By EZ in Weekly Digest — Jul 21, 2024

Block 853285: Important News of the Week

News. Updates. Research. Stats. Everything Important You Need to Know.

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News

United States District Judge Katherine Polk Failla of the Southern District of New York granted a defense request to delay the criminal trial of Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm. The trial, originally scheduled for September of this year, will now be delayed until early December.
Meanwhile, the Court of Appeal of ‘s-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands denied the release of fellow Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev, who was convicted of money laundering in May, and is currently preparing for his appeal.
KuCoin, a cryptocurrency exchange in Nigeria, has implemented a 7.5% value-added tax (VAT) on user transaction fees. Although there has been no official announcement yet, the Human Rights Foundation's contacts in Nigeria say this move could signal new regulations from the Nigerian government.
OKX exchange announced that it will cease its services in Nigeria on August 16 citing recent changes in local laws and regulations.
Bitcoin miner Bitfarms has scheduled a special shareholders' meeting on October 29, following a requisition submitted by Riot Platforms. At this meeting, Bitfarms’ shareholders will vote on reconstituting the board of directors, marking the latest step in Riot Platforms attempted takeover of its bitcoin mining rival.
OpenSats, a non-profit supporting open-source Bitcoin and freedom tech projects, announced the fifth wave of Nostr grants for 11 projects: nosvelte, npub.cash, nostter, nostr-filter-relay, Mostro, Citrine, DVMDash, nostr-php, Shopstr, Nostrmo, and Captain’s Log.
- OpenSats also granted long-term support for Coracle developer Hodlbod.
Spiral, an independent, bitcoin-focused entity within the Block ecosystem of companies, renewed its support to BTCPay Server and Stratum V2 developer Pavlenex for the fourth time. New Spiral grantees include The Simple Kid, who is working on Cashu Dev Kit (CDK), and Sivaram, who is enhancing secp256k1-zkp FROST, a new signing scheme threshold (multisig) with better privacy.
US telecom giant AT&T revealed that hackers had stolen the call records of tens of millions of its customers. To resolve the situation, AT&T paid a member of the hacking team 5.7 BTC to delete the data and produce a video proving the deletion. Wired reported that the hackers initially demanded 1 million, but AT&T managed to negotiate the ransom down to under $400k worth of BTC.
The verdict was released for Craig Wright following his defeat in the COPA vs. CSW trial. Judge Mellor wrote that Wright’s conduct warrants a referral to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to consider initiating a criminal investigation on charges of forgery and perjury.
North Tonawanda, a city in Niagara County, New York, has approved a two-year moratorium on new data center operations, bitcoin mining, and the expansion of existing facilities.
The Liquid Federation has announced nine new members: Alby, Botev Plovdiv FC, Breez, Changelly, Daedalus, Ditobanx, eNor Securities, Peach Bitcoin, and Spirit of Satoshi. It now consists of a total of 73 Bitcoin-focused projects.
Lightspark, Lightning Network infrastructure and services provider for enterprises, has partnered with Latin American exchange Bitso to bring the Lightning Network services to its 8 million retail clients and 1,700 institutional customers.
Nubank, the largest fintech bank in Latin America, joined forces with Lightspark to integrate the Lightning Network and Universal Money Addresses (UMA) into its platform.
Arthur Hayes, Co-Founder of BitMEX and CIO at Maelstrom, a venture fund managed by his family office, announced a grant program to support open-source Bitcoin developers. According to the announcement, no-strings attached grants can range from $50,000 to $150,000 per developer. Applications must be submitted prior to August 25, 2024.
StarkWare announced a significant milestone by successfully verifying its first zero-knowledge (ZK) proof using its new STARK verifier on the Bitcoin Signet network. This verifier paves the way for developing ZK-based layer-2 (L2) solutions aimed at enhancing Bitcoin scalability and advancing global payment prospects.
German authorities announced that the sale of nearly 50,000 BTC generated $2.88 billion, with an average price of $57,900 per coin.
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that Bitcoin mining could lead to significant power shortages in some regions of the country. He emphasized that the new law should include regulations on taxes and electricity tariffs for mining farms. Putin also praised the experimental introduction of the digital rouble and called for an expansion of the central bank digital currency (CBDC) program.
Indian exchange WazirX experienced a security breach in one of its multisig wallets, resulting in a loss of funds exceeding ~$230 million. The stolen funds account for over 45% of the exchange's $500 million holdings, disclosed in a June report. The exchange's live proof of reserve site is currently down for maintenance.
HashHouse, a provider of mining and immersion cooling solutions, reported to the LAPD that 880 units of its air-cooled Whatsminers were stolen during transportation last month. The cargo, consisting mainly of M50S++ and some M60s, is valued at approximately $3 million.
Fractal ID, a KYC vendor for over 250 'crypto' projects, disclosed a data breach affecting over 50,000 individuals. The compromised information includes user names, email addresses, wallet addresses, phone numbers, physical addresses, and uploaded KYC documents.
Multiple users on Reddit claim to have seen brute-force login attempts on their Mt. Gox accounts. The Mt. Gox claims website currently indicates it is down for maintenance.

