I think the Lightning Network has the potential to onboard millions of people today, and billions in the future. Check out how to run you're own node, be your own bank with Bitcoin and ignore the unscalable and scammy side "crypto" projects
All of this assuming that the routing problem has been solved and the big hubs (I'd call them banks) are able to serve the transactions from their initial funding and don't have to wait to open channels with more funds.
LN is something that works well in a lab but collapses when used by more people than just a few nerds.
About the whole routing problem and "big hubs" thing – remember, the LN is all about being decentralized. As more users and businesses join in, routing gets better and better, so you won't have to rely on any single big player. Plus, with the LN's atomic multipath payments (AMP), payments can take different paths, making it even easier to send Satoshis around the world. You can run your own node with a 10 year old Thinkpad you can buy on Ebay for $100.
Also anyone with Cash App can send Bitcoin over LN, today. I don't think you would call everyone with that app a nerd, would you? There are farmers, grandmothers and people in the developing world using Bitcoin to survive today, those aren't nerds to me.
Btw it's pretty funny calling other people nerds when you lurk on HN. If you haven't noticed, nerds have been running the world for a while now.
I get the idea and appreciate it. But it's too cluttered with scammers, fraud, and plain money laundering to fulfill its original mission.
I would be happy if it goes down because if it does succeed in its mission, it pretty much means some truly awful human beings will have disproportionate power in our new financial system.
I'd rather not live in a world where Justin Sun owns a large % of my currency supply.
Pick one, it can't be empty and cluttered at the same time
> I would be happy if it goes down because if it does succeed in its mission, it pretty much means some truly awful human beings will have disproportionate power in our new financial system.
Typical HN cope
> I'd rather not live in a world where Justin Sun owns a large % of my currency supply.
It doesn't matter if he owned more than Satoshi, no individual has the power to change the rules of Bitcoin, that is what makes it so powerful
Remind me again what the original mission of Bitcoin was again? It's in the first few lines of the whitepaper if you forgot
