Oddbean new post about login | logout So perhaps a bit of a contrarian here...but...Strike seems to have a viable solution. Essentially seamless (download the app, fund it, and send via lighning or BTC address or Strike account). Downside? Sure there's some fees Strike charges for providing the service - but it solves the problem of setting up and maintaining your own node. But other than that--all the convenience of Lightning with none of the technical hassles for a small fee. Seems (frankly) worth it to me...and perhaps I'm missing something (so would very much welcome the thoughts of others to help educate me if I am). In summary--kind of like Starbucks--you can brew a darn good latte at home, but most of us pay Starbucks for the convenience and saving of the hassle. For me, it seems Strike is doing the same thing for Lightning users....
We can't call it a solution for bitcoin because it's custodial, you don't own the funds, and because it's a business which means they can deny you service.
Oh--I totally understand--and yet I'm absolutely ok with Strike being custodial * IF * all you're doing is loading up a few $$ and using the lightning network for the transaction. It's kind of like an Amazon gift card - put some money into it, and spend that money. And (of course) we wouldn't be using gift cards as a custodian service...no, they're used simply for the convenience of transacting a set amount of money. And so it is with Strike (and I see that as a great service, and a wonderful use case for Lightning). I don't look at Lightning as a failure because it can't do all things well--rather, I think it does a few things * EXCEPTIONALLY * well, and for that we should applaud it--it moves the bar forward, and we'll find other (new) solutions for the other things.
why not use eth systems ?
Proof of stake is pointless
Starbucks sucks. And i still dont understand how people stand to eat garbage. u missing something. With bitcoin u transact w people without anybody else with minimum fee (to serve as protection against double spend and as a service to be include on a ledger). if you have to pay like 50$ or 100$ to be include on a ledger u become more expensive than paypal or other middleman systems. Bitcoin become another fail project that need a middleman to transact. By the way are u dr banjo ?
LOL - I totally agree on Starbucks - don't patronize them personally, but was using them as an analogy. My main point is BTC and layer 2s are evolving, and we can't expect everything to be pefect out of the gate - bu we can expect things to get better. For now, I can see utility in Strike as a platform, and in Lightning (and in Liquid for that matter). We'll get there--just have to keep innovating. (and no idea who dr banjo is, so a "no" to that question :))
So for convenience we urge people to use broken systems. If those things happen more and more. Broken features after broken feature. What will happen ? Strike and Lightning have big broken gaps, the devs tend to let it happen on purpose and want coins lock in those systems. That not gonna happen for a lot of people. They will look for other way to transact, even if 1M influencers say no. Strike are kyc, work w banks. Lightning tend to cost a lot and are buggy. before jumping to conclusion do a little of research paypal vs strike, lightning Dr banjo is a character in futurama XD.