiming for simplicity above all else. So, keep at it.
[+] [-] satotious|5 years ago|reply
To make the process are simple as possible for non-crypto users we are working on a browser extension/app which will act as a wallet and autopay to create a seamless experience. We are working to integrate with an exchange so that users can top up straight from their credit cards and don't need to know anything about Bitcoin.
I guess the biggest threat for the user is the wallet/extension being drained. We recommend users don't store lots of money in there, but given that we are dealing with micropayments there shouldn't be need for high amounts anyway. Giving users more control comes with more risk, but that's the tradeoff and we aim to help educate on ways to mitigate these risks.
We use Bitcoin Lightning Network as it lets us do micropayments without tracking users, we aren't interested in creating a coin or doing an ico.
Thank you for your feedback
[+] [-] unknown|5 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] tokamak-teapot|5 years ago|reply
I touched it... nothing. I saw there was a text code above in a box with a copy button, but nothing right there told me how to pay.
It did say that if I didn’t have. ‘Satotious’ wallet then I could get one... but I think if you’re hoping people will get themselves a wallet and use it, it might be better to optimise first for the case of not having one.
[+] [-] satotious|5 years ago|reply
Thanks for your feedback :)
[+] [-] pedro1976|5 years ago|reply
I remember a discussion on why flattr did not take of. The user argumented, that micropayments are not interesting for normal content creators, cause they will only get peanuts at the end of the month. Macropayments instead, which you receive via patreon are much better. You may have a couple of supporters whos payments still might accumulate to a couple.of hundrets.
[+] [-] satotious|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] galuggus|5 years ago|reply
I think it's been successful because they have reduced the friction for tipping.
[+] [-] scott31|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] shuntress|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bartdecrem|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] satotious|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] punsach|5 years ago|reply