Maybe a few Nostrasia panels can address things like this? nostr:npub16vrkgd28wq6n0h77lqgu8h4fdu0eapxgyj0zqq6ngfvjf2vs3nuq5mp2va

https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-payments-platform-wyre-shutters-citing-bear-market-conditions

BREAKING news, Bitcoin.Review gripping list of bitcoin software updates. Thanks nostr:npub1qex7yjtuucs6ac49kjujdgytrjsphn5a4pdscu2w3qlprym4zsxqfz82qk and nostr:npub1xv8mzscll8vvy5rsdw7dcqtd2j268a6yupr6gzqh86f2ulhy9kkqmclk3x for joining me! BR040; Alby, Zeus, Nunchuk, Damus, Munity, SATSCARD, App store censorship and more!

https://bitcoin.review/podcast/episode-40/

BUT, Nothing is happening in bitcoin

***

### Housekeeping

- [More NFC card designs@](https://store.coinkite.com/store/category/cards) (SATSCARD/TAPSIGNER)

- [Bare chip with flex PCB SATSCHIP](https://store.coinkite.com/store/satschip) in stock in a few days

- [Satscard.com](https://satscard.com) balance display now does world fiat currencies

- [OpenSats](OpenSat.org) looking for applications

### Security updates

- Damus will be removed from the app store in 14 days [[Announcement](https://twitter.com/damusapp/status/1668529709867495424)]

- Apple says zaps are not allowed on their platform because they *could* be used by content creators to sell digital content

- Zeus v0.7.6 has been rejected by Apple [[Evan K](https://twitter.com/evankaloudis/status/1668892805924544512)]

- "Your app facilitates the transmission of a virtual currency but was not submitted by a corresponding exchange or recognized financial institution. To resolve this issue, please provide documentary evidence demonstrating you have the necessary licenses and permissions to distribute an app with cryptocurrency exchange features in all the locations where your app is currently available."

- MutinyWallet is [live on mainnet](https://twitter.com/Rob1Ham/status/1669329647304155137)

### Bitcoin

#### Software Releases & Project Updates

- Bitcoin Core [25.0](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/master/doc/release-notes/release-notes-25.0.md)

- P2P and network changes:

- Transactions of non-witness size 65 bytes and above are now allowed by mempool and relay policy.

- New RPCs

- Scanblocks allows scanning blockhashes from descriptors.

- Updated RPCs:

- JSON-RPC methods accept a new named parameter called args.

- The verifychain RPC now returns false in certain cases.

- sendrawtransaction has a new optional argument, maxburnamount.

- Build System:

- Removed options --enable-upnp-default and --enable-natpmp-default.

- Ports specified in -port and -rpcport options are now validated at startup.

- Wallet:

- Added minconf and maxconf options to certain RPCs.

- Added a new field next_index in the response of listdescriptors.

- RPC listunspent has a new argument include_immature_coinbase.

- Rescans for descriptor wallets are faster if compact block filters are available.

- RPC unloadwallet now fails if a rescan is in progress.

- Wallet passphrases may now contain null characters.

- Address purposes are restricted to "send", "receive", and "refund" values.

- Changes to the warning field in wallet RPCs.

- Descriptor wallets can spend coins sent to P2WSH Miniscript descriptors.

- GUI changes:

- The "Mask values" option is now persistent.

- The "Mask values" option affects the "Transaction" view.

- REST:

- Added a new endpoint for fetching deployment information.

- Binary verification:

- Updated binary verification script to verify binaries with a threshold of trusted keys.

- Nunchuk

- iOS [v1.9.26](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/nunchuk-bitcoin-wallet/id1563190073)

- Batched transactions

- BCR-2020-010 encoding for Output Descriptors QRs

- Coin ancestry view

- Ability to configure gap limit

- Message signing for Tapsigner and software keys

- Anrdoid [v1.9.31](https://github.com/nunchuk-io/nunchuk-android/releases/tag/android.1.9.31)

- Support for batched transactions

- Coin ancestry view

- Ability to configure gap limit

- Bug fixes and improvements

- Desktop [v1.9.20](https://github.com/nunchuk-io/nunchuk-desktop/releases/tag/1.9.20)

- Fix sync bug

- Improve performance

- Ability to update the inheritance plan and wallet policies

- Fix bug signing with COLDCARD NFC on Windows

- BTC Pay Server [v1.10.1](https://blog.btcpayserver.org/btcpay-server-1-10-0/)

