Fair point, I do see node operators as businesses that will eventually have to make a profit or close their operations.

The distinction I’d make between node operators making money and banks making money is that the business of operating a Lightning node is open to anyone.

In Canada, we have only 5 major banks and creating a 6th is nearly impossible. All 5 have the exact same service offerings, and no incentive to compete against one another. That leads to awful customer service and incredibly high fees.

I hope LN node operators do make money, but I also hope the barriers to entry remain low. This will lead to intense competition that incentivizes node operators to maintain high uptime, good liquidity, and reasonable fees.