Evan Kaloudis, an expert in making freedom money easy to use, discusses interesting topics such as the challenges of including music in podcast feeds, the upcoming cycle of the bear market, disappointment with Twitter, the release of Zeus version 0.8.0 beta one, the significance of noster keys in Zeus easy mode wallet, privacy discussion, trade-offs in technologies, and the Phoenix wallet.
Zeus Easy Mode simplifies the process of using lightning addresses and receiving lightning payments, lowering the friction for users to set up lightning addresses and receive payments in a self-custodial and trust-minimized manner.
Zeus Easy Mode charges a fee for channel opens but allows free payments within open channels, providing easy access to lightning addresses and enhancing privacy by allowing users to choose whether or not to broadcast Zap events.
The Zeus team aims to improve the user experience on the Lightning Network by adding splicing support, supporting taproot assets, and providing easy on/off ramps between different currencies, while emphasizing user empowerment and financial freedom.
Deep dives
Zeus Easy Mode: Lowering the Barrier to Entry
Zeus Easy Mode is an embedded node feature in the Zeus wallet that simplifies the process of using lightning addresses and receiving lightning payments. With Zeus Easy Mode, users no longer need to set up and maintain their own lightning node. Instead, the Zeus servers serve up hodling voices with 24-hour CLTV expiries. Users can generate a pairing of a hash and preimage to unlock payments and submit a hash of the preimage to the servers. The Zeus servers then serve up hodling voices with the attestation that can be redeemed within 24 hours. This feature significantly lowers the friction for users to set up lightning addresses and receive payments in a self-custodial and trust-minimized manner.
Zeus Easy Mode Fees and Benefits
In Zeus Easy Mode, users are charged a fee for channel opens, with a 10,000 sat fee for the first channel up to 1 million sats. For channels over 1 million sats, a 1% fee is charged. However, once a channel is open, users can send and receive payments for free within that channel. Furthermore, Zeus Easy Mode provides easy access to lightning addresses, enabling users to receive payments asynchronously and enhancing privacy by allowing users to choose whether or not to broadcast Zap events. The overall goal is to provide users with a seamless and user-friendly lightning experience with an emphasis on self-sovereignty and privacy.
The Future of Zeus and Lightning Network
The Zeus team aims to continue improving the user experience on the Lightning Network. They plan to add splicing support, enabling seamless channel growth without the need for additional channel opens. Additionally, they aim to support taproot assets (TapAssets) and provide easy on/off ramps between different currencies. While there may be potential for central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) on lightning, the Zeus team emphasizes the importance of maintaining the core principles of Bitcoin and focusing on user empowerment and financial freedom. They are committed to creating a robust lightning network experience and providing the best payment solution while advancing self-sovereignty and privacy.
Trade-offs between Zeus and Phoenix
Zeus and Phoenix have different trade-offs. Phoenix is faster to start up and knows users' on-chain transaction data, while Zeus has better sender privacy and does not reveal payment destinations. Both wallets have their strengths and weaknesses, but Zeus aims to provide a better overall experience.
Addressing concerns about Lightning vulnerability
While the Lightning vulnerability is concerning, Evan believes it can be mitigated. One solution suggested is to make changes to how signing off on HTLCs is done. Node operators can also avoid the attack by being selective about who they peer with. However, Evan acknowledges that protocol-level changes are needed for a more robust solution. Despite the concerns, Evan remains confident that brilliant minds in the community will find ways to mitigate vulnerabilities and ensure the network's resilience.
