#lightning will properly take off when merchants realise they can save them selves a couple % per transaction by avoiding the usual card processors.

It seems all the infrastructure is there, but its not going to be utilised until bitcoin is treated like the cash it was designed to be. I'm not sure how we get around the regulators on this one.

I don't really want to be sending merchants sats if they are just going to swop them immediately for fiat, I may as well just use that in that case.