Zaps should be multi-blockchain. You only want Monero zaps? Only want fiat cbdc USDT zaps? Only want onchain BTC/lightning/cashu? All should be acceptable. Open competition between Zaps.
Ideally they'd also be interchangeable. So the recieving party always gets their desired Zap in wallet and the sender uses their desired type. Atomic swaps would be ideal.
People should be free to do whatever stupid thing they want to do, but doing this just complicates the experience for everyone and further it just doesn't make sense.
Clients would have to add code (=bugs) to handle this, UI would have to be redone to make this reasonable, it fractions the network into multiple pieces that will be harder to keep in sync, protocol becomes more complex to implement. Even if you are Monero or whatever supporter you should be able to see how this would hurt a lot of people and make the overall progress slower.
If you need the other coins for whatever reason then your wallet can do the swapping. Like Blink wallet allows you to swap sats for "stable" balance in the wallet. I bet Monero wallets do the same. If that's possible and easy then there are no reasons to update the whole stack just to add couple of these coins.
It certainly would not be simple, though I do think this is the "ideal" to strive for. Zapping should be a more universal and simple experience than any other digital payment currently existing.
Why? Zapping is not anonymous, it requires sending event to relays with your identity, etc...
That is true for LN, but LN is not the only potential user for Zaps.
No, the zaps spec specifically requires sending the transaction details (sender and receiver) to relays. Like that's literally the point of zaps. Read the spec for zaps I shared.
That's why I said that this doesn't really make sense.
I am proposing an expansion to the concept of Zaps. Anon Zaps or publicly relayed Zaps. Routing would depend on the asset zapped and user preference.
I could send direct P2P wallet Zaps or route through a publicly viewable route or route anon. Automatic signing to publicly prove Zap ownership.
I understand this is not the current concept of a Zap, but it is what should be developed imo. Any asset, any chain, any npub.
I can get into why that's a waste of time separately, but let's say you do that - why don't you just use lightning network for the transfer and routing and swap the coins in the wallets for whatever each side desires? That's possible today without changes.
The interesting thing about lightning network is that as soon as sender and recipient confirm that they received what they wanted, the transaction is settled. They could transact cows or bubblegums and the lightning network would settle those.
While it is a possible solution, I find the Lightning Network to be an inferior option for use cases where privacy, custody, and censorship resistance are critical for an average user.
Also, assuming my hypothetical was actualized, it would be a superior option to limiting Zaps. I have no ill-will against Zaps as they exist. I am simply offering what I view to be an expanded use.
