Is the Lightning Network Really the Future of Bitcoin Payments?

[Synchronice]

Stop repeating this nonsense. They are lies. It is very easy to use and it is very similar to the normal crypto experience.

Managing channels? Most users don't need to do anything after opening 1 good channel and that is assuming they use a manually managed wallet.
Managing liquidity ~= managing wallet balances for traditional L1 use. How do people even use this as an argument?

These days there are wallets that do everything for you, all you need to do is send BTC to a BTC address in the wallet. I guess that is too hard for people like yourself. There is very little left that could be done to make it easier to use than it already is.
If you use LN for what it is supposed to be used, you will encounter no issues regarding liquidity. If you use it beyond its intended purpose then you are consciously accepting the extra work needed to make it work. It is not an inherent downside, it is a consequence of your use.

Why is this a nonsense or a lie? Prove me wrong. Let someone sit on a computer (someone not tech-savvy), give them a test Electrum wallet and ask them to make a transaction via Lighting Network.
There is a reason why Lighting Network isn't adopted and widespread, isn't it true? It has been around for 7 years. In case of on-chain Bitcoin transaction, you simply open the wallet, paste address, type amount, click on send and that's it, it's extremely intuitive while LN isn't that intuitive and needs some tutorial/guidence. It might be easy for you and me but we are a tiny percentage, there are lots of people who find it hard to use. If it was easy, as I said, it would be adopted and widely used and people wouldn't look for altcoins to make a transaction.

[betswift]

In my own country, I haven't encountered the Lightning Network in payments. Most people prefer stablecoins, and for larger amounts, Litecoin or Monero are actively used in addition to Bitcoin. Ethereum's L2 solutions enable low-cost transactions. Therefore, the Ethereum ecosystem has won this battle.

I also see more done with stables than with BTC itself, especially on its own chain, imo.

L2s are just the pick for the most because it's the most convenient way.

[Satofan44]

Stop repeating this nonsense. They are lies. It is very easy to use and it is very similar to the normal crypto experience.

Managing channels? Most users don't need to do anything after opening 1 good channel and that is assuming they use a manually managed wallet.
Managing liquidity ~= managing wallet balances for traditional L1 use. How do people even use this as an argument?

Why is this a nonsense or a lie? Prove me wrong.

I explained it in the middle part of the post.

Let someone sit on a computer (someone not tech-savvy), give them a test Electrum wallet and ask them to make a transaction via Lighting Network.
There is a reason why Lighting Network isn't adopted and widespread, isn't it true? It has been around for 7 years. In case of on-chain Bitcoin transaction, you simply open the wallet, paste address, type amount, click on send and that's it, it's extremely intuitive while LN isn't that intuitive and needs some tutorial/guidence. It might be easy for you and me but we are a tiny percentage, there are lots of people who find it hard to use. If it was easy, as I said, it would be adopted and widely used and people wouldn't look for altcoins to make a transaction.

The Electcrum UI is blame, not LN. Using LN on many mobile wallets is as easy as using any L1 chain or at times even easier. Whatever step you think is complicated or extra, a version of this step exists when you are onboarding somebody to crypto for the first time. Onboarding someone first time to Bitcoin/other L1 chains or directly to LN is equally difficult in terms of complexity to use. Minimal difference. There are wallets where all you need to do to start using LN is to deposit Bitcoin. It is hard if your brain is an empty shell.

The adoption thing does not provide points in favor of your argument. You are simplifying a complex topic.

[OcTradism]

The Electcrum UI is blame, not LN. Using LN on many mobile wallets is as easy as using any L1 chain or at times even easier. Whatever step you think is complicated or extra, a version of this step exists when you are onboarding somebody to crypto for the first time. Onboarding someone first time to Bitcoin/other L1 chains or directly to LN is equally difficult in terms of complexity to use. Minimal difference. There are wallets where all you need to do to start using LN is to deposit Bitcoin. It is hard if your brain is an empty shell. ::

Electrum wallet provides feature for Lightning Network but it is not a wallet that only works on Lightning Network. If you want something really designed only for Lightning Network, its feature and UI would be more friendly and better than Electrum wallet.

Just find wallet choices and pick one you like.
The best Bitcoin Lightning wallets.

[franky1]

LN is not a system that just pays the destined recipient. it relies on sharing balance of others along a path to destination

the whole concept/design means the more popular it gets the more the popular routes get balance bottlenecks due to fund depletion of routes.
this then means people need more channels to have more route possibilities which means less funds per route as the funds need to be spread over many channels. OR hand funds over to hub/managers(banks) to manage the payments on their own paths. which both lead to less control of your own funds.

the whole point of LN was that middlemen could not make profit from relaying payments on mainnet bitcoin, so they had to create a problem for mainnet bitcoin to then offer a altnetwork(LN) "promising" to solve the issues.. which they then create more problems on the altnet(LN) to then make profit from users

by requiring the IOU unsettled balance game of route paths. just recreates the old traditional banking system and moves away from the whole point of bitcoin

..
again the more popular LN gets the more issues that become apparent. and the only way around it is a whole new network with a different payment system/mechanism between spender and recipient

LN is not the solution that will succeed as it gets more adoption, things are and will get worse the more popular it gets