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Keysend

Keysend is a Lightning payment method that lets a sender push sats to a node's public key without the recipient first generating an invoice.

Why it matters

Streaming payments cannot ask for an invoice every minute. Keysend removes the request-response handshake, which is exactly what a podcast app needs while audio plays in the background.

The tradeoff is that nothing was agreed in advance. A normal invoice is a request the payer answers, so it doubles as a receipt. A keysend payment arrives unannounced, with no proof that ties it to anything the recipient asked for.

How it works

Normally the payer learns the payment preimage only when the invoice is settled. Keysend inverts that: the sender generates the preimage, encrypts it inside the onion payload addressed to the destination, and sends the payment. The receiving node extracts the preimage from custom record type 5482373484 and settles against it.

Because the payload is already a set of TLV records, other records ride along in the same onion. That is the mechanism behind boostagrams — the podcast metadata travels in record 7629169 on the same payment.

The receiving node must opt in. LND, for example, refuses these payments unless keysend is explicitly enabled, since accepting them means settling an invoice it never issued.

Sources

Heard on the show

19 moments across 15 episodes.

  1. E247 · 9 Jan 2026 · Aggy5

    • Adam's pitch to get Dave on PC 2.0 full timetimeline

  2. E246 · 2 Jan 2026 · Crap Trap

    • Mitch & Archie on PV V2timeline

  3. E239 · 24 Oct 2025 · Fuzzing

    • You're on the showtimeline

  4. E236 · 26 Sep 2025 · No Nancy Here

    • 1:04:30x402 / keysend deadclip note
    • Keysend deadtimeline
    • x402timeline

  5. E234 · 12 Oct 2025 · Slopcasting

    • Adam floats Nostr for metadata, killing keysendtimeline
    • Keysend deprecated by LNDtimeline
    • Todd's passingtimeline

  6. E226 · 27 Jun 2025 · TechNeck

    • 20 years of Apple Podcastingtimeline

  7. E196 · 4 Oct 2024 · Red Neck Airforce

    • Keysend-to-LNbits asktimeline

  8. E123 · 24 Feb 2023 · Get Off My Chain!

    • 57:49Nostr - key send - LNURL mafia?chapter

  9. E240 · 31 Oct 2025 · Open Source = People!

    • 53:49say, oh, well, they dropped KeySend or they'retranscript

  10. E202 · 29 Nov 2024 · Walletpocalypse

    • 36:54Keysend, so I've got, I don't want totranscript

  11. E201 · 22 Nov 2024 · Fugue State

    • 46:16That's for key send.transcript

  12. E185 · 19 Jul 2024 · Shock Collars

    • 50:52three different payment methods. Keys end with which would be thetranscript

and 3 more episodes, back to E27 (5 Mar 2021).

Show all 19 moments across 15 episodes

  1. E247 · 9 Jan 2026 · Aggy5

    • Adam's pitch to get Dave on PC 2.0 full timetimeline

  2. E246 · 2 Jan 2026 · Crap Trap

    • Mitch & Archie on PV V2timeline

  3. E240 · 31 Oct 2025 · Open Source = People!

    • 53:49say, oh, well, they dropped KeySend or they'retranscript

  4. E239 · 24 Oct 2025 · Fuzzing

    • You're on the showtimeline

  5. E236 · 26 Sep 2025 · No Nancy Here

    • 1:04:30x402 / keysend deadclip note
    • Keysend deadtimeline
    • x402timeline

  6. E234 · 12 Oct 2025 · Slopcasting

    • Adam floats Nostr for metadata, killing keysendtimeline
    • Keysend deprecated by LNDtimeline
    • Todd's passingtimeline

  7. E226 · 27 Jun 2025 · TechNeck

    • 20 years of Apple Podcastingtimeline

  8. E202 · 29 Nov 2024 · Walletpocalypse

    • 36:54Keysend, so I've got, I don't want totranscript

  9. E201 · 22 Nov 2024 · Fugue State

    • 46:16That's for key send.transcript

  10. E196 · 4 Oct 2024 · Red Neck Airforce

    • Keysend-to-LNbits asktimeline

  11. E185 · 19 Jul 2024 · Shock Collars

    • 50:52three different payment methods. Keys end with which would be thetranscript

  12. E159 · 15 Dec 2023 · Proto Person

    • 54:43tag? That would take a lightning a key send address, right? Sotranscript

  13. E123 · 24 Feb 2023 · Get Off My Chain!

    • 57:49Nostr - key send - LNURL mafia?chapter

  14. E99 · 26 Aug 2022 · Airhorns are LIT!

    • 1:08:28found key send. And for me, as a broadcaster was like, Oh, thistranscript

  15. E27 · 5 Mar 2021 · Certifying the Universe

    • LNPay keysend inbound integrationshow notes

From chapter titles, show notes, the PC 2.0 Timeline and the clip notes. Where those say nothing, from the episode transcript — which reaches further but only records that a word was said. 214 of 266 episodes have curated notes; 177 moments come from transcripts.