https://github.com/ethereum/research/blob/master/casper4/pap...
It aims for more economically secure public blockchains with shorter confirmation times and less cost (electricity/hardware/inflation). I haven't delved deep enough into it to be fully convinced, but what I've gotten through so far is promising. AFAIK its the only proof of stake algorithm thats been formally documented.
PS: So you don't support Ethereum Classic anymore?
From my understanding, the thing I like about payment channels is that the capacity of the payment channel depends on how much of the cryptocurrency is deposited/locked away under it.
So with everyone competing for a payment channel toll, they have taken large amounts of crypto off the market, constricting the supply, while distributing the marketing out for their own use case, some of which will be successful at increasing the demand. Any limited supply commodity performs the same under these circumstances, up, and that is exciting because the capacity can also scale for the new attention, while the "centralized" payment channels stay optional ways to transact on the network at all.