- New Form Builder Drag and Drop UI:

- Simplifies the process of designing personalized forms

- Example provided for creating a custom form for a restaurant use case

- Custom Role System:

- Allows tailoring roles to specific requirements

- Grants staff access to specific permissions within the store

- Hide Sensitive Information:

- Toggle option in Account Settings to hide value fields

- Ensures wallet balance and invoice amounts are masked

- Improved Invoice Filtering:

- Allows setting proper filters to find specific invoices

- Plugin Updates:

- Upgrades and improvements to LNBank, Nostr, and Auto-forward payments plugins

- LNbank v1.6 includes new settings and features

- Nostr plugin optimized for performance and stability

- Auto-forward Payments plugin for redirecting payments automatically

- General Quality of Life Improvements:

- Point of Sale and Crowdfund settings now saved in JSON format

- Improved initial server setup with the first store creation wizard

- Enhanced refund flow to handle overpaid invoices

- Robosats [v0.5.1-alpha](https://github.com/RoboSats/robosats/releases/tag/v0.5.1-alpha)

- CLN (core-lightning) can be used as a robosats coordinator node vendor (experimental)

- Lnproxy feature has been fully reworked

- Chat now supports multiple line inputs.

- RoboSats client should now work inside Blixt's webln browser.

- API requests to POST /order containing important information are now signed by the robot PGP key and validated by the coordinator.

- New Keysend functionality allows RoboSats coordinators to automatically keysend devfund donations for each trade they host.

- Simplified coordinator updates with migrations tracked and applied on first start-up.

- New maker form switch for exact and range amounts.

- Self-hosted node app has been reworked, based on Alpine with reduced size and dropped ram-heavy dependencies.

- Sounds now work on the Android app.

- Added new reviews section to learn.robosats.com.

- New tutorial has been added.

- Added new payment methods: Sinpe movil and Qiwi.

- Ledger [v23.5.2](https://github.com/trezor/trezor-suite/releases/tag/v23.5.2)

- New features:

- Automatic formatting of numbers when sending less than a whole coin (e.g. “.1” to “0.1”)

- Improvements:

- Skip counting fees in day header by smart contracts made on behalf of the user

- Disable second coinjoin address until the first one is used

- Seedsigner [reproducible build](https://twitter.com/KeithMukai/status/1669118339853983745)

- Bitcoin Keeper

- [v1.0.5](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/bitcoin-keeper/id1545535925)

- New Subscription Plans:

- Pleb plan (free) - Allows you to create a 1 of 1 vault

- Hodler - Allows you to create a 2 of 3 multisig

- Diamond Hands - Allows you to create a 3 of 5 multisig Vault

- For the first time ever, introducing Whirlpool for iOS.

- [v1.0.4](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/bitcoin-keeper/id1545535925)

- Whirlpool integration [[Demo](https://twitter.com/bitcoinKeeper_/status/1662482436289069058)]

- Keeper now integrates with Samurai's Whirlpool

- Easily mix your Bitcoin for increased privacy and fungibility

- Redesigned the app's interface to provide a more intuitive and user-friendly experience

- mynode [v0.3.18](https://github.com/mynodebtc/mynode/releases/tag/v0.3.18)

- Add button to reset LND macaroons

- Add button to reset thunderhub config

- Add settings file to control electrs index_limit

- Enable mempoolfullrbf in default Bitcoin config

- raspiblitz [v1.9](https://github.com/raspiblitz/raspiblitz/blob/v1.9/CHANGES.md#whats-new-in-version-190-of-raspiblitz)

- New: Automated disk image build for amd64 (VM, laptop, desktop, server) and arm64-rpi (Raspberry Pi) details

- New: Fatpack & Minimal sd card builds details

- New: I2P support for Bitcoin Core (i2pacceptincoming=1) details

- New: CLN Watchtower (The Eye of Satoshi) details

- New: LNDg v1.6.0 details

- New: Support of X708 UPS HAT details

- New: BOS Telegram Bot Support (see OPTIONS on LND Balance of Satoshis menu entry)

- New: LightningTipBot v0.5 details

- New: ↬lnproxy cli shortcut and server details

- New: Homebanking Interface FinTS/HBCI (experimental) details

- New on WebUI: Jam (JoinMarket Web UI) v0.1.5 details

- New on WebUI: Generate/Download Debug Report from Settings

- Parmanode

- [v3.3.5](https://github.com/ArmanTheParman/Parmanode/releases/tag/V3.3.5)

