⚡️IS LIGHTNING FAILING TO SCALE BITCOIN?

Paul Sztorc (@truthcoin) says yes — calling it a “giant failure” and arguing its real-world usage hides deep structural flaws.

Alex Gladstein (@gladstein) disagrees, citing real adoption via @binance, @primal_app, @Square, and human rights work.

Their debate on What Bitcoin Did (@_DannyKnowles) dives into whether Lightning’s issues signal failure — or just growing pains.

Sztorc points to high fees, poor privacy, liquidity headaches, and reliance on custodians as evidence Lightning can’t scale.

Gladstein sees a tool that’s imperfect, but improving — and already helping real users today.

Sztorc promotes drivechains as the real solution, saying they “teleport to the finish line.”

Gladstein sees potential but notes they remain theoretical.

Still, both agree some hybrid future could emerge — where Lightning (@lightning) acts as connective tissue between various layers like drivechains (@LayerTwoLabs), federated sidechains (@Liquid_BTC, @rootstock_io), rollups (@citrea_xyz, @AlpenLabs), Ark (@ArkLabsHQ), statechains (@lightspark), ecash mints (@CashuBTC), federated ecash systems (@fedimint), sovereign Lightning users, and more.

🔑 QUOTES:

“The federated model is just about the worst thing to happen in Bitcoin’s history.” – Sztorc

“I thought Lightning was for end users. I changed my mind.” – Gladstein

👇 Full deep dive on @Protos linked in the replies.