Bitcoin University just released a video about the Liquid Network.
I've seen in the past certain stackers calling Liquid a straight up shitcoin, but that's not at all the message of the video. It is, in my opinion, a fairly balanced summary of what it does and what the risks are.
I personally think calling it an "L2" is a stretch, and "side-chain" is more appropriate. Interestingly, Matthew compares Liquid to Fedimints, and I think it's fair, given the rugpull risk model. Albeit the Liquid Network Foundation members are much more distributed than your average Fedimint manager would be. (That being said, I'm having trouble finding the list of "functionaries", i.e. key holders of the Bitcoin-side assets and network block signers.)
Also, Liquid Network, as it describes itself, is purpose-built for asset issuance, which can range from "useful" tokens (I consider tokenization of real-world assets such as property, stocks etc. to be "useful") to straight up shitcoins (USD included, Tether is prominently advertised).
Liquid does not ultimately solve the scaling problem of Bitcoin, just provides extra "bandwidth" for transacting and it too could get saturated with activity. This is unlike Lightning, which scales Bitcoin itself by orders of magnitude, but of course has its own set of problems/trade-offs.
Personally, I recently pegged in some sats into L-BTC and keep it on my Jade. I think it's a good way to cheaply top up your Lightning balance via Boltz as needed, which I've tested out successfully.
I'm wondering what do y'all think about Liquid. Do you use it? Do you think it's a scam?
I'll post for Darth since he's probably at the citadel. From #318849:
He forgot balancing lightning channels using liquid
I like it so far - have used it with Aqua. I did have an issue with one stuck transaction for 24 hours but now resolved. I'm a fan of Adam Back and Blockstream so fairly bullish.
Great on-boarding tool. Great for DCA, great for daily spending. Works great in combination with lightning.
Legit.
Liquid is a great tool that bitcoiners should try out - have it in your 'toolbox'.
A key differentiator for Liquid v Lightning, is that Liquid does not require online infrastructure whereas Lightning does. I use both, and as others have pointed out, boltz.exchange is great for atomic swaps between Liquid and Lightning. I don't think Lightning obsoletes Liquid, although the publicly discussed use case for Liquid (fast private liquidity between exchanges) appears now better handled by Lightning.
As Bitcoin grows, the use cases evolve and change, and so do the tools that deliver against them. boltz.exchange is a good example. So, my advice is run it, use it, understand it, and then you've got the skills to use it if/when you need it .. or the understanding to say: not for me.
I can’t tell if hatred of liquid is hatred of Blockstream
“Liquid does not ultimately solve the scaling problem of Bitcoin, just provides extra "bandwidth" for transacting and it too could get saturated with activity.“
Liquid federation members could agree on increasing the blocksize. Also Lightning could run on Liquid.
I was wondering if he posted any videos about liquid
Matt K explains things well without trivializing important technical and economic details
Fundermentally I think liquid has a lot of key advantages over lightning. But I feel it's positioned more for institutions than pleb.
Trade-offs.
Always trade-offs.
Permissioned.
I feel like liquid was implemented far ahead of its time. When bitcoin starts to have consistently high fees is when liquid will start to see more serious adoption and its value will become more obvious, imo.
Boltz shows how useful it will be. I imagine with high fees many people will progress from lightning -> liquid -> bitcoin as they stack sats
i think liquid is fine, but once you learn how to use lightning the use cases get pretty small. it literally is only useful imo as a bridge to lightning in certain circumstances.
Good summary, including the risks and shitcoinery.
Every shitcon can do the same, as liquid...