Block 871742: Important News of the Week

This week, we raised nearly 26,000 sats. Shoutout to our top supporters and zappers who are here for us. If you want to keep No Bullshit Bitcoin up and running, consider contributing to our Geyser fundraiser.

This week, we're introducing a new reward: a paid No Bullshit GM report shoutout. We're hoping that this may help us finally bring some stable revenue to support the service while also delivering extra value to those willing to pay for it. It's still more or less experimental, so let's see how it goes from here.

News

• Start your career in Bitcoin open source in 2025. Chaincode Labs is looking for individuals serious about a career in Bitcoin open source software (₿OSS). It offers a three-month online software development program open to all levels, emphasizing passion, dedication, and rigorous technical training with minimal entry barriers. Application deadline is December 31, 2024. The program is scheduled to start on January 13th.
• OpenSats issues third wave of Bitcoin education grants. Educational materials produced through these grants will be made available under permissive and open licenses, guaranteeing that they remain accessible to all. The latest grant recipients include:
  • BTC Map. A community-driven global directory of over 10,000 Bitcoin merchants using OpenStreetMap to simplify discovery and promote adoption.
  • Yes Bitcoin Haiti is building a circular Bitcoin economy in Haiti by educating, adopting merchants, and promoting financial inclusion for unbanked communities.
  • Entropy Bitcoin Education project makes Bitcoin learning fun and accessible worldwide through gamified workshops and open-source tools.
  • Bitcoin 4all provides free, multilingual video lessons in English, Spanish, and Portuguese to educate and support global Bitcoin literacy.
• OpenSats doubles down on Nostr. The organization has recently issued and extended additional grants to various Nostr projects, including Damus, Gossip, nostr.build, nostr-sdk-ios, ngit & gitworkshop, nostr-relay (-nestjs, -tray), Nostrocket, and DVMDash.

"What is required is a neutral protocol; a protocol that is truly open in terms of usage and development alike; a protocol that does not discriminate, just like bitcoin does not discriminate," was stated in a blog post.

• You can contribute to the OpenSat's Nostr Fund here.
• Winners of SatsHack hackathon by Vinteum. The second edition of the SatsHack hackathon took place at Satsconf 2024 in Brazil. You can find all of the hackathon's submissions here.
  • Best Fedi Mod - Sing4Sats. It is a Lightning-based app for karaoke parties. A web implementation is available here.

• 3rd place & Best Nostr - Granola. It is the first exchange built on Cashu and Nostr, allowing for atomic, cross-mint ecash swaps and offering privacy-first transactions across various currencies. Check out the project's demo here.

• 2nd place, Best Design and Best Pitch - ScriptLab. It enables anyone to create Bitcoin scripts quickly and intuitively using drag-and-drop blocks and a chat assistant, thus unlocking new possibilities for Bitcoin developers. You can find the project's GitHub repository here.

• 1st place & Best Open Source Contribution - Floresta Mobile App. Built with the Floresta library, this app demonstrates Utreexo's potential to revolutionize self-sovereignty on the go. Wallets can act as fully verifying nodes using minimal resources. The app's APK is available here.

• Alby to sunset custodial wallet on January 4, 2025. "If you don’t withdraw your funds by January 4, 2025, your remaining balance will be converted into Fee Credits. This means those funds are now stuck in that ecosystem, so if you fail to sweep those funds in time, you might as well use them to spin up an AlbyHub or pay for your first Lightning channel open," said the company.
• Coin Center's post-election policy outlook. Coin Center, a non-profit focused on Bitcoin and digital asset policy issues, anticipates favorable policies in the areas of securities and banking regulation. However, the outlook is less certain regarding surveillance issues such as anti-money laundering, tax reporting, and sanctions.
  • On Tuesday, Coin Center escalated its Tornado Cash dispute with the U.S. Treasury Department to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. The organization argues that the government exceeded its authority by sanctioning the virtual currency mixer Tornado Cash and unfairly preventing Americans from using the software tool.

"The government, on appeal, says that the software published at the banned addresses is property, but the software is non-proprietary lines of code that no one on the planet can own, control, or alter in any way," said Jeffrey S. Hetzel, Legal counsel for Coin Center.

