[gruez]

>Also how could someone in El Salvador run a node without reliable electricity and internet?

A lightning node doesn't need to be on 24/7. To prevent your counterparty from stealing your funds you only need to be online every 2 weeks (or never if you use a watchtower service). Syncing is also fast, so 1 hour of internet access/electricity should allow you to catch up 2 weeks of blockchain history.

>Also remember that the hardware cost of a full node is likely more than a month’s wages.

Are there no thin wallets for lightning?

[jasonlaramburu]

Right but the node needs to be online anytime you transact, correct?

[gruez]

Yeah that's a fair point. You probably[1] need to be online to make a transaction, but you can potentially have a thin client setup where you communicate with a hosted node somewhere, but the signing and stuff is kept on-device. This allows you to make transactions in the case where power is out, but your phone still has internet access. I don't live in el salvador so I'm not sure what the frequency of power outages is relative to telecommunications outages, but at least in the US cell towers and landlines run on backup power so they're up even when there's a blackout.

[1] For maximum convenience it's mandatory, but it's conceivable to update the state of a channel entirely offline. This would allow you to make offline transactions with a node you have a direct channel to, but multi hop transactions (ie. transactions with nodes that you don't have a direct channel to) would still be a hassle.