I'm mostly curious about data services over lightning and how that'll work out. Things like https://sphinx.chat, all the podcast sat-streaming apps, https://impervious.ai. It feels like what's mostly unlocked here is pay-immediately-as-you-go which provides:
privacy and censorship resistance
lower transaction costs (potentially)
finality for provider
better payment onboarding UX for users already onboarded to Bitcoin/Lightning
spam/DoS prevention
I'm probably missing stuff, but in theory the market values these things - it doesn't seem like enough yet to come to Bitcoin but perhaps when they're already in the ecosystem.
I don't game, but I'd like to see how https://zebedee.io/ works in practice and how it feels to earn sats gaming.
Technical Developments
I'd love to see us move to the eltoo (#811) update mechanism. It'd greatly simplify Lightning implementations and unlock some stuff that's impossible or too cumbersome with our current update mechanism.
Offers is definitely high on my list too. That and dual-funding and liquidity ads I think have the potential to greatly improve the UX of running a node and services on top of nodes while maintaining a high degree of decentralization. However, I guess you could say they complicate the protocol which might be undesirable for obvious reasons. It seems like there's a debate between the two most popular implementations, lnd and c-lightning, on where these features belong (but I'm just speculating given what I see on twitter).
Payments
The killer app for Lightning remains global, instant, and cheap relatively large payments/transfers IMHO so I'm always looking for things that improve that UX. Custodially it seems like Strike is the leader here and non-custodially Muun.
Edit: I'd like us to do more of these discussions. People appear comment shy for some reason.
Data services is something that is more of hard to setup as an issue than anything else.
I made this guide to setup Lightning on Umbrel for a Podcast sat streaming because we didn't have one for the space. I mean we did but not easy for a newb. I would say we still need more easy newb documentation and also more easy fiat on ramps even platforms we don't think need them before we get the no-coiners using it. Why I think the fountain podcast app, hit it out of the park they literally cater to both no coiners and lightning podcast listeners at the same time. Without sacrificing experience or design. They get it.
Data services
Rewards/incentive programs
Play to earn
Technical Developments
Payments