• SEC Chair Gary Gensler announces resignation effective January 20, 2025. Gary Gensler, the Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, has announced his intention to resign on January 20, 2025.
• Lawmakers urge FinCEN to finalize reporting requirements for cryptocurrency mixers. Seven Congress members have sent a letter to the U.S. Treasury to address Tornado Cash risks and prompt FinCEN to finalize crypto mixer regulations. FinCEN’s 2023 proposal seeks to regulate mixers under the Patriot Act, requiring financial institutions to maintain detailed records of cryptocurrency transactions, including amounts, mixers used, wallet addresses, transaction hashes, dates, IPs, timestamps, and activity descriptions, reports The Rage.
• Donald Trump's proposed Crypto Advisory Council could set up a United States bitcoin reserve. This proposed council, under the White House’s National Economic Council, would shape digital asset policies, work with Congress, establish a bitcoin reserve, and coordinate with the SEC and other financial agencies.
  • According to Reuters, major crypto firms such as Ripple, a16z, Kraken, and Circle are competing for seats on President-elect's advisory council to influence his planned overhaul of U.S. Bitcoin and cryptocurrency policies. A recent WSJ report also states that Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong met with Trump.
  • In addition to the Crypto Advisory Council, Trump's transition team proposed a new White House role called "Crypto Czar." Chris Giancarlo, the former head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), is rumored to be a leading contender for this role.
• Trump urges Republicans to kill "the PRESS Act." The Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying Act, or PRESS Act, is intended to enhance reporters' ability to protect confidential sources. It was unanimously approved by the Republican-controlled House in January and was expected to pass the Senate before the current Congressional session ends next month.
• Howard Lutnick selected as Trump pick for commerce chief. Lutnick, the CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, has been a vocal proponent of Bitcoin and Tether's Wall Street banker for years.
• Pennsylvania introduces the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve act. Republican Representative Mike Cabell introduced the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Act (HB 2664) in the State House, permitting Pennsylvania to allocate up to 10% of state funds to Bitcoin. Similar bills are pending in ten other states, reports Atlas21.
• Polish Presidential candidate Sławomir Mentzen pledges to establish Strategic Bitcoin Reserve if elected in 2025. His vision includes lower taxes, supportive banking regulations, and a creating a crypto-friendly environment for businesses.

• Screven County, GA, became the first county in the United States to use the Bitcoin blockchain to safeguard the results of its elections. On November 5, 2024, the Board of Elections partnered with Simple Proof, a U.S. company that secures digital records with the Bitcoin blockchain, ensuring results remained unaltered, reports Frank Corva.
• Netherlands' Central Bank pressures web shops selling fiat-to-crypto gift cards. Regulators at De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) issued warnings to ten web shops, instructing them to cease dealing with euro and dollar gift cards redeemable in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. While the regulator admits it has no evidence of money laundering through these means, it claims that such activities are "possible" and that they "see the back doors open" for such activities.
• Bitfinex hackers received their sentences. Ilya Lichtenstein, 35, has been sentenced to 5 years in federal prison for his involvement in a money laundering conspiracy arising from the hack and theft of approximately 120,000 BTC. His wife, Heather Morgan, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for her role in the hack.
• US purchased Pegasus Spyware for Colombia in $11M deal. According to a press release from the Embassy of Colombia, the United States supplied $11 million in cash to purchase the Pegasus surveillance software. This investment was aimed at assisting in the fight against drug cartels in Colombia and Mexico. However, it is still unclear why the U.S. government participated in this sale and whether taxpayer funds were used for the transaction, reports The Rage.
• AnchorWatch becomes a Lloyd's of London Coverholder. The company will launch in December 2024 with up to $100M binding authority per customer, securing the wealth of American retail and institutional investors.

“We are proud to be at the forefront of transforming bitcoin custody with Trident Vault’s advanced security features and its pairing with coverage from Lloyd’s of London syndicates. Until now, individuals and businesses faced the difficult choice between uninsured custody or third-party policies, often valued at mere fractions of a cent per dollar in custody. AnchorWatch changes the game by providing true, insured bitcoin custody," said AnchorWatch co-founder and CEO Rob Hamilton.

