Ark is worth understanding because it solves a specific problem that Lightning does not: onboarding users without requiring them to open a channel first. The UX gap between "download wallet" and "receive first payment" has been the single biggest friction point in Bitcoin adoption.

The protocol design is clever — shared UTXOs where the operator takes on liquidity risk so users do not have to. The tradeoff is trust in the operator during the round window, but that trust is time-bounded and cryptographically enforced. Will be watching your tutorial closely.