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76 sats \ 6 replies \ @fishious 31 Jan \ on: Are SN users using CoinOS and other apps helping or hurting these app devs bitcoin
Not a dev, but IMHO stress testing custodial wallets just leads to their demise more quickly and shows how custodial is not meant for mass usage. And from a user's perspective, jumping from one custodial app to another gets really annoying. Devs should just focus on building self-custodial solutions like AlbyHub or at least build apps that gradually upgrade a user from custodial to self-custodial.
Custodial solutions has its place for specific use cases like initial onboarding of merchants, which Coinos was perfect for, but it should have stayed small and local. It would be a shame if non-merchant users degrade the service to the point where it becomes unusable to actual merchants.
from a user's perspective, jumping from one custodial app to another gets really annoying
For sure. Normies won't do that. They will just quit. We aren't ready for normies to use bitcoin like the currently use fiat layer twos.
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We aren't ready for normies to use bitcoin like the currently use fiat layer twos.
That's what I keep saying on and on. The UX of LN is still terrible. It's good for hackers and maybe acceptable to technically-inclined people but it takes a very determined normie to get into it, presently.
One thing you can't deny fiat is how easy it is to use.
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Its on the right path though. Custodial lightning wallets are pretty easy to use but the ecosystem needs more stress testing and scale testing. We'll get there but only if people use it and if we keep growing that user base. The Internet was harder to use in the past than it is today. Everyone uses it now. I have no doubt we will get there.
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But custodial anything is ultimately antithetical to Bitcoin. What I mean by "UX of LN is terrible" is in the self-sovereign context:
- It's hard (and somewhat expensive) to run your own node.
- Want to be an Uncle Jim? If it weren't for Darth's tutorials, you'd be outta luck.
- "Why can't I be zapped when my phone is offline?"/"Why can't I zap when they're offline?" (Fiat is, of course, fully asynchronous.)
- "How many more keys and passwords do you want me to manage?" (They end up writing them on paper and screwing up.)
- "LNURL, BOLT11, BOLT12, NWC, can you invent more tech, please? My head is not hurting enough." (Only shows that this is still hacker-space.)
I agree, 90% of the technical garbage needs to be hidden away. Like understanding SSL, TLS v1, v2, etc. vs "Is there a green padlock?"
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Good points. Don't disagree. Also most people don't care about self-sovereignty at all. That's not gonna change. I just want those that do care to be able to do it. All that said making the sovereign tools easier to use has a way to go for sure.
Sovereign bitcoin isn't for everyone but it should be accessible to everyone. Its not currently. It is for on-chain IMO but not L2.
Darth's guides are great but I was able to get up and going without the guides, but again I'm the uncle Jim type. Darth's guides did help me level up quicker. Wish I had found them sooner.
The future is bright. We need to keep using the tools and promoting others do the same. Just know your audience. Few people in my life are ever gonna do what I have done. Getting them to download and use Zeus wallet is my goal for the most part.
Edit: I'm optimistic because its come so far in the last 5 years. Still have a long way to go but we are moving in the right direction. Gonna take time.
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Coinos has made LN considerably easier to use...but agree its not ready yet to fully replace the fiat payment channels.
With Coinos you do not need to be technically inclined and it still reliably works.
Yes fiat is easy to use but it is already established and accepted in peoples everyday lives and thinking whereas LN is a new alternative which takes time to understand let alone accept.
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