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100 sats \ 3 replies \ @scampy 26 Oct 2022 \ on: Why not just build Stacker News on traditional financial rails? bitcoin
Ease of use. Once onboarded to Bitcoin, spending / receiving sats is far easier than fiat (instant settlement, no clunky card details, I can even login via lnurl through my mobile wallet).
This is a biased view though, as it is ease of use for you i.e. someone who is already a bitcoiner.
Imagine that you're not a bitcoiner and want to use SN (and login via lnurl). First you need to buy bitcoin, probably on an exchange that requires an account and KYC. Then you need to set up a lightning wallet, withdrawal your bitcoin from the exchange, and setup a lightning channel. Oh, you used a wallet that doesn't support lnurl-auth? Now you need to install a second wallet. All of the above take time and learning, which you're taking for granted due to being a bitcoiner.
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Oh I agree, hence "once onboarded". For the average person there's the initial hurdle of buying and learning Bitcoin. This is not trivial.
I'm more thinking about the user experience for someone already familiar with the space. For me and you, using SN is smoother due to the reasons I outlined.
Let's be fair though: If you assume the user needs to be onboarded onto Bitcoin, we could also compare that to the fiat onboarding experience (many in the world are unbanked). I think it's also fine to compare the always-custodial fiat with custodial Lightning, which is easier than running one's own channels etc.
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Still a lot easier than getting started with a credit card :)
You do not need KYC for getting Sats either, plenty of faucets around to get a small amount!
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