I don’t know much about monetization, marketing, or business so I can’t really speak intelligently on those things. The reality is that there are limitations to how much bitcoin can scale both on-chain and on L2s. Custodial lightning solutions are here to stay for the time and they’re quite popular with users. Applying eCash mechanism to bitcoin helps solve some major privacy issues in custodial lightning. It’s very cool technology and fun to design.
Discussion
what is the privacy problem with custodial lightning ?
Mainly that it introduces counterparty risk and the need to trust someone to hold your sats. But since self-custodial Lightning addresses are not easy to set up, it’s hard to avoid. Everyone should learn the difference and how to move sats to wallets where they control the keys.
There are many. A few of the major ones: centralized data collection, allowing providers to profile users. Data could be shared or sold to third parties. Users depend on the provider's security measures, and weak practices can expose funds or data. They’re more likely to be subject to a regulator who might force custodians to reveal transaction data.
For a more detailed dive on lightning privacy I recommend reading to skimming: https://abytesjourney.com/lightning-privacy/