Updates and releases

Zeus Wallet v0.8.5 and Zeus v0.9.0-beta have been released. Stable release v0.8.5 comes with BOLT 12 offers, Twelve.cash BIP-353 lightning addresses, and embedded node performance enhancements.
- Zeus Wallet also released a hotfix for v0.8.5. It patches a display bug where LND REST and LNC remote connections would show all payments as failed, and a bug where the Contacts view would fail to render.
Zeus v0.9.0-beta1 features new Olympus purchase channels in advance LSP service, hardware wallet/external signer support, watch-only support, batch channel opens and transactions, a new layout and camera, and other improvements.
Krux v24.07.0, an open-source firmware that enables anyone to build their own Bitcoin signing device via off-the-shelf parts, comes with Maix Cube support, significant performance improvements, new features and customization options.
Lava introduced Lava Vault- a self-custody app for those who want to save in bitcoin and spend in dollars. The app now supports having multiple self-custody vaults within 1 app.
Lava also introduced Smart Key, which aims to eliminate the risk of losing funds due to a single mistake. It enables users to create a 2-of-2 backup for their vault, with one part of the seed encrypted and stored in secure storage on iCloud or Google Drive, and the other part tied to an encryption key stored on a private key server. This key server can only be authenticated via a user-defined 4-digit Lava recovery PIN and enforces rate-limiting to protect against brute-force attacks. Available now on iOS and Android with Lava Vault.
Fully Noded v1.1.4 fixes BBQr and UR bugs and adds rpcauth to node credentials.
Tor Connect v1.1.0, a tool that embeds Tor and configures hidden services for Bitcoin Core's default rpcports, updates Tor to v408.11.2.
ThunderTip is a Telegram bot that lets you send tips via Telegram using Nostr Wallet Connect (NWC).
Public Pool project has started testing its Windows and MacOS ARM (M series) apps for self-hosting. Check it out here.
Hodladi published mobile UI for Phoenixd Server. "Anyone can use it as frontend for Phoenixd Server. The app is a PWA application and saves your server url and server password in local storage of your device," said the developer.
Bitcoin Keeper v1.2.10 introduces a companion Keeper desktop app for macOS devices. The project said that Windows and Linux versions are coming soon™.
BTCPay Server v1.13.4 features several important bug fixes and enhancements. BTCPay Server v1.13.5 is a minor release with a couple of bug fixes.
El Tor is a high-bandwidth Tor network incentivized by the Lightning Network. It enables users to run their own Tor relays and receive payments for sharing their internet bandwidth. Users have the flexibility to choose different types of relays—entry guard, middle relay, or exit relay—and can set their own payment rates.
Ditto v1.1, a powerful new server for building communities on Nostr, has been released. This latest version adds major stability and performance improvements, nos2x signer support, top zaps, and more.
Nostr singer for Android, Amber v1.1.1, brings support for sending and receiving nsecbunker requests with NIP-44, new options, fixes, and improvements.
Npub.pro sites now come with their own zap button under each post.
/dev /fd0 announced Octojoin - an alternative option for improving privacy in Bitcoin transactions. It allows users to include multiple inputs in a transaction, some with histories linked to other users, making it more difficult for on-chain analysts to determine ownership. You can support the development of Octojoin here.
CardCoins, an indefinitely suspended Bitcoin and cash exchange service, has open-sourced its 'Additive RBF Batcher' for platforms and services processing many withdrawals. It allows them to incorporate new customer withdrawals into an unconfirmed transaction while providing users with good experience and retaining much of the fee savings. You can read more about it here and here.
Airbtc is now live. It is a new platform that connects travelers and accommodation providers - an Airbnb rival that runs exclusively on Bitcoin.
Tails v6.5 is out. This release makes installation with Tails Cloner up to ~30 seconds faster.
Arti v1.2.2, the next-generation Tor client written in Rust, now supports Vanguards, a defense against guard discovery attacks targeting hidden services and hidden service clients. The implementation is based on the research behind Tor's Vanguards add-on, and offers similar protections to its Vanguards component.
rust-nostr v0.33.0 adds better outputs for send/batch/reconcile methods, allow to change NIP-42 option after client initialization, increase max stack size for JS bindings to prevent "memory access out of bounds" error, and more.
Bitkey users will now see MoonPay appear alongside Cash App and Coinbase options to purchase bitcoin. Over the past few months, the project also shipped support for multiple fingerprints, display the status of incoming transactions, and biometric sign-in.
Boltz backend v3.7.2 fixes some edge case bugs, improves the tooling for operating the backend, and also includes two new features for API clients: overpayment protection (swaps that send too much onchain will be failed) and custom descriptions for invoices created for Reverse Swaps.
Pillbox v0.1.0 is a free and open-source, user-friendly desktop application designed to simplify L402 access management. L402 is a protocol that allows servers to request proof of payment before processing an HTTP request, making it an excellent fit for data or API monetization.
The Bitcoin Company has launched prepaid Mastercards (up to $500) for its United States users. EUR and CAD cards will be launched by mid-August, the company said.
Bringin, a regulated European Bitcoin banking startup, announced that its mobile app is now available for testing on both iOS and Android.
Amethyst v0.89.0, the 'Swiss Army knife Nostr client' for Android users, now includes with Profile Galleries, flexible NIP-96 image server settings, support for Base64 images and GIFs, and relay recommendations based on the outbox model.
- Amethyst v0.89.2 is a bug fix release for TopNav lists and invalid ID crashes.
Swarmstr build v0.39.0, a free and open-source Nostr Q&A client, adds ability to see notes with most reactions for each hashtag in recent feed, as well who zapped, boosted or reacted to a particular note.
GrapheneOS v2024071600 is the latest release for the privacy and security focused mobile OS.
Nostr Zap v1.0.0, a tool for zapping any Nostr npub or note from anywhere, has been released.
Phoenix Wallet v2.3.4 for Android fixes compatibility issue with some BOLT12 offers, brings BIP-353 and BIP-21 improvements, and sets payer-key behavior per contact.
Blitz v0.2.3-beta is now available for testing. It is a React Native application that combines the best of Breez, Boltz, Blockstream, and Nostr for a seamless and simple payment experience.
0xchat app v1.3.0-beta is here. It comes with NIP-29 public and closed groups and group notes, private group chats with NIP-17 chat room implementation, reactions and zaps for chat messages, one-tap zaps, and numerous performance improvements and optimizations.
Gossip v0.11.0, a nostr client for desktop, now implements secure direct messaging with NIP-17, 'load more' optimization, and message annotations.
Onramp launched Trading and Transaction Protection for all Multi-Institution Custody clients. The company also introduced new pricing structure, inheritance enhancements, and onboarding flow.
Braiins Pool has implemented Direct Lightning Invoice requests to support simple lightning payouts for miners with non-custodial wallets.
Braiins OS v24.06 is the latest firmware update for hardware by Bitmain and Braiins Mini Miner.
Cashu TS, a TypeScript library for building Cashu wallets, released its first major version, v1.0.0.
Askeladd is a proof-of-concept for a censorship-resistant global proving network. It leverages the Nostr protocol as the communication layer.
Timechain Calendar announced a gallery overhaul in v0.5.17.
Lightning.Pub is a Nostr-native account system designed to "make running Lightning infrastructure for your family and customers easier than previously thought possible."
- ShockWallet is "the first wallet to use Nostr-based accounts for Lightning Networ k connections."
Nutsack vo.1 is a highly experimental NIP-60/61 client for a "wallet that lives in nostr and can be accessed from any nostr client that chooses to implement it."
- You can also follow the flow of Nutzaps at nutlife.lol.
Alby Extension v3.9.0 makes account menus more intuitive, extends kind lists, improves NWC connector and error messages for lndhub. Several bug fixes also include correcting notification amounts and addressing scrollbar issues in the extension popup. The update also introduces Alby logo to QR codes used for invoices, and implements better error handling for BIP-353 DNS addresses.
Bitcoin Search v2 is a search engine for exploring the "depths of Bitcoin's technical ecosystem."
0xchat v1.3.0-beta2 is a bug fix release with multiple fixes and improvements.
Merchants using Zaprite can now connect their PayPal accounts for additional checkout options.
Phoenixd v0.3.1 adds BIP-353 fixes and support for multiple webhooks.
rust-payjoin v0.19.0 and CLI v0.0.8-alpha attempt to stabilize the Payjoin V2 Bitcoin URI format.

