Earlier quoted context omitted.
Lightning - a fast, instant, bitcoin layer 2 network - is perfectly sufficient for micropayments. Volatility is a no-issue in this case, as you can freely trade the 5 cents in realtime into other assets and minimize holding time of BTC. You will loose the spread, ofc.
the problem with lightning is: 1) it requires you to open a lightning channel. So you need some amount of initial investment (which usually means you need a credit card and an account on a bitcoin exchange), not just any computer which is the issue that using mining shares solves. The initial investment is my main grudge, as it is way too much friction for 402 Payment Required applications. Also as bitcoiners like sz…
2) it is at least as private as cash. If you withdraw cash from an ATM, the serial numbers are linked to your account. But you can simply spend that cash and obtain it from people you know and transact with, in which case it is private. So yes, if you acquire lightning from an exchange, it is not private. But those lightning transfers you receive outside from an exchance, are untraceable and private. And where you send/spend them too is always private and untraceable.
I am not opening libertierian and freedom-of-money discussions, it is all about being able to facilitate micropayments over the internet. In contrast to traditional banking and credit cards, lightning serves that purpose quite well because it is decentralized because it is based on bitcoin.