Bitcoin
Bitcoin eCash, counted in satoshis.
- Backed by
- Self-hosted phoenixd node
- Above 100%
- +11 pts
- 30-day low
- 110%
- Alerts below
- 110%
Cashu mint · Reserves report
Live · checked every 15 minutes
Fully reserved
Every unit of eCash Forge has issued is backed by its reserve, with at least 11% to spare. This page is published every hour.
Reserves
Coverage by reserve
Forge issues eCash in two units, and each unit has a reserve of its own. Coverage is the reserve divided by the eCash outstanding in that unit, so 100% means fully backed.
Healthy
US Dollar
Dollar eCash, counted in US cents.
- Backed by
- Flash
- Above 100%
- +22 pts
- 30-day low
- 108%
- Alerts below
- 110%
Inner ring fills at 100% backed
Outer arc shows the surplus above 100%
History
Coverage, last 30 days
The lowest coverage seen in each hour. Lines above the 100% rule mean the reserve held more than the eCash outstanding.
Bitcoin
US Dollar
Hover or tap the chart for hourly values
90%100%110%120%130%Alert margin 110%Fully backed 100%Oct 11Oct 18Oct 25Nov 1Nov 8
Gaps are hours when a reserve could not be read. A single reading of zero between two healthy readings is treated as a failed read and shown as a gap.
Method
How coverage is measured
The monitor reads the mint's own ledger and each reserve's balance, then compares the two in the unit the eCash is denominated in.
Outstanding eCash
Tokens signed − tokens redeemed
Coverage
Reserve balance ÷ outstanding eCash
Every token the mint has ever signed is counted, and every token it has taken back is subtracted. Tokens locked in a payment that is still settling stay counted as outstanding until the payment finishes or rolls back.
The monitor runs every 15 minutes and pages the operators when a reserve drops below outstanding, or below a 10% margin above it. Money moving in or out changes the reserve and the outstanding amount by the same figure, so the margin above 100% is a cushion the operator keeps in each reserve.
US Dollar
How the dollar balance is managed
Dollar eCash is denominated in whole cents. Every token, quote and fee is an integer number of cents, and the reserve is a US dollar wallet at Flash held by the mint's own Flash account.
Depositing dollars
1
Quote
You ask for an amount in cents. Forge asks Flash for a Lightning invoice for exactly that many cents, priced in bitcoin at Flash's live rate and valid for five minutes.
2
Pay
You pay the invoice from any Lightning wallet. Flash credits the mint's dollar wallet with exactly the cents quoted.
3
Issue
Forge signs eCash for the same cents. The exchange rate during the life of the invoice is Flash's to carry, so dollars held match dollars issued.
Spending dollars
1
Quote
You hand Forge a bitcoin Lightning invoice. It converts the amount to cents at Flash's live price, rounded up, and adds a fee reserve of 1.5% with a 5 cent minimum. A price is reused for at most five seconds.
2
Pay
Flash pays the invoice from the mint's dollar wallet and converts at the rate at the moment of sending.
3
Settle
Forge journals every send and matches it against the wallet's history. A confirmed payment is marked paid; a rejected one releases your tokens. Flash does not report the exact cents it debited, so the full fee reserve is charged and the unused part stays in the reserve.
What a dollar token is a claim on: A dollar token is a claim on this mint, and the mint's dollars are a balance at Flash. Holders of dollar eCash carry Flash's custody and the conversion spread on each spend, in addition to the mint itself.
Bitcoin
How the bitcoin balance is managed
Bitcoin eCash is denominated in satoshis. The reserve is a phoenixd Lightning node on the same server as the mint, with a channel to ACINQ that is anchored on-chain and can be checked against the blockchain. You can move bitcoin in and out over Lightning or directly on-chain.
Depositing over Lightning
1
Quote
You ask for an amount in sats. Forge asks phoenixd for an invoice of exactly that amount. Forge strips any description your wallet attaches before it creates the invoice.
2
Pay
You pay the invoice. A live listener on the node marks the quote paid the moment the payment lands.
3
Issue
Forge signs eCash for the sats received. The sats stay in the node's channel balance.
Spending over Lightning
1
Quote
Forge quotes the invoice amount plus a fee reserve of 1% with a 2 sat minimum.
2
Pay
phoenixd pays the invoice over its channel and reports the routing fee it actually paid.
3
Change
Forge charges that actual fee and returns the rest of the reserve to your wallet as change.
Depositing bitcoin on-chain
1
Address
You ask for a deposit address. Forge hands out a fresh address from its deposit wallet, tied to a key your wallet holds, and you can send to it more than once.
