Lightning Network solution, is it really any different than the current system we have in place already with banks and intermediaries or is there something new here I am not seeing?
In my mind, Lightning Network is very similar to Hawala: If you can't pay the recipient directly, you can get your friend, or friend's friend to make the payment.
What is the real deal behind BCH and BTC? Searched a lot on this one and seems the evidence points at BCH as being the original but maybe that is just all of the hype and money behind it?
BTC was approaching a fork in the road - it needed to scale to handle more transactions. BCH forked off first with the plan of scaling via bigger blocks. BTC forked off later with changes to enable scaling via a second layer network (Lightning Network.) Neither coin is the original. In short, BCH chose the simple short-term fix, BTC chose the complex long-term fix.
THIS IS AWESOME! I Know Hawala! I lived in Kuwait for three years and learned all about this system of payment as well as what WASTA is! Haha. In the middle east, knowing people, especially powerful people, and having a good relationship with them is itself a payment system. You can do so much with WASTA. IF you have none you will have a tough time.
Also, the fork in the road issue is very interesting to me. This community is full of people solving problems but then it seems as if once the money was being made everyone forked off in their own direction to grab the cash. Correct me if you feel that is not the right way to think about it but it seems like all this forking really dissolved the credibility of the forked products and the core.
In the end, the one that will succeed is the one that can fit the all the stakeholders' demands/requirements. One of the biggest to concern oneself with is that of the governments of the world. Governments exist for reasons beyond the comprehension of most people, not the least of which would be the necessity. Every try managing a team of 5? Most have not. Now consider 500 million or 5 billion...There is a need for government as there is a need for currency. I am excited to see how it all plays out.
Will the long-term fix come out ahead or will it be the short term fix!