- more educational material

- [v3.3.4](https://github.com/ArmanTheParman/Parmanode/releases/tag/V3.3.4)

- Tool to import other ext or FAT32 drive to parmanode (Linux only)

- electrs [v0.9.14](https://github.com/romanz/electrs/blob/master/RELEASE-NOTES.md#0914-jun-10-2023)

- Fix 'server.version' support for version range

- Allow not waiting for block download before sync

- Bump bitcoind version used in CI

- Prefix Prometheus metrics with 'electrs_' (#881)

- Fixup error handling in Prometheus HTTP server (#880)

- Add address->scripthash conversion tool

- Update dependencies (crossbeam-channel, jsonrpc, bitcoincore-rpc, serde_json, tempfile)

- Mercury Wallet [v0.8.14](https://github.com/layer2tech/mercury-wallet/releases/tag/v0.8.14)

- Expired coins below min fee rate can be withdrawn

- Recovery error handling fix

- Blockstream Green Desktop [v1.2.0](https://github.com/Blockstream/green_qt/releases/tag/release_1.2.0)

- MacOS universal build

- Support Wayland

- [taproot-assets](https://github.com/lightninglabs/taproot-assets/releases/tag/v0.2.0)

- #note: I have no idea how to interpret these release notes @NVK. Not sure if this is worth mentioning or not?

- BTC Map Android [v0.6.6](https://github.com/teambtcmap/btcmap-android/releases/tag/v0.6.6)

- Greek language support has been added

- Update verify link to single id param

- Translate strings into German

- Allow users to hide ATMs permanently in settings

- Change status bar color when place view is expanded

- Add more validations

- Orange Pill App [1.3.0](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/orange-pill-app/id1627034193)

- Events group chat

- Claim event

- User icon in chat

- Polar [v2.0.0](https://github.com/jamaljsr/polar/releases/tag/v2.0.0) (#note: One-click Bitcoin Lightning networks for local app development & testing)

- Adds supports for Taproot Assets Protocol Daemon (tapd) nodes. You can add tapd nodes to your network to begin easily minting and sending assets between nodes. You also have access to the terminal to run all tapcli commands.

- Smaller improvements: Auto Mining and Docker Compose v2 support

#### Project spotlight

- [Eclair CLI](https://github.com/ACINQ/eclair-cli)

- eclair-cli is a Kotlin Native command-line application that lets you interact with your eclair node. It runs on various desktop platforms, including linux, macOS and windows.

- [BTC Warp](https://github.com/succinctlabs/btc-warp): A proof-of-concept system that aims to solve the client-syncing problem for Bitcoin by using zkSNARKs to prove the validity of the longest valid proof-of-work chain.

- [Musig playground](https://supertestnet.github.io/musig-playground/) [[Github](https://github.com/supertestnet/musig-playground)/[Demo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OdgISZraxI&ab_channel=HighLevelBitcoin)]

- Do a bitcoin transaction (on testnet) in which many people send some fake money to one bitcoin address but it will look like just one person sent it

### HAM stuff lunch break

- [FX-4CR radio](https://bg2fx.com/fx-4cr-transceiver) and [src](https://github.com/f5bud/FX-4CR)

### Lightning

#### Software Releases & Project Updates

- LND [v0.16.3](https://github.com/lightningnetwork/lnd/blob/master/docs/release-notes/release-notes-0.16.3.md)

- Mempool Optimizations:

- Optimized mempool management to lower the CPU usage.

- Misc:

- Re-encrypt/regenerate all macaroon DB root keys on ChangePassword/GenerateNewRootKey respectively.

- Channel Link Bug Fix:

- If we detect the remote link is inactive, we'll now tear down the connection in addition to stopping the link's statemachine. If we're persistently connected with the peer, then this'll force a reconnect, which may restart things and help avoid certain force close scenarios.

- Consistent Contract Resolution:

- If lnd decides to go to chain for an HTLC, it will now always ensure the HTLC is fully swept on the outgoing link. Prior logic would avoid sweeping due to negative yield, but combined with other inputs, the HTLC will usually be positive yield.

