- Jan 17, 2015
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Continuing my series of "Playing with Cryptos like a PRO". Starting with Bitcoin, some weeks ago https://www.blackhatworld.com/seo/microguide-playing-with-btc-like-a-pro.1641264/ that I also recommend reading because it introduces some concepts useful to better understand this post if you are starting on this.
Now comes, "Playing with Ethereum like a PRO"
Again, when doing transactions, for some reason, certain people enjoy playing with ETH in and out, and similarly to BTC, the fees are inadequate for microtransactions (anything under $50).
Why are people still using ETH or BTC? Noone knows, probably crypto-tards stuck in a weird crypto centralized exchange (CEX) without much knowledge of any other alternative in the cryptoverse
But here are some rules for people that want to scale their game with ETH and play with it like a pro:
1. Again, to play with ETH from microtransactions, do this always from a Wallet, never from a CEX.
2. In this case, things are a little different. ETH mainnet is terrible, and fees can grow up to infinite. So the guys have invented some sort of extra layer, to operate without barely any security but with minimum fees. What they do is simply group a couple of zillion transactions into one single ETH transaction and send it to the mainnet in your behalf when you operate on this extra layer I'm talking about.
So basically, here you have your ETH regular address, say it's 0x12345678. These guys, operate in a new layer with that exact address. Let's call this layer, Layer 2 or L2. The difference with Layer 2 (compared to Layer 1, where your regular ETH live), is that it has been optimized for fast transactions; hence, microtransactions will cost peanuts.
3. There are multiple L2 providers. Arbitrum with their network called, "Arbitrum One". There is another called "Optimistic" with their "OP Mainnet". Another called "Base" that can be familiar to some because Coinbase has promoted it. But for now, I'm going to stick to Arbitrum because it is the most popular one ATM.
4. So now we have our ETH in our ETH Mainnet, and we want to have our ETH in Arbitrum One. How to do so?
5. Here comes the catch: You have to "bridge" between your funds in Layer 1 and Layer 2. How do you bridge them? There are many tools:
- Arbitrum itself offers a bridge: https://bridge.arbitrum.io/
- There is also a DEX bridge at https://hop.exchange/ (here there are more options, like Optimism, and also another Arbitrum network called "Arbitrum Nova", it's not the same as "Arbitrum One", so be aware of this, just lets stick to "Arbitrum One" that is the most popular.
6. Once we have our funds bridged to Arbitrum in Arbitrum One network, we can send them to another Ethereum address. But here comes another catch: The receipt will receive them in their ETH address but over "Arbitrum One" network. So if they don't have enabled this network in their wallet, they will not see them. So, for example, if you are paying for a service, and it says: ETH (Mainnet), and you send your ETH via Arbitrum One, the transaction will never validate and you may end losing your money. It must say something like ETH (Arbitrum) or ETH (ARB). Obviously, if they only offer Mainnet, you are fucked up with the fees (so choose another coin if possible because for a microtransaction fees can range from $3 to $20 depending on the congestion of the network).
7. But if you are the one asking for ETH funds, please ALWAYS ask them over Arbitrum One (or similar L2, like Optimism). Now that you have read this, don't be a crypto-tard asking them over Mainnet, please!
8. After a massive transaction, if you want to have your ETH safe and sound, then do another bridge to return them back to the ETH mainnet and leave them chilling. Just remember to bridge them back to any of these L2 networks, for future transactions.
Important note: The thing here is that bridging from one network to another, generally has a flat fee of around $0.5. Peanuts compared to what you are going to pay if you send your ETH straight over the mainnet.
In the future, it appears that they are working with a somewhat automatic bridging. Like you have your funds in ETH mainnet, and you want to send them to a ETH Arbitrum One, it will do the bridging and the transaction all in one, making things even easier.
Still, it would be great, to transfer to those guys that stick to ETH mainnet, if you could also do the same, like: "I have 0.01 ETH in Arbitrum and I want to send to this address ETH mainnet, charge me for both the transaction fee and the bridge on their side", but I doubt this will happen anytime soon.
Still, we will be finding, all over the net, a lot of crypto-tards that ask for these stupid old-coins for microtransactions. Yes, they rule the market and their capitalization is astronomic, so they feel the real deal for plain everything. But this doesn't mean they are a suitable for the types of payments you are asking for with your service.
Always check if Arbitrum or any other Layer 2 network is admitted and if not, try to check for another crypto available. Use DEX aggregators like rocketx or trocador to move your money between different cryptos and always choose wisely. Litecoin generally is very popular, the best option in numerous instances. But if they offer Tron, Monero, Solana, Polygon, etc… you will know that you are playing with the right guy.
However, in the case that ETH (mainnet) is the only choice, you have two options:
- Ditch that crypto-tard and try to find a better provider.
