By EZ in Weekly Digest — Jul 27, 2024

Block 854134: Important News of the Week

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

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News

OpenSats, a non-profit dedicated to supporting Bitcoin and freedom tech developers, granted support for 7 bitcoin projects: Peer Storage backups for Lightning channels, Secp256k1.swift, Blitz Wallet, NLightning, eNuts, Gonuts, and Bitcoin Fees.
- OpenSats also announced long-term support (LTS grant) for Hodlbod, the creator of the Nostr web client Coracle, and long-term support for Nostr developer fiatjaf.
A Bitaxe has found a block! A solo Bitcoin miner with 3 TH/s has mined block 853742, overcoming odds of 1 in 1.2 million and earning 3.192 BTC (approximately $200,000).
Bitcoin miner manufacturer Canaan urges all Avalon Nano 3 home miner users to update their Avalon Remote App to the latest version and use it to upgrade the firmware of their Nano 3 machines.
Swan Bitcoin, a Bitcoin-only investment platform located in California, is halting its 'Managed Mining' operations that were disclosed earlier this year. The company is also scrapping its plans to go public, said CEO Cory Klippsten. The changes also include staff cuts across many functions.
Bitcoin miners on KYC mining pool Foundry USA can now make donations to open-source developers through non-profits like Brink and OpenSats.
Public Bitcoin miner MARA, formerly Marathon Digital, announced the purchase of $100 million in Bitcoin, now holding over 20,000 BTC. The company will adopt a full HODL strategy for its Bitcoin treasury policy, retaining all mined Bitcoin while making periodic strategic open market purchases.
Bitcoin miner Hut 8 won a $138 million breach-of-contract lawsuit against MARA, which intends to appeal the verdict, reports The Miner Mag.
Riot Platforms has acquired Kentucky-based Bitcoin miner Block Mining in a $92.5 million deal expected to add 60 megawatts of capacity.
Ontario Capital Markets Tribunal supported Riot's request to terminate Bitfarms' initial "poison pill" strategy. In response, Bitfarms adopted a new shareholder rights plan to protect against "creeping bids," allowing shareholders to receive one right per share if anyone acquires 20% or more of their shares without making a "Permitted Bid" that meets specific conditions.
Mining hardware producer MicroBT introduced its latest WhatsMiner M6XS+ series during the Bitcoin 2024 conference. The new series includes air-cooling WhatsMiner M60S+ (up to 210 TH/s with a power efficiency of 17 J/T), hydro-cooling WhatsMiner M63S+ (up to 450 TH/s, power efficiency of 17 J/T) and WhatsMiner M64 (up to 206 TH/s, power efficiency of 19.9 J/T), and immersion-cooling WhatsMiner M66S+ (up to 318 TH/s, power efficiency of 17 J/T), according to Bitcoin Magazine.
Meanwhile, Auradine, a U.S. bitcoin ASIC chip manufacturer backed by Marathon, has begun shipping its 3-nanometer Teraflux 2800 series miners. The air-cooled model AT2880 delivers up to 260 TH/s, while the single-phase immersion miner AI3680 offers 375 TH/s and 14 J/T efficiency in optimal mode.
Cathedra Bitcoin has successfully merged with Kungsleden Inc., forming a new entity that will manage 95 MW of power and a hash rate of 4.8 EH/s.
Bitcoin mining firm Cormint Data Systems has raised $29 million in a Series B equity funding round, co-led by existing investors.
Satimoto, a privacy-friendly electric vehicle charging app utilizing Bitcoin via the Lightning Network for micro-payments, will disable services starting September 1, 2024. All of Satimoto's code is FOSS and available online.
Satoshi Pacioli Accounting is offering free tax preparation, filing, and consulting services to U.S.-based open-source Bitcoin developers.
Ego Death Capital has raised $43.35 million in commitments for its $100 million second fund targeting Series A Bitcoin technology startups.
Metaplanet, a Tokyo-listed investment firm, purchased an additional 20.381 BTC ($1.27 million). This brings its total holdings to 246 BTC, worth approximately 2.45 billion yen ($15.5 million).
