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Re:Visa moves to allow payment settlements using cryptocurrency by gruez on Monday March 29, 2021 @03:06PM (#26626750)
>creating a big business opportunity for middlemen

...or decentralized settlement networks like LN.

Re:Visa moves to allow payment settlements using cryptocurrency by suikadayo on Monday March 29, 2021 @03:56PM (#26627359)
Not really decentralized when people have to rely on third party apps like Strike to open channels for them, or they have to open the channels themselves while both users are online. It’s a mess from a usability standpoint.
Re:Visa moves to allow payment settlements using cryptocurrency by alexmingoia on Tuesday March 30, 2021 @02:48AM (#26631795)
Decentralized =/= middlemen. Relying on a third party isn’t centralization.
Re:Visa moves to allow payment settlements using cryptocurrency by Robotbeat on Monday March 29, 2021 @03:58PM (#26627384)
...which again provides an opportunity for middlemen.
Re:Visa moves to allow payment settlements using cryptocurrency by CharlesW on Monday March 29, 2021 @04:06PM (#26627490)
> ...or decentralized settlement networks like LN.

Not very, though. Lightning recentralizes the Bitcoin blockchain to improve efficiency.

"10 percent of [Lightning] nodes control 80 percent of funds on the network." — Bitcoin’s Lightning Network Is Growing 'Increasingly Centralized,' Researchers Find[1]

[1] https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoins-lightning-network-is-growi...