{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","author_name":"Tom Harding [ARCHIVE] (npub1ms…pmwjy)","author_url":"https://nostr.ae/npub1msef5qkfwz4t7qacwxz775wgdtlytph78g2g2z903x90874u263sypmwjy","provider_name":"njump","provider_url":"https://nostr.ae","html":"📅 Original date posted:2015-08-09\n📝 Original message:On 8/4/2015 4:27 AM, Pieter Wuille via bitcoin-dev wrote:\n\n\u003e Don't turn Bitcoin into something uninteresting, please.\n\nConsider how Bob will receive money using the Lightning Network.\n\nBob receives a payment by applying a contract to his local payment\nchannel, increasing the amount payable to him when the channel is closed.\n\nThere are two possible sources of funding for Bob's increased claim. \nThey can appear alone, or in combination:\n\n\nFunding Source (1)\nA deposit from Bob's payment hub\n\nBob can receive funds, if his payment hub has made a deposit to the\nchannel.  Another name for this is \"credit\".\n\nThis credit has no default risk: Bob cannot just take payment hub's\ndeposit. But neither can Bob receive money, unless payment hub has\nadvanced it to the channel (or (2) below applies).  Nothing requires the\npayment hub to do this.\n\nThis is a 3rd-party dependency totally absent with plain old bitcoin.   \nIt will come with a fee and, in an important way, it is worse than the\ncurrent banking system.  If a bank will not even open an account for Bob\ntoday, why would a payment hub lock up hard bitcoin to allow Bob to be\npaid through a Poon-Dryja channel?\n\n\nFunding Source (2)\nBob's previous spends\n\nIf Bob has previously spent from the channel, decreasing his claim on\nits funds (which he could have deposited himself), that claim can be\nre-increased.\n\nTo avoid needing credit (1), Bob has an incentive to consolidate\nspending and income in the same payment channel, just as with today's\nbanks.  This is at odds with the idea that Bob will have accounts with\nmany payment hubs.  It is an incentive for centralization.\n\n\nWith Lightning Network, Bob will need a powerful middleman to send and\nreceive money effectively.  *That* is uninteresting to me."}