Real Bedford football club has acquired 66.9 BTC for $4.5 million, averaging ~$67,220 per coin. The club now holds a total of 82.7 BTC, purchased for ~$5.37 million at an average price of ~$64,925 per bitcoin. Club owner Peter McCormack noted that 15.8 BTC is earmarked for football operations, while the rest is held in treasury.
Bitcoin financial services company Fold is set to go public on the Nasdaq via a merger with special-purpose acquisition company Emerald Acquisition Corp. (EMLD), valuing Fold at $365 million. After the merger, Fold expects to have over 1,000 BTC on its consolidated balance sheet.
Luxury car brand Ferrari announced that it will expand its acceptance of Bitcoin and other digital currencies to its European dealer network starting at the end of this month. This follows its initial rollout in the United States last year in partnership with BitPay.
Jersey City, New Jersey, plans to invest part of its pension fund in Bitcoin ETFs, as confirmed by Mayor Steven Fulop. The city is updating its paperwork with the SEC and expects to complete the process by summer's end. This decision follows the State of Wisconsin Investment Board's purchase of at least $160 million in Bitcoin ETF shares earlier this year.
In Paraguay, Bitcoin miners are urging the government to reconsider an upcoming electricity price hike of up to 14%, warning it could harm the economy and cause losses of up to $1.5 billion. This increase, announced by the national electricity operator Administración Nacional de Electricidad (ANDE), will take effect on August 1.
Bitcoin mining and data center operator HIVE Digital is expanding its operations to Paraguay. The new site will utilize 100 megawatts of hydroelectricity and is expected to support an additional 6.5 EH/s, reports The Miner Mag.
The Argentine General Inspection of Justice (IGJ) has approved the registration of companies that include Bitcoin and other digital assets in their social capital. This marks a significant update in Argentine corporate law, providing a legal avenue for incorporating digital assets into corporate structures, reports Atlas21.
Illuminodes, a Salvadoran technology initiative, and the Paravida Hospital Group, a hospital group in El Salvador, have announced the first real-world healthcare pilot using the Nostr and Bitcoin protocols, set to be implemented in hospitals in San Salvador.
Russian legislators appear to be set to finally adopt a regulatory framework that legalizes Bitcoin mining, and permits the use of cryptocurrencies for international trade. This development follows Vladimir Putin's calls for stricter regulations on mining and praise for the digital ruble(CBDC) pilot.
- In other news, the Russian authorities said they have seized 500 bitcoin mining rigs, while RT reported that the country is exploring the use of 'recycled manure' for mining operations.
At the same time, Bitcoin Policy UK has sent a letter to the UK's Chancellor Rachel Reeves and City Minister Tulip Siddiq, urging the government not to sell its 61,000 BTC seized in 2021.
Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming is reportedly preparing to introduce new legislation that would require the Federal Reserve to hold some Bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset.
Switzerland has significantly advanced its "F ederal Law on the Use of Electronic Means for the Fulfillment of Government Tasks" (EMBAG), which mandates the use of open-source software (OSS) in the public sector.
Europol's latest report, titled 'Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessment,' indicates that Bitcoin remains the most popular digital asset in cybercrime cases involving cryptocurrencies. However, the use of altcoins, particularly stablecoins in investment fraud and Monero in ransomware attacks, is on the rise.
On July 11, a security breach occurred involving a bank linked to Coinbase, exposing the names, bank account numbers, and routing numbers of 154 exchange customers, reports Atlas21.
British watchdog Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) fined Coinbase’s UK arm CB Payments Limited (CBPL) £3.5 million ($4.5 million) on Thursday for onboarding 13,416 "high-risk customers."
Social media platform X removed the #Bitcoin hashtag emoji.