• MicroStrategy buys 51,780 BTC for $4,6 billion. It now owns 331,200 BTC acquired for $16.5 billion at an average price of $49,874 per coin. The company also announced plans to raise additional $1.75 billion "to acquire additional bitcoin and for general corporate purposes." The organization has also successfully completed its previously announced issuance of $3 billion in 0% convertible senior notes, set to mature in 2029. The funds raised will be allocated for further bitcoin purchases.
• MicroStrategy is now a top 100 U.S. public company by market cap. In 2024, the company's shares surged over 500% year-to-date and outperformed NVIDIA over five years, gaining 2,739% versus NVDA’s 2,688%. This growth occurred despite MSTR adopting Bitcoin as a treasury asset only in August 2020, while Bitcoin itself increased over 100% in the same period.
  • In related news, MicroStrategy's chairman Michael Saylor is going to pitch Bitcoin to the board of directors at Microsoft Corporation. He's also offering Bitcoin strategy advice to Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski.

• Semler Scientific acquired 215 BTC for $17.7 million. The company's total holdings of 1,273 BTC were purchased for $88.7 million at an average price of $69,682 per coin.
• Thumzup Media Corp approves a $1 million BTC strategy plan. Thumzup (TZUP), a leading social media branding firm, announced its entry into Bitcoin as the company's board has authorized a plan to buy up to $1 million in bitcoin for treasury reserves.
• Metaplanet snaps up an additional 124 BTC. The company purchased 124 BTC a day after issuing one-year ordinary bonds totaling ¥1.75 billion ($11.3 million) with an annual interest rate of 0.36%. Since April, Metaplanet has accumulated 1,142 BTC valued at ~$92.33 million.
• MARA Holdings raise $700 million, buys 5771 BTC. The company is now holding 33,875 BTC and has a 35% BTC yield per share.

• Cosmos Health adds bitcoin to its treasury. A Chicago-based global healthcare group issued a press release stating that "it has adopted a strategy to include Bitcoin and Ethereum as part of its treasury reserve assets."
• Hoth Therapeutics and Acurx Pharmaceuticals allocate $1M to Bitcoin. Each company has announced plans to allocate $1 million to bitcoin as part of their treasury strategies, reports BTCTimes.
• Chinese electric car manufacturer Kaixin Holdings enters Bitcoin mining. The company acquired a Middle Eastern mining facility to leverage efficient Bitcoin equipment and access to reliable, cost-effective energy.
• Russia to ban Bitcoin mining in several regions, including occupied territories of Ukraine. Authorities in Russia announced plans to restrict Bitcoin mining in regions like Irkutsk, Buryatia, Zabaikalsky, six North Caucasus areas (including Chechnya and Dagestan), and occupied Ukrainian regions (Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson) to address winter electricity shortages. Russia legalized Bitcoin and other digital asset mining in July, effective November 1, but now plans to ban it just 18 days later.
  • The country's authorities are also considering taxing personal income from Bitcoin and other digital currencies at a 15% rate.
• BTC in D.C. conference to take place in September 2025. The event will explore Bitcoin’s role in finance and its regulatory impact, reports BTC Times.
• BTCHel conference to take place in Finland on August 15-16, 2025. The event is set to be "the first ever large scale bitcoin conference in the Nordics." Learn more about it here.

Updates and releases

• Proton Wallet implemented Replace-by-Fee (RBF) functionality. Learn how to use it here.
• PlebDevs.com platform has been launched. It provides tools, workshops, and educational content for aspiring Bitcoin, Lightning, and Nostr developers.

• umbrelOS v1.3 Beta is now available for testing. It includes swappable apps - the ability to switch between Bitcoin Core, Knots, and Libre Relay, or Electrs, Fulcrum, and ElectrumX. It also packages Cloudflare DNS and Factory Reset, performance enhancements, and essential bug fixes.
  • To try it out, go to Settings > Advanced settings, and enroll into the umbrelOS Beta Program.
• Bitcoin Keeper v1.2.19 fixes Android bug for COLDCARD vault registration via NFC, and few other minor bugs.
• BTCPay Server v2.0.3 and v1.13.7 are maintenance releases that include security critical fixes for users of Boltcards.
• Krux v24.11.1 introduces a fix for more robust encrypted backups. It affects users who have changed their settings to use AES-CBC encryption instead of the default AES-ECB for encrypted backups on flash storage, SD cards, or encrypted QR codes.

