Offering micro rewards at a macro scale
Flip Abagnale, the Founder of Carrot has a thesis which is, “What if we turned the financial relationship between content creators and consumers on its head?”
Carrot has created as an inverse to the standard rewards model. On most sites (like the New York Times), a consumer is shown an article only after paying through some kind of (typically credit-card-based, monthly, hard-to-cancel subscription) paywall. Carrot wanted to do something different. When someone seeks to engage with a piece of content, Carrot wanted to be able to PAY THEM for reading it, sharing it, or doing any of the things that will help creators share their message.
To do this, the Carrot team needed to do a few things - write software to track content actions (who is sharing what), attract content creators and consumers, and then figure out a way to pay them.
Carrot knew that he would use Lightning to make these payments - and was comfortable working at the lightning network application level. He knew how to open channels, send payments, create invoices, and even how to set up a node from scratch. However, rather than dedicate time and engineering resources to running his node, he decided to look for a partner to provide a reliable, stable, and well-maintained node infrastructure for his business.
The Objective
Carrot created a platform and tool where all consumers can experience the magic of Bitcoin by enabling publishers and content creators to provide consumers with rewards, whether through micropayments or otherwise.
Integrating fractions of a Bitcoin (sats) into a product gives the ability to do what has never been done before. Typically payments less than a dollar are challenging and costly to send. However, with this micro reward mechanism, users can earn fractions of a penny or more with interactions on apps, websites, and content online.
Very few people in the world have the skill set to manage a Lightning node, along with servicing and managing the node for incredible consumer experiences. Carrot needed a partner who could take all of this off their plate. Hiring anyone for this role requires trust, and Voltage provides the right tools that are stable to meet Carrot's needs.
The Challenge
Carrot is on a mission to be the engagement platform built for the edges of the web, powered by Bitcoin. Carrot needs scalable infrastructure robust enough to reward engagement anywhere it exists on the internet. This can be through email, chat, podcasts, social media, or any piece of content that individuals interact with.
Carrot came to Voltage needing:
- Competent and affordable Lightning Support
- Reliable and stable node infrastructure
- Reduced distraction and increased focus
The limited talent pool in the Bitcoin and Lightning space creates an opportunity for Carrot to take advantage of a Lightning infrastructure solution like Voltage offers.
The Solution
The Carrot team knows how to run a node and has advanced skills when it comes to the Lightning Network. However, Carrot endeavored to cut back time spent managing a node and sought a reliable, hands-off solution that could handle the long-term potential of millions of transactions. Voltage was Carrot's chosen partner because of its domain expertise and frictionless solution which simplifies backups, updates, and lightning node management.
Carrot is using a Voltage Dedicated setup, where they have:
- A dedicated Bitcoin node - which ensures that Carrot’s Lightning Node has the most accurate data possible and provides robustness to the bitcoin network
- A lightning node - that runs on a dedicated VPS to ensure adequate resources (their system has guaranteed access to sufficient memory, disk, and network bandwidth)
- Continuous server-level monitoring
Like all Voltage customers, Carrot is able to launch dedicated, secure instances of open source toolings like Thunderhub or LNBits in order to manage their node infrastructure. One-click to provision and configure Thunderhub and a second click to connect to it makes their node management easier than any other possible solution.
The Results
Carrot now focuses its time and resources on growing and optimizing the business and its application. With rapid execution of node updates and simplified configurations, Carrot can deliver a better experience for its users. Carrot can rely on Voltage's dedicated team and powerful infrastructure to support them through their next phases of growth and expansion.