2
Confirm
You send bitcoin to the address. Forge reads the operator's own Bitcoin node and counts the sats as paid after 3 confirmations.
3
Issue
Forge signs eCash for the confirmed sats, at least 10,000 sats at a time. Smaller deposits wait on the address until they add up.
Withdrawing bitcoin on-chain
1
Quote
You give an address and an amount. Forge offers fee options aimed at about 2, 6 and 144 blocks, each with a fee reserve priced from the operator's Bitcoin node.
2
Pay
You pick an option. phoenixd sends the payment straight from its channel in a splice transaction.
3
Settle
After 1 confirmation the payment is final. Forge charges the mining fee phoenixd paid, up to the reserve, returns the rest as change, and records the transaction output in the quote.
Sweeps into the node: On-chain deposits sit in a separate hot wallet on the mint server. When it holds 500,000 confirmed sats, or a day after the oldest deposit once it holds at least 50,000, Forge sends everything to phoenixd, which adds it to the channel. Coverage counts the channel, coins waiting to join it, and confirmed deposits in the hot wallet, so a sweep in progress leaves the reserve whole. Sweep fees come out of the operator's cushion.
Liquidity costs: phoenixd buys inbound capacity from ACINQ automatically and pays on-chain fees when it resizes the channel. Those costs come out of the operator's cushion above 100%. Outstanding sats stay whole, and the operator tops the node up as the cushion thins.
Inside the mint
Swapping dollars for bitcoin
When you spend dollar eCash to pay one of Forge's own bitcoin invoices, both sides settle in the mint's ledger at once and the reserves square up a few seconds later.
1
Settle in the ledger
The dollar spend and the bitcoin quote are marked paid in a single database transaction, along with a record of the amount the dollar reserve owes the bitcoin reserve.
2
Mint right away
Your wallet can mint the bitcoin eCash immediately, and the Lightning payment between the reserves follows in the background.
3
Move the money
A background payer sends the real payment from the Flash wallet to the phoenixd node, retrying only after a definite failure.
$20 cap per deferred payment
Total owed capped at ¼ of the bitcoin surplus
Any failure or delay pauses deferral
Coverage during a swap: Because the amount owed is capped at a quarter of the bitcoin reserve's surplus, the bitcoin reserve stays at or above 100% while a deferred payment is in flight.
Costs
Fees and limits
Moving eCash between wallets inside the mint is free. The only charges are the fee reserves on spending, over Lightning or on-chain.
| Action | Bitcoin | US Dollar |
|---|---|---|
| Send, receive or swap eCash | Free | Free |
| Deposit over Lightning | Free | Free, priced at Flash's live rate |
| Spend over Lightning | 1% reserve, 2 sat minimum. Actual routing fee charged, the rest returned as change. | 1.5% reserve, 5 cent minimum. Charged in full to cover Flash's fee and spread. |
| Deposit on-chain | Free. The network fee for your own transaction is yours. | Bitcoin only |
| Withdraw on-chain | Reserve from the fee option you pick, about 300 vbytes at its rate. Actual mining fee charged, the rest returned as change. | Bitcoin only |
| Smallest on-chain mint or withdrawal | 10,000 sats | Bitcoin only |
| Largest single Lightning deposit | 1,000,000 sats | $10,000 |
| Request rate | 20 payment requests per minute per client | |
Verify
Check it yourself
Some of this report can be checked from the outside. Here is where to look.
Bitcoin node
The phoenixd node that holds most of the bitcoin reserve. Its one channel, to ACINQ, is funded by an on-chain transaction anyone can look up.
027fcefb0ebf5652630e4e65498a6ffde84053bfd6b797d3c465648d1b7d1b8661Raw report
The same figures as this page in JSON, with a daily coverage low for the last 30 days. Suitable for wallets and dashboards to poll.
Mint endpoints
The mint's public Cashu API lists its software, supported units and active keysets. Any Cashu wallet can connect with the mint URL below.
Scope
Limits of this report
Self-attested reserves report, refreshed hourly. Coverage compares outstanding eCash (the mint's liabilities) with the balance held in each reserve. The operator computes it from the mint database and the reserves' balance APIs.
Cashu has no standard proof of liabilities yet. The bitcoin channel can be checked on-chain through the node above. Confirmed deposits waiting in the hot wallet are reported by the mint itself, and the dollar balance at Flash is visible to the operator alone. This page publishes coverage percentages and keeps the balances behind them private.