Originally I was just going to make it about liquid and ecash and not mention spark and ark, but I ended up throwing them in at the end there because I wanted to get to what I think was the problem in my own mind.
More and more in Bitcoin, I see people using unilateral exit as the self-custody test. But self custody clearly means at least this much more:
no one else can move your onchain coins
no one can prevent you from transacting onchain
We might say that the Coldcard victims got rugged and an eclipse attack on your node means you can't transact, but onchain bitcoin presents the strongest resistance to these risks, and it seems to me that even Ark weakens these (as does Lightning).
So why should ark be custodial and lightning not? I'd say because lightning is a permissionless network, while joining an ark is a permissioned entity. That seems to me to be enough of a difference to make me more cautious about the self-custodial properties than I once was.
As to Spark, it really seems more like a legal convenience than anything.
(Also to be clear, I love ecash and have no problem with using custody in circumstances where it makes sense).
Originally I was just going to make it about liquid and ecash and not mention spark and ark, but I ended up throwing them in at the end there because I wanted to get to what I think was the problem in my own mind.
More and more in Bitcoin, I see people using unilateral exit as the self-custody test. But self custody clearly means at least this much more:
We might say that the Coldcard victims got rugged and an eclipse attack on your node means you can't transact, but onchain bitcoin presents the strongest resistance to these risks, and it seems to me that even Ark weakens these (as does Lightning).
So why should ark be custodial and lightning not? I'd say because lightning is a permissionless network, while joining an ark is a permissioned entity. That seems to me to be enough of a difference to make me more cautious about the self-custodial properties than I once was.
As to Spark, it really seems more like a legal convenience than anything.
(Also to be clear, I love ecash and have no problem with using custody in circumstances where it makes sense).