I personally think that HC should not be abandoned, are a good and easy way to onboard new users that cannot afford straight away a full UTXO for opening a LN channel.
Discussion
It is also useful to spin up and mantain a secondary node, which one could use for higher risk stuff like NWC, LNbits, etc. There was poncho by nostr:nprofile1qqsrhuxx8l9ex335q7he0f09aej04zpazpl0ne2cgukyawd24mayt8gprfmhxue69uhhq7tjv9kkjepwve5kzar2v9nzucm0d5hszxmhwden5te0wfjkccte9emk2um5v4exucn5vvhxxmmd9uq3xamnwvaz7tmhda6zuat50phjummwv5hsx7c9z9 but I am afraid it is abandoned.
HC was great, but failed and we should let it go.
Currently Cashu serves as a replacement for hosted channels with some disadvantages, but also with many advantages, the biggest one being that it could in theory work without Lightning.
I think one core goal of nostr:nprofile1qqsyv47lazt9h6ycp2fsw270khje5egjgsrdkrupjg27u796g7f5k0spzemhxue69uhk2er9dchxummnw3ezumrpdejz7qgwwaehxw309ahx7uewd3hkctcprdmhxue69uhkummnw3ez6vfwde3x7tnpdenkzmnf9e3k75xqss4 with the Hub is to get rid of all potential legal burdens that come with custody. I believe they checked into HC, but those don't really help in that regard.
It’s so nice to see you on Nostr.
I’ve been learning a lot from you on SN.