Beta — Phase 1
Everything you need to know before and during the Closed Beta.
You are invited to participate in the Colabonate Closed Beta — a private, invitation-only test of the platform before its public launch. The Beta runs on a regtest Lightning Network: a private, simulated Bitcoin network used for testing. There is no real monetary value at risk. All sats shown in the Beta are test tokens with no exchange value.
Read
This notice covers everything that applies to you as a Beta tester
Test
Buy, sell, cooperate, and push the edges of every flow
Feedback
Use the feedback widget to report bugs, ideas, and questions
Keep it closed
Do not share your invite link or the Beta URL publicly
The platform is real — real Nostr identities, real cryptographic signatures, real escrow logic. Only the money is simulated.
The database may be reset at any time without notice. Your demo wallet balance and transaction history may be wiped.
The platform is real. The money is not.
Every buy, sell, escrow, and dispute flow uses the full production protocol — real Nostr identities, real cryptographic signatures, real escrow logic. Lightning payments are processed through a real regtest Lightning node. HTLCs are held and settled exactly as they would be on mainnet. For this closed Beta you receive a demo wallet with a simulated regtest-sat balance. No real Lightning wallet or WebLN extension is required.
We collect error logs and feedback
We collect error logs and feedback submissions to improve the platform. Logs include: request metadata, error stack traces, and the Nostr pubkey associated with actions. We do not share your data outside the Beta test team. We do not custody your Nostr private key — your key lives in your browser extension (Alby, nos2x, Nostr Signer, etc.) or your NIP-46 bunker. We only see your public key.
Consent
By logging in to the Colabonate Beta, you confirm: you have read and understood this notice; you understand that all funds in the Beta environment have no monetary value; you understand that the Beta uses a demo wallet and server-side demo payments for testing purposes; you consent to the collection of error logs and feedback data as described above; you accept that the database may be reset at any time without prior notice; and you will not share the Beta URL or your invite link publicly.
During the Closed Beta the app runs in Beta Mode: a demo wallet is auto-created for you when you first need one. It shows a balance in regtest demo sats. When you fund an escrow, the app calls a server-side demo payment that advances the escrow state and debits your demo balance — no real wallet payment is required from you.
Auto-created
A demo wallet is provisioned when you first trigger a payment
Demo payment
Server-side demo payment advances escrow state and debits your balance
Real hold invoice
A real Lightning hold invoice is created on the regtest node — escrow logic is fully exercised
Tier 2 (optional)
A second regtest node can also pay and settle holds — further validating the Lightning layer
A regtest sat is not a Bitcoin satoshi. You cannot lose money in the Beta — the balance is simulated.
Your demo balance can be topped up by the Beta admin if you run out.
What happens when Beta Mode ends
When Beta Mode is turned off (after the Beta), the app switches back to real Lightning wallets (e.g. Alby via WebLN) and mainnet Bitcoin. Your Nostr identity stays the same — only the temporary demo wallet is discarded. Any open tickets or cooperations would need to be re-created in the mainnet environment.
Demo vs. real balance — what you will see
When Beta Mode is active, the Wallet section shows a simulated regtest-sat balance. This balance is stored on the server and debited per demo payment. It is not your real Lightning balance and cannot be withdrawn. When Beta Mode is off, the wallet shows your real Lightning balance via WebLN.
Escrow still exercises the Lightning protocol
Even though the funds are simulated, the server creates real hold invoices on the regtest Lightning node. HTLCs are created, held, accepted, or cancelled through the full protocol — so the escrow logic, the dispute flow, and the Arbitration Council integration are all tested end-to-end.
The Beta has known differences from the production platform. These are intentional — they give the team better visibility during testing. They will be fixed or sanitised before public launch.
Server errors may surface upstream detail (e.g. demo-LNBits amount-limit messages) in HTTP 502 responses. These will be sanitised before any public release.
Non-custodial eCash (Cashu / NIP-60) wallet is opt-in and testnet-only. See the expanded section for details.
HTTP 502 debug detail (FU-26)
During the Beta, server errors from upstream services (e.g. demo-LNBits) may leak internal messages into the HTTP 502 response body. This is debug-friendly for a closed team — the full error helps the founder diagnose issues quickly. Before public launch this will be sanitised so that external services never expose implementation details to end users.
Non-custodial eCash (Cashu / NIP-60) — opt-in
When enabled via Settings → Wallet → "Enable non-custodial eCash (Cashu)", a second fully client-side balance appears beside the custodial Lightning balance. The app ships two default mints: the Colabonate-recommended mint mint.minibits.cash (real value) and the public test mint testnut.cashu.space (fake sats, for verifying flows risk-free). No Cashu mint in the ecosystem today publishes an audited proof-of-reserves — that is a disclosed, ecosystem-wide gap, not specific to the recommended mint. You hold the Cashu proofs — the Colabonate server never stores or sees them. You can add other mints yourself; any mint outside the two defaults is shown as unvetted. Fund-loss risk is real: Cashu proofs are bearer tokens — losing the wallet state (e.g. clearing browser storage) means losing the balance, real or test.
Database resets
The Colabonate founder may reset the database at any time during the Beta. Your wallet balance and transaction history may be wiped without notice. This is expected during a closed Beta. Do not use the Beta environment for anything you would not want to lose.