Lightning is ten years old and almost nobody I talk to has even heard of it yet. I’ve run a node since 2021 and I’m convinced most people will never do this. They still think shitcoins are worth something. At least this gives them a way to transact on bitcoin without having to take the equivalent of a technical certification course. Is it perfect? No. But it’s a way in.
I remember 2016 very well. We had the second halving that year, along with the Block size war and the hard fork the following year. Max Keiser was predicting $14k USD/BTC...
I've been running lightning nodes since 2018. It's been an honour to 'protect and to serve'...
Thank you for your service. 🫡
I never understood Lightning until I had time during Covid in 2020-2021 to explore it. I was introduced to it by people like nostr:npub1337xxyne0pw52zgd984xqqs2q7qhqpt7phhn7xp6t9yt406vrvescdpkdt, nostr:npub1t9204xhx6yeln607xccd4t24auxzgwyw63s5s6ju5qlhhk33eyes05agf4, nostr:npub14actrvwqkhfg7f9p8hf3h7ea5r509c8pkltklyxyvl5kfl08gpuqjtnayx, nostr:npub1ktnh0jp8ugppt6g94wgtdkqatwztuklkdj2yec6fgd2qk33w5d3q3z7kn3 and nostr:npub1rjwndr7zf6z5nn3djh46v09nfwptxclnqdkepsfwtuf6lc5cr7aqcue0yg on Clubhouse. I was one of the early members of Plebnet, and once I joined Nostr, a few of us decided we needed to form our own group here, so nostr:npub1hxfkcs9gvtm49702rmwn2aeuvhkd2w6f0svm4sl84g8glhzx5u9srk5p6t was born.
Every day I am reminded how early we still are.
It's an honor to have been part of your journey 🔥
Why do we always have to onboard to bitcoin all the idiots and lazy people?
Personally, I’m trying to save the people I care about from economic ruin and I don’t care if they don’t have the time or skills to run a computer 24/7 and keep channels balanced.
Lightning is awesome I've had a channel open for over a year and my zeus wallet connects and I can spend in the wild.
I just get worried thinking about risking a lot on it because it's so complicated to back up channels and haven't found a solution besides asking for cooperative closing.
I wonder if there could be a way a watchtower could back up your node or something like that.
I don't understand server back ups to keep the latest channel states and don't ever want to get penalized.
Don't feel bad think about linux jails lots of people never heard about it & it's been around since 1999.
Obviously not many people run lightning node; you have to manage channels and liquidity, backup properly, take losses during force close, etc. Money should just work otherwise it won’t reach masses.
Nonetheless, I think it’s okay to not know these things. Lightning or on-chain, it’s bitcoin in the end. We bitcoiners have to build UX that is seamless; we should abstract all this multi network system (liquid, lightning, spark) in the backend.
Exactly. Lightning is a value transport rail. It’s the language that binds together multiple systems and makes the UX seamless and the complex magic invisible. It’s not necessary or even possible for everyone to use it in a fully sovereign way. For those who choose to, they have the best options available. We can do this without belittling the uninitiated.
Also shitcoins are worth something. You can check the price of each of them.
When I say worth something I mean worth saving in. Sure, they’re fine for gamblers, but not for your friends and family.
I agree that Bitcoin is worth saving in. It's digital gold. It's defo not a spending coin, it never will be. Numbers all bear this out. Best you've got is a little performative spending, like here on Nostr.
Other coins get a value bump from being coins that actually have a future as a medium of exchange.
It’s far too early to make that call.
Was too early in 2016. In 2025 it's blindingly obvious. Every day that goes by bitcoin loses more and more ground in the MoE race (despite winning the SoV race), and that loss of ground can be measured. So if we have 10 more years of losing ground every day, then what? One day in the 2030s it stops losing ground? Then 20 years of making up for all the lost ground, and we're back to where we are today in relative relevance? And then little by little gaining some ground each year? Could happen, but we'll all be long gone before bitcoin is a MoE contender. Anyway point is things are clearly going backwards.
People want frictionless payments, lightning is heavily frictioned.
Even top Bitcoin, and lightning experts have complained how frictioned of a system it is.
And it's like 80%+ of people who don't self-host their own channels, most people use custody services.
I tried using Zeus myself as well but I decided that using Strike was just easier to do instead.
I know, x, y, and z but if the Feds are going to arrest me for buying pecan butter, and soap then they're being lame weenies.
For, 90% of the global population most will gravitate to L1s that work easily, or utilize centralized custodial services.
Very few, if any will ever utilize self-hosted methods due to the high cost, and technical knowledge required for a fractional improvement in Bitcoin usage.
>zeus is easy
https://video.nostr.build/cbaa2d4182e2eaaa8fdd2498953538cc5b57cf7a5a1021e63e5dfbc7a5ccec32.mp4
I didn't say Zeus, is or isn't easy.
I imagine it's better than other Self-Custody solutions but after losing $500 of Bitcoin in lightning purgatory, I'd rather hold a financially regulated institution with engineers liable like Strike for lightning transactions than deal with the hassle of decucking my own Bitcoin whenever lightning breaks.
Zeus is an amazing product, Lightning, not so much.
True. It's the one defi tech that actually works.