- Bluewallet [v6.4.5](https://github.com/BlueWallet/BlueWallet/releases/tag/v6.4.5)

- ADD: support multiple accounts from Keystone HW wallet

- Alby

- alby-js-sdk [v2.0.0](https://github.com/getAlby/alby-js-sdk/releases/tag/v2.0.0)

- add Nostr Wallet Connect WebLN provider

- add Alby webhook api methods

- [Webhooks](https://blog.getalby.com/introducing-alby-wallet-webhooks/)

- The implementation of webhooks facilitates immediate notifications to services regarding incoming and outgoing payments, enabling them to promptly respond to such events.

- In the absence of webhooks, services are required to continuously query an account for new invoices and manage unprocessed ones, resulting in inefficiency and unnecessary complexity.

- By integrating Alby accounts with podcasting services like Conshax, users can now benefit from an enhanced experience that allows real-time analysis of payments.

- [ZapSplitter](https://zapsplitter.fly.dev/) by Alby

- ZapSplitter is a simple showcase based on Dergigi's idea of Lightning Prisms, which allows you to configure lightning splits for your Alby account.

- Whenever you receive a payment, you can forward a percentage of it to support your favorite bitcoin, lightning or Nostr developers and content creators.

- These payments can be forwarded by multiple users, making a cascading effect of payments. ZapSplitter plugs directly into your Alby account.

- Fountain [v0-7-0](https://fountainpodcasts.substack.com/p/0-7-0)

- New Podcast Library:

- Queue, Episodes, Shows: Clips, Playlists

- Sorting, Auto Delete, Mark As Played, Show Settings

- Transcripts:

- Fountain now supports the tag so you can read along as you listen

- You can also search transcripts and find a specific point to start playing from. You can access them offline

- Live (beta)

- Fountain now supports the tag so you can participate in real time as the podcast is being recorded

- Boosting and streaming sats works the same for livestreams as it does for regular episodes

- Once a livestream has been scheduled, you will see a content card on the Show page that tells you when it will begin

- When the livestream begins, we will send you a push notification that will take you to the livestream page in the app

- During the livestream, you can pause/play the audio but will not be able to skip forward or back

- When the livestream ends, the page and all of the comments will still be there, although you won’t be able to replay it from the start.

- Performance & UX Upgrades

- Zeus [v0.7.6](https://github.com/ZeusLN/zeus/releases/tag/v0.7.6)

- Notes: add ability to leave notes on transactions, payments, and invoices

- Fiat exchange rates: add ability to choose between Zeus and Yadio as source

- POS: associate existing payments with open orders + hide open orders

- Wallet of Satoshi [v2.2.2](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/wallet-of-satoshi/id1438599608)

- Customizable Lightning Address

- Contacts / Lightning Address Book

- Auto-Pay Lightning Invoice setting (e.g. for Zaps)

- Korean Language

- Satimoto release [demo for their app](https://twitter.com/SatimotoApp/status/1661682557946150912)

- "No personal information, no credit cards, all non-custodial. This is the power of Blockstream Greenlight and Breez SDK."

- Nutstash [v0.1.12](https://github.com/gandlafbtc/nutstash-wallet/releases/tag/0.1.12)

- Now automatically checks and update outadted mint keys

- Mash launches [lightning wallet](https://app.mash.com/)

- Progressive web app - does not require the app store

- Bitrefill integrates [Lightning Network login](https://twitter.com/bitrefill/status/1661470030981382144)

#### Project spotlight

- [eNuts](https://github.com/cashubtc/eNuts): An open source mobile Cashu wallet for iOS and Android

- It has Bitcoin Lightning support and can connect to multiple Cashu mints

- [First look](https://twitter.com/CashuBTC/status/1665719255336206336)

- Scaling Lightning - A Testing Toolkit for the Lightning Network [[Website](https://scalinglightning.com/)/[Github](https://github.com/scaling-lightning/scaling-lightning)]

- Goal: This initiative aims to collaboratively build a testing toolkit for the Lightning Network protocol and its applications to scale the network effectively.

- Why: The testing toolkit is essential to address unknowns and untested assumptions regarding the Lightning Network's reaction to various factors, benefiting developers, researchers, operators, and novices.

- How: The initial focus is on creating a tool for quickly generating Lightning Nodes that can connect to either a public signet Lightning Network or a private Regtest Lightning Network, accommodating different LN implementations.

- [Walletano](https://www.walletano.com/main/) Lightning wallet

- Web-Based or App

- One-Click Setup

- Doesn't require any usernames or email addresses

- Multi-Wallet, Unified Design

- Custodial or Self-Custodial options

- Create a you@walletano.com lightning address or integrate your own domain lightning address

- Mobile app coming soon on iOS and Android.

