Bitcoin's "Lightning Network" is a hobby project that will never gain adoption.
I went to a Bitcoin/Crypto meetup last night in Ubud, Bali which covered the Lightning Network on the Bitcoin Core blockchain.
The complexity of this project is mind-blowing. It requires a nerd-level technical knowledge and unless there's a serious development in its client-facing implementation....it simply has no chance to reach any type of critical mass before other chains out compete it in the micro-payment space.
Now, don't start thinking that I'm some Bitcoin Cash shill. I don't own a SINGLE proof of work (PoW) coin because, like @Dan, I think it's very old tech that wastes capital on unnecessary energy consumption.
You can keep up with the LN's adoption here: https://1ml.com/statistics
Nobody wants to run a bitcoin node and definitely not a LN node. Nobody wants to use 2 wallets (BTC and LN). Nobody wants to have to manage multiple LN channels.
I see a few use-cases left for BTC:
- Safe money (safe from gov actors, the enemy of all free people)
- Store of value (but without the typical utility-driven approach to money)
- Trading pair on exchanges (I expect this use-case to diminish over time as better options like bitUSD become more widely used as a "base currency".
- Financial rail (sending/receiving monetary units, which is getting more and more competitive as crypto evolves)
Here's the link to the presentation slidedeck: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1y8BrJ424CSaNJVmSckpO_5GEN5_UEBMvEMgEMueiAbw/edit#slide=id.gc6f73a04f_0_42
I will say that the presenter was knowledgeable on the subject matter and fairly presented his understanding of LN. I welcomed him admitting that there several aspects that he didn't understand and offered plenty of floor-time to the audience to discuss and ask questions.
Most people have no clue what EOS is about to unleash. I wanted to express my opinions abt LN here on Steem so they are saved forever and when LN fails and EOS is a boss, I can point back to it. It's one thing to predict the future, it's another to have that prediction stamped in a blockchain.
What do you think? Am I missing something about LN that will bring it to mature adoption? Is it so early stages that I'm unfairly judging it's potential?
Choose your coins wisely,
Ashe
If people interested in the world of crypto-currencies start to be delving deeply enough into it to start to consider the "Lightning-Network", they might have just enough understanding to catch on the fact that there are much more powerful cryptocurrency systems out there. The grandfather Bitshares, is fostering some fo the very most powerful projects around right now. In my humble opinion, THE most powerful ones right now: EOS, STEEM and BITSHARES!
Thanks for the information, the sharing of your opinion and the opportunity for us to to the same in regard to this subject, it will make a lot of ink flow for a long time to come...
Namaste :)
I have a few questions:
2)So Bob/coffee shop will only get the BTC stated on the balance sheet once the LN is closed? So am I correct in understanding that the coffee shop won't actually be able to spend the Bitcoin they received from the transaction until the LN is closed?
How expensive is it to set up a LN channel? And how is this done?
How expensive is it to close the LN channel and have miners authorize the signatures?
How exactly do you shut down a LN Channel?
Am I then correct in understanding that the LN channel isn't really for people who want to make one-off payments to businesses?
Are you kidding me? They dont know EOS is about to unleash? What planed have they been living on? Lol.
Wel I hope you spoke to them well about EOS. And as for their lightening project, I don't see how feasible it is. If it requires so much technicality to handle. How many people ready toninvest would understand such technicality ? Well let's see how far they get with that .
That's light. I used to call it a joke that has been taken too seriously.
Your post is spot-on, Ashe!
It's so sad to witness the bitcoin core developers driving good old btc full force into the wall.
LN is completely scewed in terms of economics, and even worse, it also breaks bitcoins economic modell simultaneously.
At some point miners won't make enough through tx fees, the network will become insecure, unstable and ultimately worthless.
On the other hand, as you say, it simply leverages the once in a life time opportunity in eos.
Where Ethereum was still quite similar to Bitcoin, and could have arguably even been built on BTC back in the day, EOS will actually deliver on the new paradigm, promised by ETH.
So cool to be part of that.
I’ve always found the lightning network to be a very strange solution to the transaction scale problem. Essentially it’s a central clearing network for BTC.
But that seems completely counter to the point of BTC.
they say it will be more decentralized, but understanding how these types of things tend towards IT management and non-user friendliness....managing and offering channels will turn in to a business.
I suspected the same, the need to store btc in the lightning wallet not only to use it yourself but for the network to work is highly impractical. i assume btcs worth will be mainly come from amateur interest, holding btc might be like owning one of those railroad share certificates...
Interesting to hear that you don't own any PoW coins, but it's not super surprising. I'm moving that way too.
I see BTC as the gold of the cryptoverse. Big and expensive and not super useful to normal folks like me.
Cool thing about it being here is that if you're wrong, you can be gently reminded later. But I think you're right. I think BTC has been torn asunder as in you episode with Roger and Erik. And here we are on steem.
yep, i wanted to put my opinions and predictions on the blockchain so that people could judge me forever on their merits of accuracy or misjudgement.
I hope we're wrong, but I don't think so. Idk what Satoshi would think. While he'd probably think it sucked that BTC hasn't kept up, but he'd love the other strides the market has made.
BTC didn't stay relevant for whatever reason. Now we have something where we can affect a better system to be even greater. DPoS ftw.
these meet ups will boost the crypto and bitcoin to another level, i think we need to organise such events and meet ups to make people aware about the crypto and the benefits afterwards, this will help crypto grow and more people will invest their precious money in it, by this low graded people will take benefits from crypto as you never know what will be the market price any moments, we just have to believe in cryptocurrency and just invest 😊
this is definately a great post good information without reading tons of text so thanks alot man i dont care what people say BITCOIN is the KING and will always be the king.