Is this really a plausible concern for the next years/decades? How could that problem be mitigated?
It is possible that transaction fees on the Bitcoin network could become high in the future, which could make it more expensive for normal users to open and maintain channels on the Lightning Network. This could lead to a more centralized system, as only users who can afford the high fees would be able to participate.
as LN gets more popular. it then requires each node to then have more channels(to avoid centralising to only partner with "hubs""factories" to ensure they have route exposure to may payments
more channels=more open/close sessions unless people "lock up" for lengthier periods and not close each day/month/year
the altnets business plan is to take people away from using bitcoin and not return for a year.
LN is a flawed sub network and not even one that is locked to only function with bitcoin. its lack of protocol/monetary policy security makes it just a silly niche service for silly small amounts.
yes other new subnetworks will flourish and offer a better monetary policy with value security. but LN isnt it
However, there are several potential solutions that could mitigate this problem. One solution is to increase the block size, which would allow for more transactions to be included in each block and therefore lower fees. Another solution is to implement a fee market that would allow users to bid for priority in the block confirmation process.
Additionally, there are several other layer 2 solutions being developed, such as the Plasma and the Optimistic Rollup, which are designed to enable scalability, increase the number of transactions that can be processed per second, and reduce fees.
Overall, while there is a risk that high transaction fees could make it more difficult for normal users to participate in the Bitcoin network and its layer 2 solutions, there are also several potential solutions that could help to mitigate this problem.
yep more transactions per block = less users pay individually..
if miners require $1 per tx of ~2000 tx =$2k
if miners require $0.25 per tx of ~8000 tx =$2k
and simply removing the cludge of "scale factor" to allow full (new rule) 4mb space can then allow 8000tx. without much hassle
as for fees formulae
instead of everyone bidding on "highest wins"
a fee formulae can be introduced and can be enforced(yep code can do that.. becasue yep its code)
whereby someone spamming blocks with UTXO spends of under 1day age pay higher fee to "win" compared to a UTXO that is older that can pay a lower fee to "win" thus solving and penalising the spammer only and not the normal people