Guides and research

fiatjaf recently shared a post on how to properly do content curation and build businesses on Nostr.
Daniel Batten published a research report challenging the claim that Bitcoin mining has an e-waste issue. Unsurprisingly, it finds that Bitcoin mining e-waste is an oxymoron, as it is highly profitable to recycle old ASICs.
In this tutorial, Payjoin developer Dan Gould dives into the implementation of receiving bitcoin using a Payjoin transaction.
Nikita Mazurov published an article on how to use Signal without sharing your personal phone number.
Seth For Privacy shared a guide on how to set up a BIP-353 Bitcoin username.
Kondwani demonstrates how to buy sats in Malawi without internet access with Azteco Bitcoin Vouchers and Machankura.
Bitcoin developer 0xB10C published a blog post titled 'Mining Pool Game Theory during Forks.'
Bitcoin Optech #312 describes a distributed key generation protocol for the FROST scriptless threshold signature scheme and links to a comprehensive introduction to cluster linearization.

Mining stats

Bitcoin mining difficulty increased by 3.21% at block height 852768. It currently stands at 82.05T.
The network's hashrate (7-day SMA) is currently at ~600 EH/s.

Lightning stats

The capacity of the Lightning network continues to grow, while the number of nodes and channels remains relatively unchanged.

Nostr stats

The Nostr protocol has added 4000 new users last week.
The number of daily active users is getting close to 20,000, while the weekly active user count has surpassed 40,000, per nostr.band stats.