Angel Crypto Investor Roger Ver and Lightning Network Supporter Tone Vays: A Look at the Debate

During the just concluded 2-day Malta AI & Blockchain Summit from the 23rd – 24th of May 2019, there was an interesting debate between Roger Ver, one of the pioneering Bitcoin angel investors and Tone Vays, a Bitcoin/Blockchain Researcher.

BTC Vs BCH Trading Fees

Ver, a strong Bitcoin Cash supporter who often describes BCH as “a version of Bitcoin”, which to some level is accurate, being that they both have similar trading history as well as properties, though many may disagree.

Tone Vays, on the other hand says that he transacts with BTC every day and pays 5 cents frequently as transaction fees.

Ver claims that with Bitcoin Cash, the transaction fees are less than a cent, an easy and cheap way of leaving an exchange. In the past Litecoin was used for similar purposes, but even then, the average fees on BTC didn't range above $1.

In response, Vays states that the BTC fees are not as pricey as Ver claims, $3 is too high a price to pay to perform a Bitcoin transaction.

But then Tone Vays makes a case that is very contrary to the blockchain and economic system in general. He said:

“If you really need it on-chain, you will have to pay a higher fee. Which, actually, I don’t mind paying a 20-cent fee. I like supporting the miners which are keeping our system secure.”

Firstly, at the moment, 20 cents is less than the average transaction fee. In the last 24hrs the average transaction fee is about $4 or 50,000 Satoshi. Adding that we expect people want to “support the miners”.

The Miners Lose

That was an empty point in the debate as it contradicted the last minute or so of his argument.

He had just stated that Lightning Networks would be used for everything, to enable lower trading costs and increase trading volumes.

In an environment where majority use Lightning Networks, the miners profit less down the line than they would if on-chain transactions where utilized.

Lightning Networks Sovereignty

The issue of Bitcoin Lightning Network sovereignty was also discussed.

Only by operating your own node can one ever be truly sovereign in the Lightning Network, which in reality is close to impossible, as this will mean over a million personal noded being operated by over a million personal users, which is obviously unrealistic.

In reality, we simply have a few major service providers.

Decentralized SPV Wallet

However, Roger Ver points that the Simplified Payment Verification (SPV) Wallet System used currently by BTC and BCH, is one of the best methods of managing a lightweight crypto wallet is still way more decentralized than a Lightning centered system.

Many Bitcoin Cash supporters, including Adrian Barwick, the founder of Honest.cash, have agreed that a need for BCH scaling is eminent.