Thanks to the Lightning Network, it's now possible for Bitcoin to provide instant, cheap transfers to everyone. Adoption for the off-chain scaling solution is low, in part because of the LN's complexity. Now, imagine an scenario where the Lightning Network becomes heavily adopted by people in the mainstream world. It could threaten the existence of traditional payment processors as we speak. While I don't know how much TPS the Lightning Network is able to process, I'm pretty sure it's near close as VISA.
Do you think the Lightning Network will be able to challenge VISA someday? If not why? What if traditional payment processors like PayPal, VISA, and Mastercard decide to run a LN node in the future? Will this benefit Bitcoin in the long run or not? Your input will be greatly appreciated.
Do you think the Lightning Network will be able to challenge VISA someday? If not why? What if traditional payment processors like PayPal, VISA, and Mastercard decide to run a LN node in the future? Will this benefit Bitcoin in the long run or not? Your input will be greatly appreciated.
Honestly, I don't follow this project closely, but I'm aware that many researchers have warned about a privacy vulnerability in the Lightning Network that could reveal financial information about Bitcoin transactions that were thought to be anonymous. Currently, Lightning Labs, Blockstream and ACINQ are the three main teams working on the development of the Lightning network.
And this is not the first time a vulnerability has been discovered in the Lightning network. Some time ago, the technical director of Lightning Labs, Olaoluwa Osuntokun, confirmed cases of common vulnerabilities and weaknesses (CVE), "exploited in [real situations]".
But otherwise you are right and apart from this bad news, this project is very good and there seems to be a great future.