vitalik was a bitcoin developer. he was going to extend the functionality of bitcoin and the other developers were too busy blocking the stream to sell liquid. they had to get rid of him. fast forward today and EVM based solutions have more bitcoins deposited into them than the whole lightning network and several independent teams are desperately trying to staple the EVM to the bitcoin network to make up for lost time. ethereum literally gets used more to transact bitcoins than lightning and liquid. it's absolutely pathetic and it could have easily been avoided.

while that was going on, bitcoin lost its grip on the black market by failing to deliver solid privacy and a good enough UX for ecommerce. while the bitcoin developers were busy zapping each other and licking 9-volt batteries for fun, everyone on the DNM forums learned to avoid bitcoin. they wrote it out of all of their guides. when newcomers arrive asking questions, they are warned that they must never use bitcoin. markets that allow bitcoin are treated with suspicion, and markets that don't allow it at all are more highly recommended.

everyone who pushed this lightning garbage should be held accountable. bitcoin dominance could have easily stayed over 90% if not for lightning. the worst part is loads of people warned against lightning ahead of time. they all said this would happen and they were met with extreme hostility.