The way I see it, e-cash mitigates SELF-CUSTODIAL lightning risk.

A couple years ago, I tried sending sats to a few podcasters every 6 blocks with Oak Node on Umbrel . It worked, for a while. Then it broke. I lost ~ 800k sats.

It's not the end of the world, but it still sucked.

So if I open my own channel, I only do it with money I can tolerate losing, maybe a million sats or so. 

I'm also okay with a 800k sats on an e-cash wallet like Mutiny. That's about the sweet Nash equilibrium g-spot I'm lookong for. 

I've lost 800k sats running my own lightning node(well more 🤣), so risking 800k sats on e-cash is +EV from a game theoretical standpoint. 

The number is subjective, so it will vary with each individual, but that's how I look at it.

Besides, e-cash on a federated mint has a better risk profile than leaving it on an exchange. 

It's good for people who stack small amounts(i.e. newcoiners) or money you plan to give away like tips or zaps. If you get hacked, it's not the end of the world.