Updates and releases

Fully Noded v1.2.0 comes with full support for multisig, singlesig and PSBT flow with Coldcard Q1 QR codes.
Phoenix Android v2.3.5 fixes a parsing issue that occurs with some BIP-353 addresses and introduces new invoice expiry options of 1 hour and 1 day.
Zeus v0.9.0-beta3 has been released. It comes with new config QR code format and a backend fix for paid invoices for CLNRest.
Web5 Decentralized Web Nodes (DWNs) by TBD are now available for testing. It enables developers to build decentralized, serverless applications.
P2Pcoins.io is a freshly launched, privacy-friendly Bitcoin P2P marketplace. Future plans include public API, premium accounts, and support for XMR and ETH.
Stack Wallet v2.1.3 introduces multi-address functionality to FROST, along with bug fixes and UI improvements. The Stack Duo release is expected within a few days.
YakiHonne, a Nostr client for long-form content, got a new brand look. The update includes a points system, wallet view, and various UI/UX enhancements. The client is available on the web, iOS, and Android
PyBLØCK v2.7 is out with Luxor and Ocean Pool API connectors, a mempool.space client, and bug fixes.
Libwally Core v1.3.0: The latest version of a cross-platform, cross-language collection of useful primitives for wallets has been released.
Lume v4.0.14 is the latest version for a multi-purpose nostr client for desktop. It improves the client's performance and stability.
Amethyst v0.89.7 has been released with multiple fixes and improvements
RoboSats' Nostr-based federation cache system is now ready for review.
Zap.store CLI v0.0.2 has been released. It is a command line tool for playing around with permissionless app store that is powered by your social network.
Breez SDK developers can now choose between Breez SDK - Liquid and Breez SDK - Greenlight implementations. The new Liquid implementation is a self-custodial, end-to-end solution for integrating Lightning payments, utilizing the Liquid Network with on-chain interoperability and third-party fiat on-ramps.
Boltz Web App v1.4.1 brings improvements to the swap box switch behavior and introduces integrations with Blitz Wallet and Helm Wallet, among other features.
Asmogo has launched Nostr Web Services (NWS), allowing web services to be accessible without needing a publicly accessible IP address or DNS.
LNbits v0.12.9 has been released, featuring multiple fixes and improvements.
NodeGuard v0.15.1 is an open-source technology stack designed to simplify treasury operations for Lightning nodes (currently supporting only LND).
Bitcoin Dev Kit v1.0.0 is now in beta. "It's the first bdk_wallet version with a stable 1.0.0 API," the project notes.
Nix Bitcoin v0.0.110 has been released, upgrading NixOS to version 24.05.
Stacker.news now supports attachable wallets as plugins.
Padawan Wallet v0.13.0, a testnet-only bitcoin wallet trainer for Android users, comes with Portuguese language support, improves the tutorial screen, and enables migration to Signet.
Osty, a free and open-source framework for building web applications on the Nostr protocol, has updated its website. The project also announced a 21000 sats bounty for writing comprehensive project documentation. More details can be found here.
The Fold Bitcoin payments app has been updated with a fresh and improved look. The app also introduced ACH rewards, allowing users to earn rewards on their mortgage, rent, and bills.
Lastseed v1.0 is a simple CLI tool for calculating and displaying last seed words and their associated entropies.
BullishNuts is a 'bullish' Cashu progressive web app (PWA) wallet that features Nostr contact integration along with npub.cash addresses. Check it out here.
Bitcoin Testnet 4 proposal by Fabian Jahr has been assigned BIP-94. The draft is nearly ready for merging; you can review it here.
Nostr-relay-tray v1.5.1, a Nostr relay implementation for desktop computers, introduces features such as the ability to clear events, join hubs, and, most importantly, a dark mode.
Lightning Labs launched Taproot Assets on Lightning Network, allowing assets to be minted on Bitcoin and sent instantly with low fees. Developers can start building with Taproot Assets by downloading the latest version of the Lightning Terminal (litd) suite and using it in integrated mode.
- Taproot Assets v0.4.1-alpha and Lightning Terminal v0.13.991-experimental come with a hot fix for an issue with incorrectly created proofs.
Polar v3.0.0, a tool for creating one-click Lightning networks for local app development and testing, now supports litd nodes, enabling the opening of Taproot Asset channels and the ability to send/receive assets across the Lightning Network. It also includes several improvements and support for the latest versions of LND, Core Lightning, and Eclair.
Super Testnet has introduced StatechainJS, a 'vanilla' JavaScript implementation of a statechain client and operator designed to minimize custodian risks for users. "It’s like ecash, but if the operator goes down, you can recover your sats," explains the developer.
- The developer also has added proof-of-reserves and liabilities to StatechainJS project.
Keychat, a chat app built on Bitcoin Ecash, Nostr Protocol, and Signal Protocol, is now available for testing. Version v1.15.4, simplifies the friend-adding process but is incompatible with previous versions.
