I just spent the weekend setting up a Lightning Node to learn more about the network and see what the experience would be like for the everyday user. I have to say, as much as I wanted to like it, I think the Lightning Network is nowhere close to being ready for everyday users and feels so far away from Bitcoin that I hated every bit of it.
Setting up the server isn't too terrible if you are familiar with Linux and terminal commands. I opted for this tutorial here, which tells you how to install a Lightning node on a raspberry pi. It is a great tutorial but the process was still a pain in the ass. I know these things will likely be ironed out down the road and we will have a simple install solution but right now I think it is disingenuous of people to say "Lightning Network is here".
OK, hours later my node is up and running and I want to test it out. Well... I have to wait for 6 confirmations on the block chain just to get started. This means around an hour until I can even start to use the network. I did it wrong and had to close and reopen a channel. I had satoshi that a friend sent me using a wallet called Blue Wallet and I wanted to send it to my node. I guess I missed the memo and I needed to send enough BTC for spending and receiving. I kind of get it but I have a question about this down the line. So I had to restart the channel connection and that took another hour. No I can finally withdraw my funds. What a confusing pain in the ass.
Over on /r/bitcoin I have seen people advocating for the app I mentioned called Blue Wallet. I thought I was using the lightning network myself when I was using it but guess what, it turns out that it is a custodial wallet and it has full control over your bitcoin. Why are people advocating for this? I thought the entire point was to have a trust-less system!
So here is a question I have. Let's say I am a merchant who wants to use the Lightning Network. If I estimate I will earn 0.1 BTC in 1 day does that mean I need to have more than 0.1 BTC in my remote total BTC? Wouldn't I have to refil this every day in order to receive transactions the next day? What if I earn more than expected, doesn't that mean I cant receive payment over LN? What if I live month-to-month and thus cannot have funds just lying there in the network. Am I just out of luck?
I really wanted to like Lightning, I was really excited to get up and running but the more I did research and the more I messed around with it the more it felt like I was using some hacked together system where I had to put so much effort, trust and money in order to use.
Am I missing something here? If I'm wrong about anything I'd love to know.
No comments:
Post a Comment