Part 7/11:
Furthermore, Greenlight can handle incoming payments transparently—even when the user's device is offline—by sending reactive pings to wake the node temporarily. It provides the same user experience as custodial wallets like Wallet of Satoshi or Strike, but with greater sovereignty.
The Balance Between Decentralization and Infrastructure
A nuanced discussion emerged about decentralization. Decker acknowledged that while Greenlight increases user sovereignty at the individual level, it does centralize parts of the infrastructure—namely, the operation of Blockstream’s servers. This tradeoff is accepted as a pragmatic step to facilitate mass adoption, especially for those who find full node setup daunting.