is registering a username optional? 100 Lisk is expensive!
100 million coins
4 million market cap roughly
4cents per lisk
am i figuring this right?
Yes, it's optional. It's mostly for the people who want to forge by taking part of the delegation.
Is there a wallet for Lisk? I see the web one but is there a stand alone wallet for it?
Lisk uses brain wallets to create accounts and enabling access to users. There is no local wallet where you can store your LISK (e.g. Ethereum, Bitcoin).