Busking on Bitcoin: How Lightning Network outperforms Ethereum for tipping

The Canadian band The Carbons got a little more than just a tip during a live performance in Kelowna, British Columbia. When passerby Ben from BTCSessions, a Youtuber and Bitcoin (BTC) educator, saw that the band accepted Bitcoin, he had to send some magic internet money their way.

Tomy (frontman for The Carbons) had been into crypto since 2017, but like many people new to crypto, he thought he’d “missed the boat.” The price per BTC was around $2500. He told Cointelegraph that he began research in earnest when he:

“Realized that it was basically an insurance policy for the current monetary system. At that point, it was around $8000. It’s been a wild ride since then, but I am playing the long game :)”

Fast forward to his live performance in Kelowna this weekend, and Tomy advertised he accepted crypto as payment. Unfortunately, his phone was out of juice at the time that Ben walked by, so the pair linked up on Instagram later on. As per the screenshots of the Instagram conversation, Tomy shared an Ethereum (ETH) address to receive a donation and become The Carbon’s first crypto donor.

Short story: saw a dude in Kelowna playing guitar with a sign asking for Bitcoin tips. His phone was dead but we linked up later online so I could tip. He offered an ETH address because he still thought bitcoin was slow/expensive.

Here’s our convo.
1/2 pic.twitter.com/Fx2Hu1mCyx

— BTC Sessions (@BTCsessions) July 18, 2022

As Ben is a Bitcoin maximalist, he said he’d be happy to send some Bitcoin—not Ethereum—his way. Ben told Cointelegraph that, among other things, it’s “The foundational rules that govern the network, and the ease (or lack thereof) with which they can be changed,” that guide his Bitcoin convictions.

Ben pointed Tomy towards downloading a Bitcoin Lightning wallet, and moments later, they were sending each other Bitcoin instantly over the Lightning Network (LN). Transaction costs are nearly free on the LN and microtransactions are easy, which prompted Tomy’s response, “that’s fucking awesome.” By comparison, sending money over Ethereum—even at its lowest levels in two years—costs well over $1.

Tomy told Cointelegraph that it was his first experience using the LN, and it took “an hour of research on YouTube to decide on a wallet and then another few minutes to figure out how to use it.”

“I hadn’t heard about the Lightning Network until last week! It makes me want to trade all my Litecoin and ETH for Bitcoin!”

The Carbons have since received three BTC donations, adding that “all the tips help,” but it probably hasn’t moved the needle on their Spotify revenues just yet. Bitcoin expert Ben told Cointelegraph that he’s been using the Lightning Network since 2018, back when it was “clunky and difficult, but it worked.” LN has since become a part of his daily routine:

Undoubtedly, LN is…