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0 sats \ 4 replies \ @028559d218 11h \ parent \ on: Bitcoin has a Brand Problem bitcoin
Because of the lack of MoE and the presence of ETFs?
Honestly, because the revolutionary spirit that created Bitcoin seems to have died out.
The end of fiat is and must be the goal. Is that what you see Bitcoiners working toward today? Or are they too busy using Visa debit cards that give Bitcoin rewards, and developing fiat loan businesses using Bitcoin as collateral, and developing ETF's. How many Bitcoiners have used BTCmap.org? How many are actually running their own nodes, including managing their own LN channels? How many are actively working to support local businesses accepting Bitcoin instead of ones that don't? How many are willing to take up arms against their government for attempting to tax Bitcoin transactions? There's no revolution anymore..... peaceful, or otherwise.
"The colonies would gladly have borne the little tax on tea and other matters, had it not been that England took away from the colonies their money, which created unemployment and dissatisfaction. The inability of the colonies to get power to issue their own money permanently out of the hands of George III the international bankers was the prime reason for the revolutionary war."
- Benjamin Franklin's autobiography
Maybe the next generation will have the guts to STOP using fiat and take up arms if need be. But this one doesn't.
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How many Bitcoiners have used BTCmap.org? How many are actually running their own nodes, including managing their own LN channels? How many are actively working to support local businesses accepting Bitcoin instead of ones that don't?
Dude I have done all of these things. I have traveled long distances to 'try Lightning out' and it worked. Was it absolutely perfect? No.
It felt like internet in 1998 or something. But it fundamentally did what it was supposed to do, all my transactions went through, and imo it's way better than fiat money, paper money that is printed up at no cost.
I too am concerned about blockspace 'utilization' and the demand for blockspace long term... but this is year 16 of 130.
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I instantly love you. And that's an awesome writeup about Lugano. I hope to go there soon.
I have a similar setup as you. Start9, not Umbrel. And I'm using Zues. I have successfully used it in multiple countries, even though my node is running in the US.
I used to get an RPC failed connection error on Zues, ALL the time. But it has greatly improved.
However, my brother's new node is the exact same as mine, with the same software versions running. His Zues fails to connect whenever he's not at home. Their home internet SUCKS compared to mine. But slower latency shouldn't completely stop it from working.
Another anecdote: When I went to Roatan last year to spend Sats, my node at home had a small issue. It was brand new, and needed a manufacturer update immediately when I got it to prevent it from shutting itself down every 10 hours. I wasn't aware of this, and left for my trip. Once I got there, I was in the dark. I couldn't use my Lightning wallet, and was forced to purchase some on Strike to use wherever I went. It was a huge bummer.... and a huge lesson. Nothing beats Layer 1 for ease of use and reliability.
Also.... LN will be centralized for 99% of people because they will choose reliability and ease over sovereignty. This goes for merchants and individuals.
LN is amazing, I love it. But it's not (yet) the scaling solution we were promised.
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Thank you. I went to Lugano to find out 'the truth' in other words... how does all this stuff really work? Because there are uh conflicting opinions, from some Stackers much less the crypto community at large which obviously doesn't want Lightning to work because their coin has little purpose at that point.
Lightning in Lugano worked really well. I paid from my own node and the connection was finicky, it took maybe 30 seconds to connect to my own node (this was over TOR on a cellular connection on another continent) but all my payments went through.
When I hear people say that Lightning is 'centralized' I politely want to disagree... because I coinjoined my UTXOs then opened Lightning channels with them. I only needed a few and I was able to pay in another country.
I remember playing that video game Rainbow Six in like 1998-1999 when I was a kid and the connection was terrible, I was playing it on a like... Pentium II LOL. It was really janky and each round was slow to load... and like half the time you never knew what was going on! And 'we' didn't really understand the internet I/we only knew enough for basic functionality and it was wonky.
But it was the beginning and I look at Lightning the same way. It's kinda... slow to load but once you get it up and running it's really cool. I get Zeus notifications on my watch at work when I get an LNAddress Zap I think everyone will want that eventually.
I also paid with Lightning in the Netherlands a few places with my node plus another phone node and everything went through. Everyone is concerned about inflation and debasement well here is a solution
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