- [BitBanana](https://github.com/michaelWuensch/BitBanana)

- BitBanana is a native android app for node operators focused on user experience and ease of use. While it is not a wallet on its own, BitBanana works like a remote control allowing you to use your node as a wallet wherever you go.

- The app is designed with an educational approach, providing the user with guidance on every aspect of node operation.

### Nostr

#### Software Releases & Project Updates

- Zebedee app upgraded with [a social network built on nostr](https://blog.zebedee.io/zbd-social-app/)

- The ZBD app now features a social network built on Nostr

- Send zaps, tiny amounts of Bitcoin, to give your social interactions real value

- End-to-end encrypted messages

### Boosts

- XX:XX:XX Thanks to everyone who streamed sats, and shoutout to our top boosters:

- @bradmillscan7 "great hearing the clubhouse crew on NVK’s show! Great convo on splicing and more."

- @mrmr (8,888 sats) "try being hunble NVK. eg 'POD 2 point Oh' YEAH NO. it's called "podcasting 2.0" eg 'CRUST" .... no it's RUST and a LOT of Peep's are dev'ing on this. U ARE RUDE (NVK). stop that (or not...)."

- @apemithrandir (7,777 sats) "the bitcoin public service announcement"

- @vake

- (2,500 sats) "Essential listening"

- (2,000 sats) "it’s gonna get weird"

- (2,000 sats) "fiatjaf, host of the #1 bitcoin StarCraft podcast"

- @wartimepsycho (3,000 sats) "🔥🔥👏"

### Bitcoin Optech Newsletter

- [252](https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2023/05/24/)

- State compression with zero-knowledge validity proofs:

- Robin Linus posted to the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list about a paper he co-authored with Lukas George about using validity proofs to reduce the amount of state that a client needs to download in order to trustlessly verify future operations in a system. They first apply their system to Bitcoin. They report having a prototype that proves the cumulative amount of proof of work in a chain of block headers and allows a client to verify that a particular block header is part of that chain. This allows a client that receives multiple proofs to determine which demonstrates the most proof of work

- [253](https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2023/05/31/)

- Proposal for managed joinpool protocol:

- Burak Keceli suggests a new joinpool-style protocol called Ark. It allows Bitcoin owners to opt-in and use a counterparty as a co-signer for transactions within a specific timeframe.

- Options for Bitcoin owners: Owners can withdraw their bitcoins onchain after the timelock expires or transfer them offchain to the counterparty before the timelock ends.

- Counterparty's role: The counterparty can broadcast an onchain transaction using their own funds. If the output of that transaction is used in the offchain transaction, it becomes invalid unless the onchain transaction confirms within a reasonable time.

- Trustless atomic transfer: The counterparty waits to sign their onchain transaction until they receive the signed offchain transaction, enabling a trustless single-hop, single-direction atomic transfer from the owner to the counterparty.

- Transaction relay over Nostr:

- Joost Jager seeks feedback on Ben Carman's proposal to use the Nostr protocol for relaying transactions on the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list.

- The focus is on using Nostr for package relay, bundling ancestor transactions with low feerates with descendants that have higher fees. This enhances CPFP fee bumping and is being developed by Bitcoin Core.

- The challenge is to ensure that new relay methods don't create DoS vulnerabilities. Nostr relays offer alternative DoS protection options, like requiring a small payment for transaction relay.

- Jager suggests that with this protection, package relay and other alternative transactions can be practically allowed, even if there is a risk of wasting some node resources due to malicious transactions.

- [254](https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2023/06/07/)

- Using MATT to replicate CTV and manage joinpools:

- Johan Torås Halseth proposes using the COCV opcode from the MATT proposal to replicate the functionality of the OP_CHECKTEMPLATEVERIFY proposal. COCV would require a different opcode for each output in a transaction, unlike CTV which can commit to all outputs with a single opcode. While less efficient, COCV is still interesting due to its simplicity.

- Halseth demonstrates the operation using Tapsim, a tool for debugging Bitcoin Tapscript transactions, aimed at aiding developers in script debugging and visualizing the VM state during script execution.

- [255](https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2023/06/14/)

- Discussion about the taproot annex:

- Joost Jager requests a change in the Bitcoin Core transaction relay and mining policy to enable storing arbitrary data in the taproot annex field.

- The annex field, an optional part of the witness data for taproot transactions, currently lacks a defined purpose but is reserved for future protocol upgrades.

