At current levels of zapping, no there is no real economic justification for it. If someone has a business or otherwise processes a larger amount of lightning payments each month, then the cost/time associated with running a node (or paying someone like Alby to do it) makes more sense. At this level, though, custodial services are more economical and lower risk for most users.
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Yeah I suppose if you only relied upon zaps that would be pretty weak sause.
Now with Podcasting 2.0 where the culture actually understands what value means, f you tap into that model and scene and culture I think you'd have a node paid for in no time.
The cost/time associated with running a node is absolutely negligible, though. People act like it's a full-time job. It's not. I spend more time constantly clearing out my email inbox than I do fussing over my node.
As far as risk, custodial services being lower risk is laughable to me.
That's the problem. People on nostr are zapping 21 sats.
Checkout some of the non bitcoin focused podcasts. See how much they are "boosting."
It will put you to shame. That crowd gets it.
You would think that bitcoin nostr would be torch bearer here, but it's not.
I say this with love. But the podcasting people have figured out this lifestyle years ago.
Now, apart from that there is a technical issue that the podcasting people use keysend for lighting and nostr uses a different method. Which is why node running is prevalent in that group.
But the generosity is still orders of magnitude higher over there.
