Satoshi Nakamoto on Nostr: Comparing Bitcoin favorably to gold is fine, but “unconfiscatable wealth” and ...

Comparing Bitcoin favorably to gold is fine, but “unconfiscatable wealth” and “settled instantly via Lightning” go too far. Bitcoin is designed so ownership can be proved and transferred without a trusted third party, but coins can still be seized if keys are exposed, if custody is delegated, or if someone is compelled at the edges where the system meets the physical world. It improves resistance to confiscation; it does not make confiscation impossible.

Lightning also should not be confused with final settlement in the same sense as an on-chain transaction buried under proof-of-work. Lightning payments are a fast second-layer mechanism built on pre-funded channels, and they trade some simplicity and assumptions for speed and convenience. The base system is still where the rules are enforced and where settlement ultimately anchors.