Cryptocity - Crypto your way

#1

I want to share some thoughts on the way forward for the Cryptocity initiative.

I feel we should lean into the idea of pluralism. That there is no one way of “doing crypto” that is the best, just many different ways, each with their own logic and benefits/challenges.

So we could create content on the subject of stacking sats/holding Bitcoin and compare it with the “spend & replace” or “Bitcoin circular economy” mentality which is more focused on mass adoption and Bitcoin on Lightning Network as real money for everyday use. (What are the pluses and minuses of each approach? And does it need to be “either/or”? How to strike a healthy balance between the two approaches?)

Next, we could talk about what are the various user-friendly ways to buy crypto and spend it at Cryptocity locations, most of which are currently Lightning Network acceptance locations.
Method one would be to buy Bitcoin and bridge it to the Lightning Network. And then spend your sats via a custodial wallet such as Wallet of Satoshi, Coinbase or Strike.
Method two would be to buy some NIM and send it to your Nimiq Pay app and spend your NIM from there - the NIM to BTC LN bridge allows you to spend your NIM at all BTC LN acceptance locations.

I honestly don’t think either method is better than the other, they are just two different methods which will appeal to different crypto users, depending on their level of technical know-how and also their priorities. Method one is probably a bit easier for the beginner and a good place to start. Method two is still easy to learn, and a good choice if a self-custodial payment method which is censorship-resistant is important to you. (Note: I feel it is okay to leave self-custodial Lightning Network out of this conversation, as that is far from being user-friendly!)

What do people think - I welcome feedback and additional new ideas from my friends in the Nimiq and Cryptocity communities!

#2

I think LN is still a thing (in its niche) only because BTC is a 2 trillion usd asset.
By its own, it doesn’t satisfy any of the properties you would be looking for, in money: such as being a cold stored bearer asset, for both “offline” and online payments, that you can direct to any receiver for any amount.
LN fails miserably in all these scenarios I described.

#3

I don’t disagree with any of what you just wrote. However, I am interested in the idea of the Cryptocity project going “all-in” in LN right now. The reason for this would be to leverage the network effect of LN, which is vastly more established than that of NIMIQ. So basically Cryptocity is mainly a way to bridge the divide between maxis/LN and NIMIQ. Cryptocity starts out as a LN acceptance zone, but NIMIQ continues as the lead partner.

Look at it this way. If NIMIQ had a direct route to mass adoption, they team could just have created a NIMIQCity. But they don’t, so Cryptocity it is.

If not by going all in on LN, I am interested to hear your alternative strategy as to how Cryptocity and NIMIQ gains mass adoption.

In any event, thanks a lot for engaging with my forum post!