0 sats \ 0 replies \ @random_ 1 Nov \ on: Lightning fee syphon lightning
In this scenario, the merchant is pretending to have an expensive intermediate with no alternative?
The merchant may get less business if they make it too expensive just to pay them.
You do highlight a possibility in the future where merchant nodes are held hostage by intermediates to receive payments. One would expect that those willing to make these payments in the first place might also open direct channels to the payment destination. But this is not always economical.