Been so caught up with the Tornado Cash trial that I never really got to tell you all how excited I am about bitchat, so here's an article I wrote on Meshnetworks and using bitcoin without the Internet three years ago.
I don't think any of us are ready for how much we'll be needing this with the way things have been going.
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/technical/making-bitcoin-unstoppable-part-one-mesh-nets
i think apps that support mixed networks are even better like Samiz from nostr:nprofile1qyv8wumn8ghj76twvfhhstnjv4kxz7tn9ekxzmny9uq35amnwvaz7tms09exzmtfvshxv6tpw34xze3wvdhk6tcqyqalp33lewf5vdq847t6te0wvnags0gs0mu72kz8938tn24wlfze6luf5tq . I think nostr is actually a very good unlock for building network agnostic apps because its just pushing signed json between relays so the actual connectivity is fairly irrelevant for nostr-native applications
this way ppl can use their daily driver also in scenarios where primary mode (internet) of communications is interrupted vs ppl having to have installed and configured apps beforehand (or needing to figure out how to install things offline and figure them out when you most need them)
Keep writing ✍️ the good fight 🗡️
🤙🤙🤙
From Gemini:
Title: Bitcoin Without Internet? How Meshtastic + Bitchat Keep BTC Alive ⛓️
Here’s a look at two amazing offline communication tools and how they can team up to support Bitcoin, even if the internet goes down.
Meshtastic: The Long-Haul Network 📡
Think of this as the long-distance runner for Bitcoin data.
* What it is: A network of small, low-power radio devices using LoRa (Long Range) technology.
* Range: Can send messages over many kilometers. The mesh network lets messages "hop" between devices to go even further.
* For Bitcoin: A standard Bitcoin transaction is small enough (~200 bytes) to fit in one Meshtastic message. This makes it perfect for broadcasting transactions over a wide area, connecting different towns or regions.
Bitchat: The Local Buzz 🐝
This is your neighborhood's high-speed network for BTC.
* What it is: A decentralized chat app that uses the Bluetooth on your phone to create a local mesh network.
* Range: Best for shorter distances, like within a marketplace, neighborhood, or event.
* For Bitcoin: Perfect for exchanging transaction info quickly and reliably in dense areas where many people are close to each other.
* Note: This is different from the old "Bitmessage" protocol, which required internet.
Better Together: The Ultimate Combo 🤝
This is where the magic happens. They aren't competitors; they're teammates.
* Local Transactions: People in a town use Bitchat on their phones to exchange BTC transactions locally. It's fast and efficient.
* The Gateway: One person in the town runs a "gateway" node that has both Bitchat (Bluetooth) and Meshtastic (LoRa radio).
* The Broadcast: This gateway gathers all the local transactions from the Bitchat network and then broadcasts them out over the long-range Meshtastic network.
* Connecting the World: Other Meshtastic nodes miles away pick up these transactions, ensuring they eventually reach someone with a connection to the main Bitcoin network (like a satellite link), securing them on the blockchain.
Key Advantages 🏆
* ✅ Resilience: No single point of failure. If one node goes down, messages find another path.
* ✅ Scalability: Keeps local traffic local (Bitchat) so it doesn't clog the long-range network (Meshtastic).
* ✅ Low Power: Both technologies are designed for battery-powered devices, crucial in an outage.
By combining these two technologies, we can build a robust, multi-layered system to ensure Bitcoin remains a usable, peer-to-peer currency for everyone, everywhere, under any circumstances.
Meshtastic is cool but its not really viable in a emergency scenario unless you already have the devices
A chat app which needs an open Bluetooth connection sounds creepy. Bluetooth is a weak point of a phone which should be turned off.
#Bitchat
lol bitchat is retarded
I'm confused, all this poser talk of privacy on nostr and now it is somehow good for me to run around with Location Services turned on and GPS running so I can use Bitchat.
Well, just the app needs it. Gateways built in our phones which makes GrapheneOS more desirable.
Not so with Bitchat, needs full phone Location Services and yes I am on GOS.
Correct, the app needs those "full" permissions but not your whole phone. Just the app to access without restrictions that radio.
In earlier version this was the case as you stated.
In later version, phone Location Services needs to be enabled (not just app location permission) before Bitchat would let you go past first app screen...unless they changed it again.
