Pubky... A "sovereignty" platform with a four-jurisdiction corporate maze with El Salvador operations, Mexican entity, English governing law, BVI parent. The structure is optimized for the company's protection, not the user's recourse.
John explicitly said in a podcast that they're "based in BVI as a legal entity" for Blocktank and that they deliberately avoided getting VASP licenses because their lawyers are risk-averse. Blocktank is Synonym's Lightning Service Provider product.
I have nothing to win here. I'm just a self admitted retarded pleb. I simply wanted to investigate for the fruit of doing so, to answer my own questions and explore. If it helps other potential end users come to their own conclusion, awesome. Open discourse is always a benefit. The more you know, the better.
So let's compare this Blocktank to Alby...
----
*Custody and Control*
Blocktank: "The Channel shall be a multi-signature address controlled by you and Synonym." Synonym is a co-signer, can refuse your cooperative close, and you may have to force-close and wait two weeks.
Alby for its self-custodial Hub: "Alby does not receive or store... any recovery phrase or private keys" and "At no time do we have access to or control over the lightning channel." Alby is explicitly hands-off. Blocktank is explicitly a co-signer. Alby is more self-custodial by design.
Blocktank channels being 2-of-2 multisig with the LSP as co-signer is actually how a lot of inbound liquidity channels work so it's not unique to Synonym. The fair distinction is that Alby's Hub is non-custodial and hands-off, while Blocktank's product is structurally a co-signed channel.
----
*In Regards to US Persons*
Blocktank flatly bans all US persons. "Prohibited Person" includes any US Person and you must warrant you're not one.
Alby is a Delaware US company that serves US users. So Synonym geofenced out the entire United States to avoid regulation; Alby incorporated in the US and deals with it.
----
*Regulatory Posture*
Blocktank: "Synonym is not registered as a money services business or money transmitter in the El Salvador or elsewhere." Explicitly unregulated, no insurance, El Salvador courts.
Alby: Delaware entity, Polish governing law, Warsaw courts, full EU consumer protections, DSA illegal-content procedures, appeals process.
Alby operates inside regulatory frameworks; Blocktank routes around them.
----
*Jurisdiction and Recourse*
Blocktank: El Salvador law, El Salvador courts, class action waiver, jury trial waiver.
Alby: Polish law, Warsaw courts, EU consumer arbitration options, ODR platform access, district consumer ombudsman.
Alby gives users far more accessible recourse
----
Two Lightning companies, same core business. Alby chose to be a US-incorporated, EU-consumer-compliant, explicitly self-custodial, regulated-framework company that doesn't co-sign your channels and gives you real legal recourse. Synonym/Blocktank chose to be an unregulated El Salvador entity that co-signs your channels, bans US users, disclaims all regulatory oversight, and routes disputes through jurisdictions designed to deter claims.
Neither approach is inherently evil. There are legitimate arguments for permissionless, unregulated, no-KYC Lightning services, and some users specifically want that. But it punctures the same myth. Synonym's structure is a deliberate choice, not a necessity. A competitor in the identical business made user-friendlier choices across custody, jurisdiction, recourse, and regulatory transparency.
The pattern across all three Synonym products (Pubky, Blocktank, and the corporate structure) is consistent: maximum company protection and discretion, minimum user recourse, regulatory avoidance through jurisdiction. Alby is proof that it doesn't have to be built that way.
jaredlogan / Jared Logan
npub19y…v322j
2026-06-02 13:50:59 UTC
Author Public Key
npub19yw8tkfh530kdgfqn782vcga7azgckdn2fjjp3nv5txu6dl3h7lqhv322jSeen on
wss://relay.damus.ioPublished at
2026-06-02 13:50:59 UTCEvent JSON
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"pubkey": "291c75d937a45f66a1209f8ea6611df7448c59b3526520c66ca2cdcd37f1bfbe",
"created_at": 1780408259,
"kind": 1,
"tags": [
[
"client",
"Ditto",
"31990:781a1527055f74c1f70230f10384609b34548f8ab6a0a6caa74025827f9fdae5:ditto"
]
],
"content": "Pubky... A \"sovereignty\" platform with a four-jurisdiction corporate maze with El Salvador operations, Mexican entity, English governing law, BVI parent. The structure is optimized for the company's protection, not the user's recourse.\n\nJohn explicitly said in a podcast that they're \"based in BVI as a legal entity\" for Blocktank and that they deliberately avoided getting VASP licenses because their lawyers are risk-averse. Blocktank is Synonym's Lightning Service Provider product.\n\nI have nothing to win here. I'm just a self admitted retarded pleb. I simply wanted to investigate for the fruit of doing so, to answer my own questions and explore. If it helps other potential end users come to their own conclusion, awesome. Open discourse is always a benefit. The more you know, the better.\n\nSo let's compare this Blocktank to Alby...\n\n----\n\n*Custody and Control*\n\nBlocktank: \"The Channel shall be a multi-signature address controlled by you and Synonym.\" Synonym is a co-signer, can refuse your cooperative close, and you may have to force-close and wait two weeks.\n\nAlby for its self-custodial Hub: \"Alby does not receive or store... any recovery phrase or private keys\" and \"At no time do we have access to or control over the lightning channel.\" Alby is explicitly hands-off. Blocktank is explicitly a co-signer. Alby is more self-custodial by design.\n\nBlocktank channels being 2-of-2 multisig with the LSP as co-signer is actually how a lot of inbound liquidity channels work so it's not unique to Synonym. The fair distinction is that Alby's Hub is non-custodial and hands-off, while Blocktank's product is structurally a co-signed channel.\n\n----\n\n*In Regards to US Persons*\n\nBlocktank flatly bans all US persons. \"Prohibited Person\" includes any US Person and you must warrant you're not one.\n\nAlby is a Delaware US company that serves US users. So Synonym geofenced out the entire United States to avoid regulation; Alby incorporated in the US and deals with it.\n\n----\n\n*Regulatory Posture*\n\nBlocktank: \"Synonym is not registered as a money services business or money transmitter in the El Salvador or elsewhere.\" Explicitly unregulated, no insurance, El Salvador courts.\n\nAlby: Delaware entity, Polish governing law, Warsaw courts, full EU consumer protections, DSA illegal-content procedures, appeals process. \n\nAlby operates inside regulatory frameworks; Blocktank routes around them.\n\n----\n\n*Jurisdiction and Recourse*\n\n \nBlocktank: El Salvador law, El Salvador courts, class action waiver, jury trial waiver.\n\nAlby: Polish law, Warsaw courts, EU consumer arbitration options, ODR platform access, district consumer ombudsman.\n\nAlby gives users far more accessible recourse\n\n----\n\nTwo Lightning companies, same core business. Alby chose to be a US-incorporated, EU-consumer-compliant, explicitly self-custodial, regulated-framework company that doesn't co-sign your channels and gives you real legal recourse. Synonym/Blocktank chose to be an unregulated El Salvador entity that co-signs your channels, bans US users, disclaims all regulatory oversight, and routes disputes through jurisdictions designed to deter claims.\n\nNeither approach is inherently evil. There are legitimate arguments for permissionless, unregulated, no-KYC Lightning services, and some users specifically want that. But it punctures the same myth. Synonym's structure is a deliberate choice, not a necessity. A competitor in the identical business made user-friendlier choices across custody, jurisdiction, recourse, and regulatory transparency.\n\nThe pattern across all three Synonym products (Pubky, Blocktank, and the corporate structure) is consistent: maximum company protection and discretion, minimum user recourse, regulatory avoidance through jurisdiction. Alby is proof that it doesn't have to be built that way.",
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}