As much as I think this is a useful development for a lot of people, especially in the developing world - it’s also a huge banner for regulators that says “CHECK HOW OBVIOUSLY MONEY TRANSMITTING WE ARE!”

If Lightning is left to only bitcoin, I think it can be more easily argued that it is separate and unique in construction and should also be in the regulatory framework. But if it’s being used to move dollars around, I think we lose a massive edge in maintaining that perception. All they will see is a dollar payment network where they cannot see into all of the accounts, can’t KYC every user, and can’t freeze the payments. And they will do everything they can to gain that level of control, and far worse likely, if they have such a clear target. nostr:note1c7y74c0zc0w0njarysn59ep9agda2e6r568xfu20s6w7px0rllsqtk3yc7