- Jager proposes two formats (1, 2) that could facilitate the addition of arbitrary data without hindering future standardization efforts bundled with a soft fork.

- [Draft BIP for silent payments](https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2023-June/021750.html):

- Josie Baker and Ruben Somsen propose a draft BIP for silent payments on the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list.

- Silent payments involve reusable payment codes that generate unique onchain addresses to prevent output linking and enhance user privacy.

- The draft discusses the proposal's advantages, tradeoffs, and implementation considerations.

### News & Noteworthy

#### Bitcoin

- Home Servers going mainstream

- Umbrel introduces [Umbrel Home](https://twitter.com/umbrel/status/1663534602366091269) home server

- Start9 introduces [Server Lite](https://store.start9.com/products/server-lite) and [Server One](https://store.start9.com/products/server-one) home servers

- Bitcoin Product Community announces The Bitcoin Volunteer Opportunity Board for FOSS projects [[Announcement](https://twitter.com/bitcoin_product/status/1668383382361743361)]

- If you are looking to get involved with Bitcoin FOSS projects, check out [the board](https://github.com/orgs/Bitcoin-Product-Community/projects/4/views/1)

#### Lightning & L2

- bolt.observer to open source LiquidOps [[Blog post](https://blog.bolt.observer/p/building-for-the-future-of-open-source)]

- In the coming months, LiquidOps will be open-sourced, enabling individuals to self-host the tooling and retain control over their own data.

- LiquidOps' open-source availability, combined with its agent-based architecture, will allow companies to implement lightning node automation even in highly secure environments. This architecture provides robust node isolation, ensuring that credentials remain within the system and granting authorized employees convenient access to the user interface.

- Ongoing improvements to the plugin system will enable users to expand and customize their lightning automation capabilities according to their needs and preferences.

- Boltz launches Liquid Swaps [[Blog post](https://blog.boltz.exchange/p/launching-liquid-swaps-unfairly-cheap)]

- Rebalance your channels with atomic swaps for reliably low fees in a sustained high-fee market

- Liquid Adds Six New Members to Its Federation, Bringing Total to 67 [[Blog post](https://blog.liquid.net/liquid-adds-six-new-federation-members-bringing-total-membership-to-67/)]

- The Federation welcomes Bcademy, Boltz Exchange, Equitas Foundation, JAN3, MAVEN, and Mifiel

- Swan Bitcoin lightning withdrawals in alpha test [[Cory Klippsten](https://twitter.com/coryklippsten/status/1661454371241222144)]

- Blockstream open sources the Greenlight client repository [[Announcement](https://twitter.com/Snyke/status/1666096470884515840)]

- Included are the client libraries, with bindings for python and JS, as well as all the tools to self-host a Greenlight node.

- BTC Prague Conference partnered with Fedi to test a short-term initiative designed explicitly to run during the event [[Blog post](https://www.fedi.xyz/btcprague)]

- Range of features included real-time conference updates, secure participant communication, seamless sats transactions with other attendees of the Bitcoin Prague Conference, and more

- Nicholas Gregory announced a new Bitcoin Layer 2 initiative - MercuryLayer [[Whitepaper](https://github.com/commerceblock/blip-XXXX/blob/main/blip-XXXX.md)]

#### Privacy

- SatoshiLabs Announced the Launch of the [Vexl Foundation](https://www.vexl.foundation/) [[Blog post](https://blog.vexl.it/satoshilabs-announced-the-launch-of-the-vexl-foundation-be3caf6149e5)]

- Vexl Foundation champions personal and financial freedoms, emphasizing the importance of decentralized peer-to-peer transactions

- Launch of the Financial Tyranny Index (FTI) to measure statist interventions in the financial space. Initial findings of the FTI highlight high levels of financial state control in Western democracies

- Vexl mobile app at the core of the foundation's mission, providing a private and secure platform for peer-to-peer Bitcoin transactions without KYC or institutional interference

#### Funding

- Brink

- Jack Dorsey’s #Startsmall Pledges $5 Million Over 5 Years to Brink [[Bitcoin Magazine](https://bitcoinmagazine.com/business/startsmall-pledges-5-million-over-5-years-to-bitcoin-nonprofit-brink)]

- The pledge, totaling $1 million per year for the next five years, aims to support Brink's efforts in funding Bitcoin developers and ensuring the long-term sustainability of Bitcoin's core codebase.

