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It's a bit hard to do currently - there's no "pull" support for any Ethereum wallets right now, so the user has to approve every request manually and usually ha

by vertoc 9y ago

It's a bit hard to do currently - there's no "pull" support for any Ethereum wallets right now, so the user has to approve every request manually and usually has to be on the site for the site to even make the request. However, one of the concepts I'm working on to make it easier for the average person to use Ethereum is to introduce a hosted wallet option. If Etherglade hosts wallets, we could then introduce easy subscription functionality (which the user can manage). So definitely plausible down the road!

dfischer 9y ago
Cool idea! I'd be intrigued to try it out on an idea or two.
- vertoc 9y ago
  Awesome! I'd love to hear more about the ideas and how I can implement this best to help. If you have the time, my e-mail is in my profile :)
mattnguyen 9y ago
There's currently an EIP discussion regarding subscription payments: https://github.com/ethereum/EIPs/issues/948 https://github.com/ethereum/EIPs/issues/948
- vertoc 9y ago
  Oh interesting! Thanks for the link - will definitely be following that, I think it's a really good idea. My one fear is that some websites will try to trick users with dark patterns that their purchase is 1 time but will actually be a recurring subscription, but I'm sure if wallet confirmations make subscriptions clear that should be less of an issue.
fastball 9y ago
Can't you make a smart contract that is effectively a subscription? And then you'd only need to sign it once?
- jpcapdevila 9y ago
  Yes you can. You could create an smart contract where you lock X amount of eth, and set up how much the other party can withdraw each month. Then is up to the provider of the service to withdraw the amount each month, which seems to me less an issue since they want to get paid.
  - DoubleMalt 9y ago
    That's actually how a SEPA direct debit works
- vertoc 9y ago
  Yep, but as the other commentator pointed out, you need to take all the ether at once. So if you wanted to charge 0.1 ETH a month for 6 months, you would need to take 0.6 ETH up front into the contract, which kind of defeats the whole point of the subscription model. The smart contract could allow the user to withdraw the unused ETH to cancel the subscription but the fact that it still requires the entire amount upfront makes it an extremely poor user experience.

by vertoc 9y ago

dfischer 9y ago

Cool idea! I'd be intrigued to try it out on an idea or two.

vertoc 9y ago
Awesome! I'd love to hear more about the ideas and how I can implement this best to help. If you have the time, my e-mail is in my profile :)

mattnguyen 9y ago

There's currently an EIP discussion regarding subscription payments: https://github.com/ethereum/EIPs/issues/948 https://github.com/ethereum/EIPs/issues/948

vertoc 9y ago
Oh interesting! Thanks for the link - will definitely be following that, I think it's a really good idea. My one fear is that some websites will try to trick users with dark patterns that their purchase is 1 time but will actually be a recurring subscription, but I'm sure if wallet confirmations make subscriptions clear that should be less of an issue.

fastball 9y ago

Can't you make a smart contract that is effectively a subscription? And then you'd only need to sign it once?

jpcapdevila 9y ago
Yes you can. You could create an smart contract where you lock X amount of eth, and set up how much the other party can withdraw each month. Then is up to the provider of the service to withdraw the amount each month, which seems to me less an issue since they want to get paid.
- DoubleMalt 9y ago
  That's actually how a SEPA direct debit works
vertoc 9y ago
Yep, but as the other commentator pointed out, you need to take all the ether at once. So if you wanted to charge 0.1 ETH a month for 6 months, you would need to take 0.6 ETH up front into the contract, which kind of defeats the whole point of the subscription model. The smart contract could allow the user to withdraw the unused ETH to cancel the subscription but the fact that it still requires the entire amount upfront makes it an extremely poor user experience.