I would like to see more info on the L2 that is likely to be chosen for this, as I have a hard time seeing how forum/messaging apps like we want to build would be viable at scale with the scalability of a blockchain, even if L2. Not just in terms of transaction costs, but also settlement time. It should be at near network-speeds, which I always expected the network’s native token would provide.
That would require every node operator to first do a bitcoin transaction to open a lightning channel, AFAIK. After that it could be quite cheap, but it’s a significant threshold for many to start running a node in the first place. During times of mempool congestion, opening (or closing) a channel can be quite costly too.
The Foundation will operate its own Ethereum nodes and provide a default RPC endpoint that nodes can use to read blockchain data.
I assume it can also be used as a relay to broadcast transactions to the Ethereum network.
Isn’t this what might paint a target on your back, like the Tornado Cash dev? It is my understanding they went after him because he continuously and actively facilitated (even on a rather minor/superficial level) illegal activity of others and profited from it, without making a serious effort to filter out the illegal activity.
Running an Ethereum node is not trivial, so the foundation node would likely become by far the most used one. If that node is pointed at as facilitating (even if just routing) the bulk of payments for public data uploads, the authorities might try to hold you responsible for uploaded illegal
public data:
Although Pertsev cannot dictate how users interact with Tornado Cash directly through the blockchain, he and the other developers were in de facto control, the prosecutors argued, because they operated the web interface through which the majority of transactions were fed.
Just replace “web interface” with “Ethereum node”.
Developing and releasing privacy preserving tech that is truly decentralised and out of your control is as of yet not illegal in most of the West (not sure about the UK). Keeping your fingers in the pie of even a small, but mostly-centralised component is likely to end poorly once your product takes off.
Our old experimental Project Decorum Wallet worked roughly like that, I think that it would still be possible. But yes, you would still need to pay the network to upload the transaction data with the ERC20 token.