- Brink Receives US$50,000 donation from BitMex [[Blog post](https://blog.bitmex.com/brink-sponsorship/)]

- BitMex have made a US$50,000 donation to Brink, a non-profit organisation that exists to strengthen the Bitcoin protocol and network through fundamental research and development.

- Brink Received a $60,000 contribution to our Bitcoin developer funding efforts from Stakwork [[Announcement](https://twitter.com/bitcoinbrink/status/1666144367902326790)]

- Stakwork is also pledging $60,000/yr for the next two years for a total of $180,000 in support.

- BOL2 announces a $150,000 grant to support the Validating Lightning Signer project (VLS), an open-source initiative developing software for Lightning Network applications. [[Blog post](https://community.corelightning.org/c/start-here/build-on-l2-supports-vls-integration-into-greenlight-with-150-000-grant)]

- VLS focuses on seamless operation across platforms and introduces advanced features like hardware security modules (HSMs) for improved Lightning node security.

- The new Rust library by VLS enables easier adoption of powerful Lightning Network features on different platforms, promoting greater usage and adoption.

- Integration of VLS signer with Greenlight provides developers easy access without modifications, and Greenlight's client repo is open-sourced for developers to start building.

#### Mining

- The anti-Bitcoin mining bill in Texas is officially dead [[Dennis Porter](https://twitter.com/Dennis_Porter_/status/1663590811731369985)]

- Tether Mining Investments:

- Energy Production and Sustainable Bitcoin Mining in Uruguay [[Blog post](https://tether.to/en/tether-invests-in-energy-production-and-sustainable-bitcoin-mining-in-uruguay/)]

- "Tether has expanded its reach from finance and communications to include the energy sector."

- "Its goal is to become a global tech leader, and this latest initiative showcases Tether's commitment to energy innovation and the future of cryptocurrency."

- "As part of this new venture, Tether is investing in renewable energy sources to support and promote sustainable Bitcoin mining—an essential component in upholding the world's most robust and secure monetary network.

- "To accomplish this objective, Tether is actively seeking to augment its team by recruiting experts in the energy sector."

- $1 Billion Investment to Build the World's Largest Bitcoin Mining Farm in El Salvador [[Blog post](https://tether.to/en/tether-participates-in-1-billion-investment-to-build-the-worlds-largest-bitcoin-mining-farm-in-el-salvador/)]

#### Business

- Strike

- Announced the expansion of its payment service, "Send Globally," to Mexico [[Bitcoin Magazine](https://bitcoinmagazine.com/business/strike-launches-remittances-to-mexico-using-bitcoin-lightning)]

- Now Serve Customers on Own Infrastructure [[Blog post](https://jimmymow.medium.com/strike-infrastructure-update-we-now-serve-customers-on-our-own-infrastructure-366922c47cc2)]

- Strike has taken a significant leap forward by assuming full ownership and control over its infrastructure dedicated to serving customers.

- The move allows Strike to directly handle the custody of customer bitcoin and dollars, eliminating any intermediaries between the company and its users.

- This achievement marks a significant milestone, resulting in reduced counterparty risk, improved service quality, and increased robustness and performance of Strike's products.

- Google Cloud partners with Lightning Network service provider Voltage to expand its hosting and locations [[Blog Post](https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/startups/how-voltage-uses-google-cloud-to-scale-its-bitcoin-lightning-network)]

- Individuals and companies can now have their Voltage Lightning node running on Google Cloud's servers

- Bitkey X Coinbase & Cash App Partnership Announced [[Blog post](https://bitkey.build/coinbase-and-cash-app/)]

- "First two global partnerships announced with Coinbase and Cash App, which will enable Bitkey’s customers to transfer and buy bitcoin through these platforms."

- The partners’ buy and transfer bitcoin capabilities will be embedded in the Bitkey app, with all purchases and transfers powered by these partners’ platforms."

#### Political

- SEC Filings:

- 13 Charges Against Binance Entities and Founder Changpeng Zhao [[SEC](https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2023-101)]

- Seeks Temporary Restraining Order to Freeze Binance.US Assets [[Coindesk](https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2023/06/06/sec-seeks-temporary-restraining-order-to-freeze-binanceus-assets)]

- Charges Coinbase for Operating as an Unregistered Securities Exchange, Broker, and Clearing Agency [[SEC](https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2023-102)]

- Hong Kong Lets Retail Investors Trade Crypto in New Rules [[Bloomberg](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-05-23/hong-kong-to-step-up-push-for-crypto-hub-in-contrast-with-clampdowns-in-asia)]

- The city’s Securities and Futures Commission on Tuesday detailed the conclusions of a consultation on retail participation. The agency stuck with a plan to let individual investors buy and sell bigger tokens like Bitcoin and Ether starting June 1 when a new licensing regime for virtual-asset platforms begins.

