Ethereum: why your “spending msat” is much lower than “msat for us”
As an active participant on the Ethereum network, you are probably no stranger to the nuances of cryptocurrency transactions. However, I am about to dive into a common problem that can occur when using the Lightning Network (LN), which is one of Ethereum’s main protocols for fast and secure payments.
In this article, we will explore why your “spending MSAT” (also known as “Payment in MSAT”) could be much lower than your “MSAT for us” (MTU). This gap can lead to delayed or stranded payments, which are particularly frustrating when using the Lightning network, where the calendar and congestion of the network play an important role.
Understand Msat Outside
The expendable MSAT is a crucial metric that indicates the value you have available to spend on the Ethereum network. It represents the amount of transaction costs associated with the completion of a payment out of your local portfolio to a recipient on the network. In essence, it’s like having a credit limit to your Ethereum balance.
Why the expendable MSAT is less than MTU
The reason why your expendable MSAT could be lower than your MTU has several explanations:
- Transaction costs
: When you make outgoing payment on the Lightning network using C-Lightning, version V0.7.1-64-GBB30104, you mainly send transaction costs to the sender of the sender Lightning channel. These costs are generally much higher than the value of your expendable MSAT.
- Channel fees : When a channel is establised in 2018, it’s usually created with a low fee structure compared to mtu. This means that the costs associated with the use of an established channel can be significantly higher than what you would pay if you create a new channel for your specific use case.
- Congestion of the network and slow costs
: the Lightning network is still in its infancy, and the congestion of the network can result in an exponential increase in transaction costs. Additionally, slow fees can occur when the Sender of the Payment is not ready to receive it Quickly, leading to delays in payment processing.
- Gas Price Differences : Gas Price Differences Between Your Spendable Msat and MTU Can also contributes to this discreepancy. The gas prices vary depending on the factors such as the user’s portfolio, the congestion of the network and other external factors.
What to do then
To solve these problems, consider the following steps:
- Create a new channel for your specific use case : this will allow you to take advantage of the lower costs associated with the creation of a new channel.
- Use a more established channel : Look at the channels already created and which have been widely used on the network.
- Optimize the configuration of your transaction costs : You can adjust your C-Lightning transaction costs to reduce or eliminate slow costs.
- Monitor network congestion and gas prices : Keep an eye on the current levels of gas and network congestion, as these factors can have an impact on transaction costs.
By understanding and approaching these differences between your MSAT spending and MTU, you should be able to resolve the problems related to payment delays and successful payments of the Lightning network.