4 upvotes, 1 direct replies (showing 1)
View submission: Lightning Network Megathread
Since the purpose of moving funds to Lightning will be commerce, the funds won't be "locked up" per se, but available for your spending use.
I expect many will maintain a Bitcoin "savings account", Lightning "checking account" that funds will flow into and out of on a regular basis, and another Lightning mobile wallet for spending on the go.
Comment by Sonicthoughts at 03/01/2018 at 14:36 UTC
2 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Thanks /u/ophelan - my point is that the Hubs will provide channels for users and need to hold them open with BTC. Therefore if many hubs have channels (I see this like a reserve currency) then that BTC will be locked up and effectively reducing the available supply. I realize that this "could" be temporary, but as I asked earlier for a vision of hubs, I could see some marketplace leaders with large channels open. Once could argue that this is just sitting in a wallet anyway but there is real impact. In fact, this mirrors the Bank Reserve Requirements https://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/requiredreserves.asp[1] which affects the money supply.
1: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/requiredreserves.asp