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I'm not an expert on lightning network, but couldn't Visa position themselves as a central hub for lightning network transactions, so that most people can open
by cwkoss 6y ago
I'm not an expert on lightning network, but couldn't Visa position themselves as a central hub for lightning network transactions, so that most people can open a channel to Visa and they act as the clearing house for keeping all of those channels balanced?
I'd never want to send large BTC amounts through visa, but I would trust them enough to facilitate <$100 transactions for a ~3% fee (with some potion profit and some towards tx fees).
Or heck, maybe consumers don't need an actual channel, just let me send Bitcoin out on credit and pay my monthly balance with BTC. Maybe only channels to vendors that receive payments are necessary.
Not sure how much demand exists for this, but "We are the #1 facilitator of Bitcoin transactions" would probably be great for Visa's stock price if they could achieve it.
- imtringued 6y agoThey could just build their own LN replacement. Why be a cog when you can have control over your journey? The reason why crypto people love crypto is also the same reason why companies hate it. If you give people control then companies lose control. Think of a WoW cash shop on Ethereum. Blizzard would have much less control over it than a central cash shop.
- kevinak 6y agoThey could and they probably will if LN keeps growing. You wouldn’t need to trust VISA at all, LN is “trustless”. They would just be a cog in the wheel, like all the other LN “nodes”.
- rawtxapp 6y agoThey could, the big difference is they would just be another player on the lightning network payment channel, perhaps a very big player, but not "own the whole layer" kinda big.