Frequently asked questions

How does the paywall work?

When a user goes to your paywall link, he will be prompted to make a payment. Immediately after the payment has been broadcasted to the network, Satoshiwall will unlock the content for that specific payment. This is accomplished by redirecting the user to the same page but adding the ID of the completed payment request as a query parameter.

Why don't you use Bitcoin BTC?

Satoshiwall relies on cheap and reliable transactions. Unfortunately, the leadership and community of Bitcoin BTC refuses to keep up with demand which results in the BTC network being very slow and expensive at times. As a result I refuse to deal with BTC. Thankfully, Bitcoin Cash BCH serves as a great alternative with reliably cheap transactions which is exactly what I need.

Are there any fees?

Yes. Currently I take a share of 10% or at least 1,000 satoshis whenever someone pays to unlock a paywall. This fee is taken out of the price of the paywall, meaning the content creator receives 90% of each payment.

Satoshiwall is non-custodial? How is this possible?

Indeed I never take custody of the Bitcoin paid to the paywall creator. Users are presented with a BIP-70 payment request which allows me to specify multiple outputs. The payment is split into two parts, one output is the payment to the paywall creator's wallet, the second one is the fee going to my wallet. Upon payment the server validates the transaction and the paywall is only unlocked when the transaction exactly complies with the requirements of the payment request.

Why is there a minimum price for paywalls?

Many network clients refuse to relay transactions that are below certain 'dust' thresholds. The minimum price makes sure that every Satoshiwall transaction is properly relayed in the Bitcoin Cash network and the paywall creators get paid. I hope we will soon be able to pay transaction fees with fractional satoshis per byte so I can lower or drop this minimum price. Anyway, we're talking about tiny fractions of a cent. I don't think this is a big deal.

Will my paywall stay on the site forever?

No. Every paywall has an expiry date which is two years after it was created. However, this expiry date will be pushed back by another two years with every single payment. This is how I want to make sure popular content doesn't get deleted and keeping the site clean at the same time.

How does the referral program work?

It's very simple. Let's assume someone signs up after clicking on your referral URL and creates a paywall. That paywall becomes popular and many people pay to unlock it. I will share 50% of the fee on each transaction with you! Log into your account and navigate to "Referral program" to set it up. By the way: A link to a paywall also serves as a referral URL!

I am having issues making a payment

I am aware of issues with different wallets. Unfortunately, the implementation of the payment protocol (BIP-70) is not consistent across all wallets. As I don't have the resources to keep up with every individual wallet's shortcomings, I can only wait for the wallet developers to resolve the issues being reported to them. If you are a wallet developer, I will gladly help fix your BIP-70 implementation!