Paul Sztorc says Bitcoiners are fooling themselves about Lightning

The longtime Lightning critic claims custodial services handle more than 80% of payments and compares the pitch to the Theranos scandal Bitcoin developer Paul Sztorc has reopened one of the oldest arguments in Bitcoin. His charge is that the community is lying to itself about the Lightning Network. On October 4, 2026, Sztorc claimed that custodial Lightning services account for more than 80% of all Lightning payments. He then compared the way those services are promoted to the Theranos fraud scandal.