- Bali to crack down on foreign tourists using crypto as payment [[Antara News](https://en.antaranews.com/news/283182/bali-to-crack-down-on-foreign-tourists-using-crypto-as-payment)]

- The Bali Provincial Government will crack down on foreign tourists using crypto as a means of payment in hotels, restaurants, tourism destinations, shopping centers, and other places.

#### Other

- TBD Launches Tech Preview of Web5 Verifiable Credentials Toolkit [[TBD](https://www.tbd.website/blog/web5-verifiable-credentials-toolkit)]

- TBD, a developer-focused business from Block, announced a tech preview of its Verifiable Credentials (VCs) Toolkit for Web5.

- With the release, developers will be able to spin up and manage Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs), issue verifiable credentials, and define templates to make it easy and efficient to issue and verify these credentials.

- Bitcoin Audible, helmed by popular host Guy Swann, was served with a lawsuit on Friday [[The Bitcoin Bugle](https://www.thebitcoinbugle.com/bitcoin-audible-served-with-lawsuit-for-ada-compliance/)]

- The plaintiff is a deaf fan, who's taking the podcasting world to task for a lack of ADA compliance.

- The plaintiff, backed by Roger Ver, an outspoken critic of Bitcoin and supporter of the lawsuit, argues that Bitcoin Audible is in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA requires services provided to the general public to be accessible to people with disabilities. This includes podcast streams, which are viewed as critical sources of news, entertainment, and education.

### Reads

- [The Signal & the Nonce](https://5264302.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/5264302/special-insights/coinmetrics-research_the-signal-and-the-nonce.pdf): Tracing ASIC Fingerprints to Reshape Our Understanding of Bitcoin Mining by Karim Helmy, Lucas Nuzzi, Alex Mead, Kyle Waters, and the Coin Metrics Team

- Ark AMA with Burak [[Stackernews](https://stacker.news/items/192040)]

- Securing a $100M Lightning node [[Acinq](https://acinq.co/blog/securing-a-100M-lightning-node)]

- Explaining Replace By Fee by [Nifty](https://basicbitch.software/posts/2018-12-27-Explaining-Replace-By-Fee.html)

- Normal operation and closure of a pre-taproot LN channel [ellemouton](https://ellemouton.com/posts/normal-operation-pre-taproot/)

- Bitcoin address types compared: P2PKH, P2SH, P2WPKH, and more [[Unchained](https://unchained.com/blog/bitcoin-address-types-compared/)]

- Sparrow Wallet: Ultimate Quick Start Guide For Beginners [[Athena](https://www.athena-alpha.com/sparrow-wallet/)]

- RoboSats Guide [[Bitcoiner.Guide](https://bitcoiner.guide/robosats)]

- [Darkpool](https://gist.github.com/moonsettler/6a214f5d01148ea204e9131b86a35382): A chaumian blinded ecash like co-op mixing pool for self custodial savings accompanying Mints

- Beginner friendly guide to Open Source projects [[bitcoiner.guide](https://bitcoiner.guide/fork/)]

- A collection of resources related to covenants by [[Robin Linus](https://gist.github.com/RobinLinus/c96fb7c81430ec6dc92f048687bd3068)]

- Lightning Payments – When Are They Too Small To Secure? [[BitMex](https://blog.bitmex.com/lightning-payments-when-are-they-too-small-to-secure)]

- Value for Value Music with Lightning: What a concept! [[Wavlake](https://zine.wavlake.com/value-for-value-music-with-lightning-what-a-concept)]

- BTC Warp: Don't Sync, Verify [[SuccinctLabs](https://blog.succinct.xyz/blog/btc-warp)]

### Episode submission ideas

- We're looking for ideas for interesting panel conversations. To send Bitcoin related questions, just go to [bitcoin.review](https://bitcoin.review/) and follow the contact links at the bottom of the page.

### Get in touch with the pod

- [Podcast Twitter](https://twitter.com/bitcoinreviewhq)

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- [Telegram](https://t.me/BitcoinReviewPod)

- [Email](mailto:producer@coinkite.com)

- Nostr & LN ⚡nvk@nvk.org (not an email!)