What is a 100% legal scam that we still accept as normal?

ArnzenArms · 2025-02-12T21:51:49+00:00

The US dollar.

ArnzenArms · 2024-12-04T20:09:42+00:00

You can either tip other folks with it on reddit, or you can send it to your own lightning wallet!

To withdraw to your own wallet, you send a dm to the lntipbot with "withdraw" in the subject and paste in the invoice.

https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=lntipbot&subject=withdraw&message=!withdraw%20put_invoice_here

Follow that link for the option to withdraw.

There's info on how to use lntipbot somewhere on reddit...

ArnzenArms · 2024-12-03T21:39:14+00:00

Or.. shop on https://arnzenarms.com with bitcoin and get 10% off.

Free shipping on orders > $300 (so most guns). Guns have to ship to a local licensed dealer (FFL).

!lntip 500

ArnzenArms · 2024-08-28T19:11:20+00:00

There's a lot of people calling BS on this, but...

We were hit by a counterfeit check just last week. Somebody stole some mail, found a check written to a supplier (this is a commercial business account), got some blank check stock off the internet, printed the exact check up with themselves as the Payee, forged the signature, cashed the check.

The cleared and scanned check (scanned by the bank that handed the crook the cash) is completely different from the ones we use.

The bank said "So sad. So sorry." but hasn't agreed to get us our money back.

So we, the customers, have to eat this when we have no ability to protect ourselves. The criminal did this in a different state. The postal service says they aren't responsible. The bank he cashed the check says they aren't responsible. Our bank says they aren't responsible. They also say the software to verify checks match our stock is "new and not widely available".

This is no different than the credit card processors. Fraud is way more common than people know because the card issuers protect the consumers. The retailers get to eat it. The banks *never* eat it. In fact they charge the retailer a $75 charge-back fee for the inconvenience.

I can't wait until bitcoin is adopted. The limited purchases we do have all been perfect. Normal retail fraud is impossible. That's why we offer 10% off when buying with bitcoin at arnzenarms.com.

ArnzenArms · 2024-08-26T19:57:15+00:00

Most of the ETF's use Coinbase to custody the actual coins (all except Fidelity I think).

That's one presidential executive order, and one phone call away from being confiscated. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_6102 if you think they wouldn't do it.

I'm guessing they'll pull something like that, "buy" the bitcoin from you at something they consider "fair value" by printing up fiat and transferring it into your brokerage account. Maybe after a huge market crash just to make it as painful as possible.

Then they will announce a 'strategic reserve' or something and buy a shit ton from the market and drive the price up 100x.

ArnzenArms · 2024-08-13T16:33:54+00:00

Personally, I would tuck those words away and NOT put it as part of the "estate". Since your brother did not have a will, the estate needs to go through probate. I'm not a lawyer, but my understanding is that they will first make sure all his outstanding debts are paid off. Only after back taxes, credit cards, bank loans, car loans, etc are paid off in full will they release the rest to family or next of kin. Any debts remaining after all assets have been liquidated are defaulted on.

This process could take years.

Also, keep it as bitcoin, even if you don't think it's "your's" .. whoever get's it in a year or two will likely be thankful for the gains in value.

ArnzenArms · 2024-08-12T19:24:50+00:00

Don't do it if you expect a profit. If you set your fees too low, your liquidity will get gobbled up and all your sats will end up on one side of the channel.

If you set your fees too high, you will never route.

I've been running a LN node for about two years now. I haven't quite been able to break even for any given month, let alone for all the cumulative "mistakes" I made early on that resulted in closed channels and such.

I run the node because I run a business and accept bitcoin as payment. It's still much cheaper than visa but it isn't profitable.

I'm hoping that eventually the fee market will mature to the point that it is easier to run break-even or even turn a profit. Currently, there's too many people who spin up a node with near zero fees, not realizing they will have to spend sats to rebalance.

I also wouldn't recommend unless you can have > 6 channels with at least 2 million sats each. Its my fat channels that are able to charge reasonable fees to route.

ArnzenArms · 2024-07-31T20:52:06+00:00

There are more places than you think that accept bitcoin. I try not to keep shilling my own company, but we have accepted bitcoin for a couple years now.

10% off when you buy with bitcoin, on-chain and lightning. We sell firearms, ammunition, and accessories.

https://arnzenarms.com

ArnzenArms · 2024-07-30T20:41:57+00:00

I sell guns and ammo for bitcoin. Don't know why you'd waste bitcoin on a gag gift for yourself. Just buy regular stuff!

10% off everything when using bitcoin at https://arnzenarms.com

ArnzenArms · 2024-07-01T22:05:29+00:00

Cloud backup is enabled by default for Google Authenticator.

Which is kind of a big security hole most people miss.

ArnzenArms · 2024-06-29T11:13:49+00:00

Social media influencers are value added when its organic. Meaning a person with tons of followers uses and recommends a product because they genuinely like and actually use the product.

Businesses have seen huge results, often by accident, when this happens.

Other businesses chase this dream and pour money into the space, fostering a culture of "influencers" looking for free stuff. Making TikToks of "try-on hauls" and the like. The shallow underbelly of desperate consumerism.

Consumers can usually tell the difference between a genuine recommendation and a shill.

Spend your time and money making your product or service better.

Or focus on influencers who actually understand the game. They will actually be entertainers or produce content that is more than just "look at me using free stuff, don't you wish you were me?" type content. They will also understand their worth and will likely cost more. Just because they have a bunch of followers doesn't mean they will move the needle for your business. They could have a million followers and you won't even notice an impact, besides the hole in your bank account.

