Bitcoin developer compares Lightning Network to Theranos fraud case
- —Sztorc says custodial services process over 80% of Lightning payments, a figure that cannot be verified
- —River: $1.17 billion across 5.22 million transactions in November 2025, averaging $224 per payment
- —Transaction count is about 20% below the 6.6 million peak of August 2023
- —Amboss simulation shows 99.66% success rate for $100 payments
Why it matters: The dispute over custodial share undercuts Lightning's core pitch of self-custodial, low-cost payments.
Source: Newsbit