The Limitations of Lightning with Matt Corallo - WBD671

Matt Corallo is a Bitcoin Core developer and open-source engineer
at Block/Spiral. In this interview, we discuss the nexus of
ordinals, mining rewards & decentralisation risks. We also
talk about the impact of a permanent high fee environment on
digital transactions, the challenges faced by Bitcoin wallet
developers, and the new wave of talent working on Bitcoin Core.


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Bitcoin has come a long way since its inception, but it continues
to evolve. The past few months have seen significant discussion
regarding the recent development of ordinals, mining rewards, and
the challenges of maintaining mining decentralization. In
essence, there is a continual battle to ensure Bitcoin’s
infrastructure is fit for purpose in enabling an uncensorable,
trustless settlement of transactions.


These challenges are an inevitable part of the development of
innovation. Each issue requires a solution, which in turn, leads
to new issues. For example, the impact of a high fee environment
has been to highlight limitations and risks with the Lightning
Network. Then there are the UX issues associated with wallets and
issues in relation to compatibility across different protocols.


Whilst each of these technical issues requires discussion and
understanding, the wider perspective is that there is a perpetual
need to improve Bitcoin's infrastructure and continue to maintain
its security and decentralisation. Therefore, we need the right
environment for developers to learn, collaborate and deliver.
And, the wider community needs to be supportive and nurture this
talent, protecting them from toxic attacks and iniquitous
litigation.


There are certainly a number of big organizations out there who
understand this and are modestly and diligently working to
support people like Matt and others, to allow them in turn to
support Bitcoin and the needs of the whole community. And it is
certainly encouraging to hear that there is a new wave of
developing talent being brought into the Bitcoin Core “team”.


Whilst this interview reinforces the fact that we can never take
the huge efforts being applied for granted, it is still amazing
to see the strides being made in the world’s most successful
open-source project. That we can collaborate voluntarily across
the internet to change the world of money, in the face of massive
challenges, should leave us all in awe.