Hi @Hanssen, thanks for pushing on this. I agree this needs to be very explicit.
For the current milestone scope, Dular is not trying to make every mobile/USSD pilot user run an independent Fiber node. The current architecture is operator-managed, because the target users are mobile money users who should not need to manage node uptime, channels, or watchtowers.
So yes, in the hosted mode, multiple users may route through the same Dular-operated Fiber node pubkey. That pubkey represents the Dular Fiber receiving/routing endpoint, not a separate always-on Fiber node for each user.
To avoid confusion, I will describe the registry more precisely as:
phone number → Dular user identity + Fiber receiving endpoint
In the pilot, each user can have a distinct Dular account/user identity, while the Fiber endpoint may be Dular-managed. In a later non-custodial version, the same registry can point to a user-owned or separately hosted Fiber node pubkey.
On external Fiber interoperability: yes, I agree this is important. By the end of the current milestones, Dular should include a Fiber interoperability flow.
- Send to non-Dular Fiber user: user pastes/provides a Fiber invoice, Dular debits their Dular balance and pays the invoice through the operator-managed Fiber node.
- Receive from non-Dular Fiber user: Dular generates a Fiber invoice tied to the Dular user account, and once the external Fiber payment succeeds, Dular credits that user’s balance.
This means Dular users still get the simple phone-number/USSD experience, but assets are not trapped inside Dular. They can enter and exit through standard Fiber invoice flows.
So the final architecture for this grant should be understood as:
- Mobile/USSD users do not run Fiber nodes themselves.
- Dular operates the Fiber node/channel infrastructure during the pilot.
- Internal phone-number transfers can remain abstracted for UX.
- External Fiber invoice send/receive should be supported so Dular remains interoperable with the wider Fiber network.
- A future fully non-custodial version can move from Dular-managed endpoints to user-owned or hosted per-user Fiber nodes