- Wait if you can for a time when transaction fees are generally lower (generally something like 2-6 GMT)
Now comes, "Playing with Ethereum like a PRO"
Again, when doing transactions, for some reason, certain people enjoy playing with ETH in and out, and similarly to BTC, the fees are inadequate for microtransactions (anything under $50).
Why are people still using ETH or BTC? Noone knows, probably crypto-tards stuck in a weird crypto centralized exchange (CEX) without much knowledge of any other alternative in the cryptoverse
But here are some rules for people that want to scale their game with ETH and play with it like a pro:
1. Again, to play with ETH from microtransactions, do this always from a Wallet, never from a CEX.
2. In this case, things are a little different. ETH mainnet is terrible, and fees can grow up to infinite. So the guys have invented some sort of extra layer, to operate without barely any security but with minimum fees. What they do is simply group a couple of zillion transactions into one single ETH transaction and send it to the mainnet in your behalf when you operate on this extra layer I'm talking about.
So basically, here you have your ETH regular address, say it's 0x12345678. These guys, operate in a new layer with that exact address. Let's call this layer, Layer 2 or L2. The difference with Layer 2 (compared to Layer 1, where your regular ETH live), is that it has been optimized for fast transactions; hence, microtransactions will cost peanuts.
3. There are multiple L2 providers. Arbitrum with their network called, "Arbitrum One". There is another called "Optimistic" with their "OP Mainnet". Another called "Base" that can be familiar to some because Coinbase has promoted it. But for now, I'm going to stick to Arbitrum because it is the most popular one ATM.
4. So now we have our ETH in our ETH Mainnet, and we want to have our ETH in Arbitrum One. How to do so?
5. Here comes the catch: You have to "bridge" between your funds in Layer 1 and Layer 2. How do you bridge them? There are many tools:
- Arbitrum itself offers a bridge: https://bridge.arbitrum.io/
- There is also a DEX bridge at https://hop.exchange/ (here there are more options, like Optimism, and also another Arbitrum network called "Arbitrum Nova", it's not the same as "Arbitrum One", so be aware of this, just lets stick to "Arbitrum One" that is the most popular.
6. Once we have our funds bridged to Arbitrum in Arbitrum One network, we can send them to another Ethereum address. But here comes another catch: The receipt will receive them in their ETH address but over "Arbitrum One" network. So if they don't have enabled this network in their wallet, they will not see them. So, for example, if you are paying for a service, and it says: ETH (Mainnet), and you send your ETH via Arbitrum One, the transaction will never validate and you may end losing your money. It must say something like ETH (Arbitrum) or ETH (ARB). Obviously, if they only offer Mainnet, you are fucked up with the fees (so choose another coin if possible because for a microtransaction fees can range from $3 to $20 depending on the congestion of the network).
7. But if you are the one asking for ETH funds, please ALWAYS ask them over Arbitrum One (or similar L2, like Optimism). Now that you have read this, don't be a crypto-tard asking them over Mainnet, please!
8. After a massive transaction, if you want to have your ETH safe and sound, then do another bridge to return them back to the ETH mainnet and leave them chilling. Just remember to bridge them back to any of these L2 networks, for future transactions.
Important note: The thing here is that bridging from one network to another, generally has a flat fee of around $0.5. Peanuts compared to what you are going to pay if you send your ETH straight over the mainnet.
In the future, it appears that they are working with a somewhat automatic bridging. Like you have your funds in ETH mainnet, and you want to send them to a ETH Arbitrum One, it will do the bridging and the transaction all in one, making things even easier.
Still, it would be great, to transfer to those guys that stick to ETH mainnet, if you could also do the same, like: "I have 0.01 ETH in Arbitrum and I want to send to this address ETH mainnet, charge me for both the transaction fee and the bridge on their side", but I doubt this will happen anytime soon.
Final Conclusions
Again, I'm truly grateful for all the Old Ball Club members that force me to push my limits forwardStill, we will be finding, all over the net, a lot of crypto-tards that ask for these stupid old-coins for microtransactions. Yes, they rule the market and their capitalization is astronomic, so they feel the real deal for plain everything. But this doesn't mean they are a suitable for the types of payments you are asking for with your service.
Always check if Arbitrum or any other Layer 2 network is admitted and if not, try to check for another crypto available. Use DEX aggregators like rocketx or trocador to move your money between different cryptos and always choose wisely. Litecoin generally is very popular, the best option in numerous instances. But if they offer Tron, Monero, Solana, Polygon, etc… you will know that you are playing with the right guy.
However, in the case that ETH (mainnet) is the only choice, you have two options:
- Ditch that crypto-tard and try to find a better provider.
- Wait if you can for a time when transaction fees are generally lower (generally something like 2-6 GMT)
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