Bitcoin is expensive and high risk. The sensible maintain a concurrent testnet environment.
Running your own node is a 5+ year committment to commercial internet, software updates, and paranoia.
Bitcoin and Lightning Network is not "money". However, sats can be exchanged between wallets instead of money.
Sats, short for satoshis, are the smallest unit of Bitcoin, the same as 0.00000001 BTC.
This node has been around since 2018 and is operated in the spirit of a tornado early warning system. It is one of the longest running nodes on the African continent.
The following are taking you for a fool:
People who get paid in Bitcoin will spend sats.
People who make speculative investments will only spend 100x gains.
The safest place for your money is a savings account. South Africa now has a deposit insurance scheme. Some savings accounts offer up to 9% interest.
The safest place for your sats is a hardware wallet.
You don't have to risk anything to participate.
1 btc != 1 tainted btc
1 epic sat > 1 inscribed sat > 1 sat > 1 tainted sat
Bitcoin might be the best method of figuring out global supply/demand.
It might also be a tool of a major liquidity provider to extract as much value as possible from retail without a gambling license.
It is unwise to think of Bitcoin as a free market. Large players are selling small chunks to ignorant buyers. Market manipulation abounds.
It is prudent to think of Bitcoin as a fee market.
It is better to receive Bitcoin than it is to purchase it.
You can swap from LN to BTC or ETH or some other token using the following services (link opens in new window, no referral codes):
You can also deposit via LN to multiple exchanges like Bitflyer, Bitstamp, Kraken and purchase BTC or other tokens or fiat.