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   Alex Gleason (alex@gleasonator.com)'s status on Tuesday, 30-Jan-2024 11:06:04 JST Alex Gleason
   As I'm learning about Bitcoin Lightning, I'm seeing some major red flags. To use it, you need an account with a service provider. It's a username/password type of custodial account. Then, the node has full control over your funds. They could shut down without warning, or transfer your funds. The only way to actually have control is to run your own node, but doesn't that defeat the purpose of Lightning? The whole point is to allow many users to transfer tiny amounts of money a lot, eg zaps. To me, it seems that Lightning nodes have all the problems of Mastodon. Imagine the problems of Mastodon, except it's your bank account. That's bad. What am I missing?
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     Sayar Tyler :fediverse: (sayartyler@toots.tylerdavis.xyz)'s status on Tuesday, 30-Jan-2024 11:14:14 JST Sayar Tyler :fediverse:

     in reply to

     @alex The solution: Use Monero. (Disclaimer: I don't use Monero, but I think this is supposed to be the contrarian response)

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     Gabe (gabriel@mk.gabe.rocks)'s status on Tuesday, 30-Jan-2024 11:14:59 JST Gabe

     in reply to

     @alex@gleasonator.com What am I missing?That it's potentially possible to run your own LN node, you're supposed to run things like embassy / umbrel that makes it easier for people. Because DNS all these basically have to run through Tor.
     
     There's a (terrible) argument that custodial LN providers are fine because "it's only small amounts" and will in theory allow you to cash out to actual btc. I would argue half of the problems with LN is that it's a separate system and not built into btc full nodes directly, but this ignores a whole host of other issues.
     
     I'm a doomer on btc in general until something magical happens.

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     Klink :antiverified: (klink@poa.st)'s status on Tuesday, 30-Jan-2024 11:36:26 JST Klink :antiverified:

     in reply to
     @alex I thought self-custodial wallets like mutiny are an option to avoid both self-hosting and relying on third parties
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     Alex Gleason (alex@gleasonator.com)'s status on Tuesday, 30-Jan-2024 11:36:26 JST Alex Gleason

     in reply to

     • Klink :antiverified:
     @Klink Mutiny is fascinating. I don't completely get it yet.
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     𝕃𝕦𝕔𝕒𝕤 (lucas@toot.coinfundit.com)'s status on Tuesday, 30-Jan-2024 11:57:29 JST 𝕃𝕦𝕔𝕒𝕤

     in reply to

     @alex Noooo how can you question Lightning!! We must uphold the comforting lies we tell ourselves that make us believe we're decentralized anarcho-capitalists for the sake of not paying on-chain fees.

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     Karnage (1bc70a0148b3f316da33fe3c89f23e3e71ac4ff998027ec712b905cd24f6a411@mostr.pub)'s status on Tuesday, 30-Jan-2024 11:59:48 JST Karnage

     in reply to
     I wouldn’t call a custodial lightning node “your bank account”, more like a daily spending wallet. But yeah, there’s always the risk of rug.
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     Alex Gleason (alex@gleasonator.com)'s status on Tuesday, 30-Jan-2024 12:07:36 JST Alex Gleason

     in reply to

     • Karnage
     @1bc70a0148b3f316da33fe3c89f23e3e71ac4ff998027ec712b905cd24f6a411 It's reasonable to keep a few hundreds of dollars in your wallet, but still a significant amount to lose. Yes you're always at risk of getting robbed keeping cash in your wallet. But if an entire zip code gets robbed at once, it would stir a controversy and undermine trust in the system.
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     Alex Gleason (alex@gleasonator.com)'s status on Tuesday, 30-Jan-2024 12:09:04 JST Alex Gleason

     in reply to

     • Karnage
     @1bc70a0148b3f316da33fe3c89f23e3e71ac4ff998027ec712b905cd24f6a411 I'm imagining the fallout of getting a popular community like Poast on Lightning, and then most users getting rugged by some third-party service.
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     pogrommer :sonnenrad: (pogrommer@poa.st)'s status on Tuesday, 30-Jan-2024 13:53:20 JST pogrommer :sonnenrad:

     in reply to

     • Sayar Tyler :fediverse:
     @sayartyler @alex
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     Alex Gleason (alex@gleasonator.com)'s status on Tuesday, 30-Jan-2024 14:53:55 JST Alex Gleason

     in reply to

     • zero escape
     @zero Is Bitcoin Cash really even on the table at this point?
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     zero escape (zero@nightshift.social)'s status on Tuesday, 30-Jan-2024 14:53:56 JST zero escape

     in reply to
     it sounds like bitcoin cash is what you want for small and fast bitcoin transactions.