Lightening Network is a Trap?
Just finished reading about Lightening Network on the Internet, to be frank, am not comfortable with what I just saw.
Am beginning to think that Lightening Network is a Government tool or idea to have total control of all Bitcoin.
My questions:
1. Seems like only Signed Contract will be passing through Lightening Network and not the Bitcoin itself, right?
2. Will government be able to cease people's Bitcoin after implementation of lightening Network if they wish to?
3. Is Lightning Network implementation mandatory or just optional?
Here are what am sure will happen if Lightening Network is mandatory:
* Government will be able to Monitor all Bitcoin transaction.
* Every single Bitcoin company will be forced to obtain license before using the Network
* Finally, Government can able to stop all Bitcoin transaction any time & as long as they want.
1. A bitcoin transaction is a signed message, ownership of value is transferred. In the case of on chain transaction, the signed message is broadcasted publicly and it is picked by nodes and validated. In the case of LN, a transaction or a signed message is processed off-chain through hubs using multi-sig, so kind of a double-signed message. Once this transaction is broadcasted to the network it is as valid as an on-chain transaction.
2. I do not get the logic behind this. Almost all major exchanges or wallets are centralized. Take for example, Coinbase, one of the most popular and it is heavily regulated by the government, but still they have a huge user base because people are comfortable using it. There is no complete centralization, more precisely bitcoin users do have a choice, to choose between market-based centralization and decentralization. If someone don't want to use Coinbase, they don't have to, they have options, same thing with LN. Merchants or users who prefer low fee, instant, micro transactions would use it even if LN turns out to be operating on the same level as Coinbase.
3. LN is neither a soft nor hard fork, an additional layer so it is optional.
4. This again seems a bit absurd, the government still can monitor your transactions if they want to.
5. LN is open source, anyone can run a node. I do not know what it specifically has to do with obtaining license.
6. For security, LN is completely dependent on the bitcoin network, it does not have its own Blockchain so basically you are in full control of your funds while using payment channels, even in the event of hack or a hub going offline, your funds are still in Blockchain.
As far as centralization is concerned, there is a possible scenario that big bitcoin businesses, mostly exchanges, like Coinbase would be having a large network of hubs. Is it true centralization? No way, like right now, some people use Coinbase, other Kraken, Poloniex, this centralization already exists. LN is open source so as new businesses start offering bitcoin services this so called centralization would become non-existent.
LN would not make bitcoin more centralized than the current mining scenario.