Paid content in Telegram group/channel

This guide is also available in Spanish, here.

This is a simple guide about how to use Telegram for paid content.

Let's say you are offering online courses/teaching (text, image, pdf, link, whatever file format).

You and your group/channel members will have to use @lntxbot in Telegram and also using Bitcoin / Lightning Network (here also is a guide how to fund a LN wallet).

All funds paid for entrance fee and content goes to group owner LNtxbot wallet.

The setup as Group Admin/Owner

1. In Telegram, go and create a new group. It can be Discussion group or Announcement channel. It can be private or public, as you wish. Send the invitation link to your members or add them manually.
2. Add as member @lntxbot and make it admin.
3. Setup the entrance fee, to be paid in sats with LN. This is optional, but is good to keep away spammers/scammers to not enter into your group (if is public). It is also good if you have like a classroom for your courses, each class another entrance. The entrance fee is paid only once and is linked to the TG user name.

The command to activate the entrance fee is the following:

/toggle_ticket_100

So each user will have to pay 100 sats and will be welcomed with a message and a LN invoice to pay. See more options in @lntxbot command /help_toggle

4. Post your paid content in the group as hidden messages, "pay to reveal".

The procedure will be the following:

• go to @lntxbot chat and send the picture / file / link / whatever you want to share
• reply to that message you just sent with the following command:

/hide 100 `Title of the message to be revealed`

You can add at the end --private if you want that the content will be revealed only to the payer in a private chat with the @lntxbot. More options to configure see /help_hide in the chat with @lntxbot

You will get in reply from the bot a link like /reveal_123456 that you take it and share it in the group you want to be paid. Messages with --private ate the end will show a simple button to take the message to be shared in another group

You can put also options to be revealed, like:

•  --crowdfund <number> enables public crowdfunding of hidden messages for a specific number of participants. Only when all the number of participants paid the cost to reveal, the message will be revealed (in public - to all members or private- only to them)
•  --revealers <number> only allows the first <number> participants to see the hidden the message, then the prompt expires.

The Setup as a participant in this paid content group/channel

Before you join into a group like this, you will need to have some basic knowledge about how BTC/LN works. And also to have some satoshis (the smallest division of Bitcoin) in your Telegram @lntxbot wallet.

1. Educate yourself reading more about Bitcoin, here some good sources:

• Bitcoin.page - the most comprehensive information page about Bitcoin
• Lightning.how - best resource page about Lightning Network (LN), the 2nd layer of Bitcoin network.
• LNurl - amazing tool set for using Lightning Network (LN)

2. Prepare your @lntxbot wallet in Telegram and in other mobile wallets (Zeus/Bluewallet).

• configure your Telegram account to have a nickname (LNtxbot guide here)
• make backup of your @lntxbot wallet (LNtxbot guide here)
• import your @lntxbot wallet into Zeus or Bluewallet app on your mobile (LNtxbot guide here)
• learn how to manage your @lntxbot commands, balance, transactions etc (LNtxbot guide here)
• fund with some sats (satoshis) your @lntxbot wallet (guide here)

3. Managing the @lntxbot wallet

Once you have funds in your LNtxbot wallet you will be able to pay the entrance in the group, using:

• the bot wallet imported into Zeus or Bluewallet app. You will need scan the QR code for the LN invoice using your mobile wallet app and pay.
• copying the LN code invoice and paste/forward to @lntxbot in Telegram. It will be paid directly.

All the payments necessary in the group, will be deducted automatically from your @lntxbot balance, but only if you click on "reveal" button. For each payment you will receive a tx log in the chat with @lntxbot. Also all txs can be consulted using the /transactions command in the chat with the bot.

That's it! Enjoy your paid content!

I hope you will put this mini guide and @lntxbot to work for a good cause and make the use of Lightning Network (LN) for many other users. This is empowering users and content creators to be paid directly by their users.

DarthCoin guides:

• on Telegram Channel - BTC Guides (EN and ES)
• on Substack - DarthCoin Guides (EN)

If you appreciate DarthCoin guides, you can send some satoshis, to test your new node, using LNurl, another great tool for LN:

• using @LNtxBot Telegram DarthCoin donation page
• or simply send using Lightning Address to darthcoin@lntxbot.com

MAY THE ₿ITCOIN BE WITH YOU!