Research: The Many Faces of Schnorr
"Our main new result is to show how to securely combine the techniques used in FROST and SPRINT, allowing one to build a threshold Schnorr signing protocol that:
1) is secure and robust without synchrony assumptions (like SPRINT);
2) provides security even with an unlimited number of presignatures, and (assuming unused presignatures are available) signing requests can be processed concurrently with minimal latency (like FROST);
3) achieves high throughput (like SPRINT), and;
4) achieves optimal resilience."
First U.S. Ban on Sale of Cellphone Location Data In The Works In Massachusetts
"Massachusetts lawmakers are weighing a near total ban on buying and selling of location data drawn from consumers’ mobile devices in the state, in what would be a first-in-the-nation effort to rein in a billion-dollar industry."
https://www.nobsbitcoin.com/first-u-s-ban-on-sale-of-cellphone-location-data-in-the-works/
Satlantis: You Can Now Play Word's Most Popular Game Minecraft and Earn Bitcoin
"Satlantis is a custom Minecraft server where you can earn actual Bitcoin rewards, use them in-game to claim chunks of land, buy resources or equipment and trade or barter with other players on the server. Or simply withdraw them to the ZBD app and use them around the world – it’s real money!"
https://www.nobsbitcoin.com/zebedee-satlantis-minecraft-earn-bitcoin/
How Bitcoin Helps Civilians Escape The War in Sudan
"Years of economic marginalization and monetary inflation, which rose to over 350% in 2021, have fueled the conflict. As the Sudanese banking system collapsed, bitcoin offered a lifeline to escape the war."
https://www.nobsbitcoin.com/how-bitcoin-helps-civilians-escape-the-war-in-sudan/
Cashu Nutshell v0.12.3: Pay To Pubkey (P2PK)
- "This Nutshell release introduces a new token lock type called Pay-to-Pubkey or P2PK.
- "This allows you to create ecash tokens that can only be spent by their designated recipient. A token locked with P2PK can be posted online without any third party being able to spend it."
- "In an upcoming upgrade we will also add DLEQ proofs (PR) which allow anyone to check the validity of the mint's signature on a token without having to contact the mint."
- "These two features combined, P2PK and DLEQ proofs, allow for a very interesting use case: publicly verifiable payments to a pubkey in the form of ecash."
IMF Paper on Taxing Bitcoin Sees 'Quasi-Anonymity' as Greatest Challenge
- "The good news for tax authorities, and regulators, is that contrary to the vision of the original [Bitcoin] designers - a core role has emerged for centralized institutions of various kinds in the transacting of crypto assets, notably exchanges through which they are bought and sold."
- "Working in [tax administrators'] favor is the vast amount of information publicly available in unpermissioned blockchains. This provides scope for the application of techniques that have been developed for the forensic analysis of blockchain structures."
- "More speculatively, miners - who do see every transaction in non-stablecoins- might in principle be given a role in tax reporting/withholding, consistent with the general principle of tax administration favoring collection, where possible, at a relatively small number of upstream points."
https://www.nobsbitcoin.com/imf-paper-on-taxing-cryptocurrencies/
Machankura Clans Feature Lets Africans Send & Receive Bitcoin as a Group
Machankura allows Africans to send and receive Bitcoin without internet access. It combines USSD technology with Bitcoin’s Lightning Network. Available in Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa and Zambia.
https://www.nobsbitcoin.com/machankura-clans-let-africans-send-receive-bitcoin-as-a-group/
RFK Holds Up to $250K BTC In A Brokerage Account, Financial Records Show
On his June 30 financial disclosure report, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. listed a brokerage account that held between $100,001 and $250,000 worth of bitcoin.
https://www.nobsbitcoin.com/rfk-holds-up-to-250k-in-brokerage/
BitBanana v0.6.4: Support For New LNURL Schemes
BRICS Gold-Backed Common Currency To Be Introduced In August
An official announcement in this regard will be made at the bloc's summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, in August.
https://www.nobsbitcoin.com/brics-gold-backed-common-currency-to-launch-in-august/
Block 797797: Important News of the Week
News. Updates. Research. Stats. Everything Important You Need to Know.
Wallby Wallet Launched For Beta Testing
Wallby app aims to be the place where you can access Bitcoin and all its layer2 networks as well as sidechain protocols, including Liquid, Rootstock, Lightning, and RGB.
https://www.nobsbitcoin.com/wallby-wallet-launched-for-beta-testing/
Brazilian Bitcoin Startup Bipa Raised $1.4M In Seed Round
"Notable investors include New Form Capital - a venture capital fund focused on early-stage startups involved with blockchain technology and the financial market and Hivemind Ventures, which invests in startups with a Bitcoin focus, which both made their first investment in the Brazilian market through this round."
https://www.nobsbitcoin.com/brazilian-bitcoin-startup-bipa-raised-1-4m-in-seed-round/
Peach Bitcoin v0.2.10: RBF Support
Stack Duo v1.0.10 Released
OpenSats Announced Long-Term Support Program For Bitcoin Developers & First Wave of Nostr Grants
OpenSats marked the launch of its new long-term support program for Bitcoin developers and related 'internet people' by issuing first grant to Bitcoin Core maintainer Marco Falke, and also announced the first round of Nostr grants.
https://www.nobsbitcoin.com/opensats-nostr-grants-lts-program/
Bitcoin Startup Lab's Fall 2023 Cohort Is Open For Applications
"With a focus on collaboration and mentorship, the pre-accelerator program aims to enable founders to create innovative solutions on Bitcoin."
https://www.nobsbitcoin.com/bitcoin-startup-labs-fall-2023-cohort-is-open-for-applications/
Primal Open Sources Its Web App Under MIT License
The Primal web app has been open sourced under the MIT license.
https://www.nobsbitcoin.com/primal-open-sources-its-web-app/
Nostur Becomes Next Nostr App Heading to Apple's Zap Jail For 'Selling Digital Content'
"Just received a call from Apple, I have to remove zaps from posts in the next version," said the app's developer Fabian.
https://www.nobsbitcoin.com/nostur-becomes-next-nostr-app-heading-to-apples-zap-jail/
GrapheneOS and CalyxOS July Security Updates Released
Most popular privacy-focused mobile operating systems just got their July security updates along with other fixes.
https://www.nobsbitcoin.com/grapheneos-and-calyxos-july-security-updates-released/