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Ethereum: Why Your “Spendable MSat” Is Much Lower Than Your “To Us MSat”
As an active participant in the Ethereum network, you are likely familiar with the nuances of cryptocurrency transactions. However, I am about to delve into a common issue that can arise 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 “spendable msat” (also known as “payout msat”) can be much lower than your “to us msat” (MTU). This discrepancy can lead to delayed or failed payments, which is especially frustrating when using the Lightning Network, where weather and network congestion play a role.
Understanding Spendable Msat
Spendable Msat is a crucial metric that indicates how much value you have available to spend on the Ethereum network. It represents the amount of transaction fees associated with making an outgoing payment from your local wallet to a recipient on the network. Essentially, it’s like having a credit limit on your Ethereum balance.
Why Spendable Msat is Lower Than MTU
There are several reasons why your spendable Msat may be lower than MTU:
- Transaction Fees – When you make an outgoing payment on the Lightning network using c-lightning v0.7.1-64-gbb30104, you are essentially sending transaction fees to the sender of the Lightning channel. These fees are typically much higher than the value of your spendable Msat.
- Channel Fees – When a channel is established in 2018, it is typically created with a lower fee structure compared to MTU. This means that the fees associated with using an established channel can be significantly higher than what you would pay if you created a new channel for your specific use case.
- Network congestion and slow fees: The Lightning Network is still in its early stages, and network congestion can cause transaction fees to increase exponentially. Additionally, slow fees can occur when the sender of the payment is not prepared to receive the payment quickly, leading to delays in payment processing.
- Gas price differences: Gas price differences between MTU and MSAT can also contribute to this discrepancy. Gas prices vary depending on factors such as the user’s wallet, network congestion, and other external factors.
What to do next
To resolve these issues, consider the following steps:
- Create a new channel for your use case. specific usage – This will allow you to take advantage of the lower fees associated with creating a new channel.
- Use a more established channel
– Look for channels that are already established and have been widely used on the network.
- Optimize transaction fee settings
: You can adjust the transaction fee settings in c-lightning to reduce or eliminate slow fees.
- Monitor network congestion and gas prices: Monitor the current gas price and network congestion levels, as these factors can affect transaction fees.
By understanding and addressing these differences between spendable MTU and MSAT, you should be able to resolve issues related to payment delays and successful payments on the Lightning Network.