LNbits v0.12.10 is the latest small bug fix release for the free and open-source Lightning wallet and accounts system.
Liana v6.0 introduces support for the Jade signing device, along a number of usability improvements as well as some bug fixes.
Nak v0.5.0, a command line tool for 'doing all things nostr,' has been released.
Proton, the privacy-focused Swiss technology company, has launched early access to Proton Wallet, an open-source, end-to-end encrypted, and self-custodial Bitcoin wallet.
Alby Hub has opened a waitlist for users wanting their own nodes. Existing Alby users can upgrade their setup and easily migrate funds from their Alby Web wallet to their own node today. Alby Hub is also available as a free, open-source DIY setup for personal servers, desktops, or even Raspberry Pi Zero.
- Later in the week, Alby also released version 1.3.3 of Alby Hub. It features new logo design, improved the onboarding flow for opening a channel. Account linking is now automated, and several notable bugs and issues based on user feedback have been resolved.
Jack Mallers announced a Strike plug-in for BTCPay Server, set to be trialed at the Bitcoin 2024 Nashville conference with over 50 merchants.
Damus v1.9(14) is the latest App Store release for Apple users on Nostr, featuring a new thread chat view, emoji selector, and important bug fixes.
0xchat v1.3.0 is now out of beta, fixing NIP-29 relay groups and adding several new features and enhancements.
Hyperion is a discrete time network event simulator for Bitcoin aimed at simulating data propagation using various techniques.
Blockstream Green Android v4.0.31 now allows the disabling of TLS on Personal Electrum servers.
Unify Wallet v0.0.2 is an early but functional version of a BIP-78 over Nostr Payjoin wallet, available on macOS and iOS.
CLBOSS v0.13.2, an automated manager for Core Lightning forwarding nodes, introduces signet support, module diagrams for channel creation, off-chain to on-chain swaps, channel balancing, and updates to the seeds list.
Citrine v0.3.0, a Nostr relay for Android, includes fixes for kinds filter and duplicated events.
Nos v0.1.21 is now available on TestFlight, featuring numerous fixes and new features.
ngit v1.3, a code collaboration tool over the Nostr protocol, now supports offline use and signing in from Android via Amber signer.
Corny Chat, a live audio spaces app for Nostr, now utilizes LNbits for Lightning account management and as an LNURL Pay provider.
Gossip v0.11.1 is a minor bug fix release for the Nostr desktop client.
Cashu Nutshell v0.16.0 is a major release featuring numerous new features, bug fixes, performance improvements, and protocol updates. Key highlights include a new smaller binary token format, improved coin selection for the wallet, support for ecash fees, WebSocket updates, Multinut payments, and more.
Bitcoin multisig wallet Nunchuk introduced its Wallet Rollover feature with advanced coin control.
SATO Technologies Corp has launched Club Mining, an app for iOS and Android aimed at building a community of solo Bitcoin miners and mining enthusiasts worldwide.
Plebwork, a non-custodial freelance marketplace for bitcoiners, launched a new certified Bitcoin talent feature.
Boardwalk Cash v0.1.2 has been released. It is a self-custodial ecash wallet that lets you send and receive dollar-denominated ecash.
Unchained introduced Unchained Connections - a new feature for Unchained vaults that allows users to secure their bitcoin with closest family and friends.
LDK Node Flutter v0.3.0 is out with a number of new APIs.
lnp2pBot v0.10.7 has been released with a few small changes.
TwelveCash v1.0.0 Beta, a tool for encoding bitcoin payment instructions, specifically BOLT 12 offers, into DNS records , has been released.
Fedimint v0.3.3 has been released.
Bitcoin DCA app Coinbits launched Coinbits Plus program.
UmbrelOS v1.2.2 Beta1 is now available for users enrolled in the umbrelOS Beta Program.
BitVMX showcased how to interactively verify a SNARK proof on Bitcoin with BitVMX, with more details available here.
Coders at BitcoinOS claim to have successfully verified a zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) on the Bitcoin mainnet for the first time in history.

Guides and research

Nicolas Dorier shared insights on the design of 'untrusted Bitcoin-Dollar' in a recent post.
A research report by The Nakamoto Project reveals that American Bitcoin owners are generally moderate, reflecting broader American political trends, with smaller conservative and liberal groups.
Senator Cynthia Lummis shared an orange paper refuting The Biden administration’s scheme for taxing bitcoin mining.
God Bless Bitcoin, a documentary exploring the moral and ethical aspects of Bitcoin and its potential impact on the world, is now available for viewing on the film's website and YouTube.
Bitcoin Optech issue #313 summarizes a wide-ranging discussion about free relay and fee-bumping upgrades in Bitcoin Core.

Mining stats

Bitcoin's hashrate has risen significantly recently, shortening the average block production interval to approximately 8 minutes and 57 seconds. Estimated difficulty increase on July 31 is currently at 11.77%.