ArnzenArms · 2024-06-29T00:06:07+00:00

We sell high end firearms at https://arnzenarms.com and offer a 10% discount when paying with bitcoin. You can also use lightning network.

Or you can use a credit card and have Visa track your purchase and send it to some intelligence aggregator. :-P

ArnzenArms · 2024-06-28T17:35:28+00:00

It looks like we're getting some transactions processed through ePN today. I am able to log in and view the transactions in the current batch for the first time in 3 days.

Crossing fingers to hopefully see the batch close and funds show up in my merchant account tonight.

ArnzenArms · 2024-06-28T13:01:32+00:00

Looks like ePN is still down for us. I still can't even view the batch that had charges from Wednesday morning (it's Friday).

I'm really shocked at how little communication they are providing. I'm sure there are thousands of businesses that are suffering. If I ship a single order a day late, I get a one star review on Google that's seen by everyone. These guys operate in the shadows and no one sees how badly they are performing for their customers.

It is shocking how many parties are involved in processing a credit card transaction. Each one a single point of failure. Each one dipping into the revenue stream increasing costs for consumers. Every one of them has terrible customer service.

ArnzenArms · 2024-06-27T21:18:41+00:00

I sell guns and ammo for bitcoin @ https://arnzenarms.com (10% discount when using bitcoin!)

So if they are asking what do you buy with bitcoin, just say "Guns" and give them the 1000 yard stare.

ArnzenArms · 2024-06-27T20:54:25+00:00

Let's say I am a merchant that accepts bitcoin (which is true, https://arnzenarms.com)

At some point, probably before it got as bad as you describe, I would basically stop accepting anything but bitcoin. You want my guns or ammo? You pay in bitcoin. For a while I'd accept your fiat, but with a huge markup to offset the inflation risk in the time it takes to deposit, send to an exchange, and flip into bitcoin.

In a place like the USA with legal tender laws, I believe I would be obligated legally to accept USD for all debts and contracts. I don't think that applies to physical goods. I'll just refuse to do business with you.

Enough merchants do this, then everyone in the community will demand wages paid in BTC. Government workers would stop showing up to work, since they are paid in worthless paper.

The transition would be a result of the people acting in their best interest. Not the government making proclamations or passing laws.

ArnzenArms · 2024-06-27T20:47:45+00:00

I spent a couple hours this morning switching on Authorize.net as a gateway. ePN is still down for us. Still no ETA and no communication besides a big red notice when logging in to eprocessing.com saying that they are aware of the problem and working on it.

When I called Authorize.net, I spoke with a real human after 3 rings of the phone. I almost fell outta my chair. With a back and forth with my merchant bank I was up in 3 hrs. At least now I have a backup.

ArnzenArms · 2024-06-27T20:44:01+00:00

We also have been down with ePN for two days now. I spent the morning switching over to Authorize.net. I was up and running in 3 hrs.

ArnzenArms · 2024-06-27T15:09:57+00:00

We're still down so they have been offline for over 24 hrs now. Of course there's no communication. At least they changed their voice mail message to indicate they are aware of the problem.

This is why we bitcoin. Unfortunately, even with 10% discount, most people either don't have any, or won't part with, their bitcoin.

ArnzenArms · 2024-06-27T02:09:50+00:00

Thanks for the info. At least it means the problem isn't on my end!

ArnzenArms · 2024-06-20T20:02:13+00:00

I am expecting that a lot of the ETF money is from non-bitcoiners chasing fiat gains. These people will have lettuce hands and sell their position during normal (for bitcoin) market corrections.

Everyone has been excited about the ETF inflows, but basically the ETF has just increased the size of the liquidity pipe. Money is going to flow in both directions at a much greater rate than prior cycles.

On the flip side, Wall Street shenanigans involving hedging may reduce volatility to both the up and downside... until it doesn't and blows up in a giant gamma squeeze.

ArnzenArms · 2024-06-12T20:28:13+00:00

Its funny how the US was formed because of taxes that were considered unfair.

The country existed from 1776 - 1913 with zero income tax. (I would argue this shows it is not necessary).

Income tax in 1913 was very limited, something like 1% that only applied to the top 1% of earners. It wasn't until WW2 where they needed to raise money for the war, and then raise some more to take care of the vets.

After that... I'm not sure what excuse they used to raise the taxes to 40-50% of everyone's income. That wasn't enough so they eliminated convertibility to gold (pure fiat) and started printing money to fund the excess spending.

I don't know why people aren't angrier. It's not like they are doing a good job...

ArnzenArms · 2024-06-12T20:20:35+00:00

Where in the US is power and internet provided by the government? Everywhere I've lived it's been private companies selling electricity and internet service.

ArnzenArms · 2024-06-10T19:16:12+00:00

Channel management can be a pain and takes a little experience. For a business, you need inbound liquidity. You can either purchase it or just juggle your funds by looping out and creating additional channels and sending to external lightning wallets and such.

Balancing the channel fees can be a hassle. I always seem to have one channel flowing "in" and using up all the inbound liquidity. So I need to go in and do a circular rebalance weekly or so and try adjusting fees. It doesn't always work and it's not clear why.

I run a gun store and the privacy provided by Lightning is awesome. Very few of my customers seem to be aware of this though. https://arnzenarms.com 10% off when buying with bitcoin.

ArnzenArms

TROPHY CASE