How The New York Times Could Have Used Lightning To Make Millions Of Dollars

This is an sentiment editorial by Ram, a 20 twelvemonth aged student, worker and storyteller.

Image Credits: samchills connected Flickr nether a CC BY 2.0 license.

To recognize wherefore the New York Times could person made truthful overmuch much wealth past year, it’s worthy appreciating micropayments successful the discourse of the Lightning Network.

We usually deliberation of Lightning arsenic a Bitcoin scalability solution arsenic it makes mundane payments successful bitcoin viable. Essentially, Lightning is simply a protocol built connected apical of the main Bitcoin network, and here, transaction costs are importantly little and outgo speeds are much, overmuch faster. In fact, Lightning is importantly more businesslike than adjacent Visa and Mastercard.

“The web (Lightning) can besides process millions of transactions per 2nd (TPS), which is acold and supra Visa’s capableness for astir 25,000 TPS. Solana, different rival successful the accelerated and inexpensive payments space, tin lone bash 60,000 TPS. So Lightning has a important vantage here.” — Nat Eliason

And Lightning inactive has plentifulness of country to grow. While this exertion is inactive maturing — for example, with regards to security, privateness and adoption — it demonstrates precise beardown web effects: As much radical commencement utilizing it, the cheaper and faster payments volition get. And remember: they outgo simply a fraction of a penny already!

One of the astir breathtaking things this opens up is micropayments — there’s not been capable speech astir however breathtaking this imaginable is, some economically and culturally.

It’s intolerable to nonstop precise tiny amounts of wealth successful our accepted centralized outgo systems. Depending connected which work you’re utilizing and wherever you’re sending to, you won’t adjacent beryllium capable to nonstop 10 cents digitally. And this is for bully reason: Very tiny amounts don’t marque consciousness due to the fact that the transaction outgo itself mightiness beryllium larger than the magnitude you’re sending.

Lightning, connected the different hand, makes it imaginable to nonstop these tiny amounts digitally. And since it’s a exertion that exhibits web effects, costs volition driblet further arsenic much radical commencement utilizing it. You tin digitally nonstop fractions connected the penny contiguous via Lightning, and you’ll astir apt beryllium capable to nonstop adjacent smaller amounts successful the future.

Now, let’s get to The New York Times. To recognize wherefore the NYT could marque 50% much from Lightning maturing, let’s bash immoderate elemental math.

A fewer straightforward facts:

1. The work made $76 million successful adjusted operating nett successful the 2nd 4th of 2022.
2. Let’s estimation that the NYT made astir $25 cardinal successful nett successful 1 period successful 2021.
3. There were 125 cardinal monthly planetary unsocial visitors to nytimes.com successful 2021.
4. It had about 9 cardinal subscribers successful the 3rd 4th of 2022.
5. Hence, let’s extrapolate that connected average, determination were 115 cardinal visitors each period to the NYT who were non-subscribers successful 2021.
6. These non-subscribers tin work a maximum of 5 articles each month.

(I’m going to beryllium blimpish with the mathematics to not overstate however overmuch the NYT would’ve earned successful a script wherever a matured Lightning Network exists.)

Of these 115 cardinal visitors, immoderate work 2 articles, and immoderate work the maximum of five. On average, each of these visitors ends up enjoying 1 nonfiction each month, and since it’s truthful casual and seamless to nonstop tiny amounts of wealth to the NYT acknowledgment to Lightning, each visitant could extremity up sending 10 cents that month. So that month, the NYT would person ended up making $11.5 cardinal more. That’s 46% much successful profit.

The mathematics is simple and imperfect, but it gets the constituent across: Micropayments unfastened up a ton of potential. And their benefits don’t conscionable extremity astatine helping contented creators. They tin besides perpetuate taste shifts and more, and I’ve enactment distant immoderate examples below:

• Regular radical being charitable.

I deliberation that galore much folks, adjacent if they’re struggling themselves, would beryllium blessed to springiness $0.01 to the disabled kid playing the clarinet connected the thoroughfare — if specified giving was some convenient and possible.

• Tipping autobus drivers who are particularly sweet.
• Teachers sending tiny amounts of wealth to students successful the schoolroom who rise their hands and effort to reply questions.

Kids who genuinely effort get 1 cent, adjacent if their reply is wrong. If a kid gets it correct, congratulations! He/she gets 5 cents. (Remember teachers giving chocolates to students who got questions right? Well, they can’t crook up with chocolates each the time, truthful micropayments mightiness beryllium viable substitutes!) You mightiness extremity up seeing a batch much hands successful the air!

So now, effort to extrapolate however galore industries and sectors specified micropayments could payment and the consequent contributions to GDP. Imagine NYT employees seeing their salaries spell up. Imagine them past spending this wealth connected caller things. And past ideate the salaries of the radical they bought from going up, too. And the process repeats, and here, we spot economists’ beloved multiplier effect, which is astonishing for the economy.

Micropayments punctual spending successful a wholly caller way, truthful to Bitcoiners: adjacent clip you explicate Lightning, don’t hide to speech astir micropayments! It’s astir apt easier to digest than “scalability.”

And to economists skeptical of bitcoin: I’d deliberation that you’d emotion thing similar this due to the fact that it encourages spending. So, are you getting immoderate softer connected bitcoin yet?

Paul Krugman’s 2013 Article; Image from Decentralized Today

This is simply a impermanent station by Ram. Opinions expressed are wholly their ain and bash not needfully bespeak those of BTC Inc oregon Bitcoin Magazine.