"Due to an implementation error, the camera-captured entropy was not being used as intended in our AES-CBC encryption mode. This means that the additional layer of security provided by the camera's randomness was not effectively applied," said the developers.

• Nix Bitcoin v0.0.115 updates bitcoind, CLBOSS, electrs, and trustedcoin implementations. Additionally, the LND module's ExecStartPost script is now extensible with custom scripts.
• BitBox App v4.46.0 update brings an improved transaction overview, native support for Apple Silicon, changes to output labeling, integration of the BTC Direct over-the-counter (OTC) service, and a few other miscellaneous improvements.
• Trezor Suite app v24.11.2 introduces the ability to opt into auto-updates automatically and removes BIP-69 sorting to shuffle inputs, thereby reducing fingerprinting for better privacy.
• Utreexo v0.2.2 is now available.
• Mempal v1.2.1, a mempool monitoring and notification app for Android, added widget functionality, the ability to test connections for custom mempool servers, confirmation notifications based on specific transaction IDs, and more.
• Blockstream Green Desktop v2.0.14 changes the "static linkage of libicu" and fixes checks for updates on startup, along with in-app promotions on the wallet overview.
• Blockstream Green mobile v4.0.38 for iOS and Android adds in-app promos, Jade QR mode, and other improvements.
• ZEUS v0.9.3-beta1 is now available for testing. This version brings channel reserve display, ZEUS Pay UX improvements, displays BTC-denominated amounts with spaces, and more.
• Blitz wallet v0.3.3-beta added multiple AI models, a block explorer for Liquid payments, Pick n Pay integration, and general bug fixes.
• Clams Remote v2.5.1 brings the ability to send payments to BIP-353 usernames.
• Ride The Lightning (RTL) v0.15.4-beta is a minor release that improves authentication logic for clearer error handling and validation during login and password reset processes, as well as refined application settings for stricter validation of access keys.
• Coinos.io web wallet integrated the ability to pay BOLT 12 offers.
• Swiss Bitcoin Pay app v2.2.1 introduces support for multiple accounts on Bitbox02.
• Lipa-lightning-lib v0.71.0-beta has been released.
• Cashu Dev Kit (CDK) v0.5.0 includes NUT-17 WebSocket support for the mint, as well as many bug fixes and improvements.
• Nutshell v0.16.3 is out with a number of bug fixes. Multinut payments are now turned on by default, and mints now have the ability to signal multiple URLs in case their DNS gets rugged.
• Boardwalk Cash v.0.4.0, a Cashu wallet designed for fast, easy onboarding and use, has been released.
• Nutstash v2.0.1, a Lightning and Cashu Wallet with multi-mint and send-to-Nostr-key functionality, brings multi-mint selection, wallet backups, a new user interface based on the latest build, integrated Nostr Direct Messages (DMs), a contact list, zap contacts, and more. Check it out here.
• Boltz Client v2.2.1 patch includes two fixes for the WalletSend RPC.
• ESP-Miner v2.4.0 has been released, delivering temperature sensor fixes, as well as UI, swarm, and overclocking improvements, among other enhancements.

• stacker.news user jasonb introduced Braiins Boiler Room—a boiler room-themed dashboard for monitoring worker stats.
• PABLOF7z introduced ndk-mobile, an addition to the Nostr Development Kit (NDK) aimed at easing the creation of "nostrified" iOS and Android apps. It comes with login management tools, SQLite caching, subscription management, NIP-60 wallet and session support.
• Olas is an Instragram-style Nostr client Android (available on Zapstore) and iOS (TestFlight). It serves a feed of videos and picture events and supports blossom uploads, NIP-22 replies, reels, image download optimization, and more. The latest updates include bug fixes, multi-image uploads, NIP-46 remote signer support, dark mode, improved image quality (and likely some new bugs).
  • The project's repository is available here.

• hodlbod introduced Flotilla v0.1, a new Nostr client for communities. You can try it on the web, and the Android app is also available on zapstore.
• 0xchat v1.4.1 delivers video player optimizations with landscape mode support, adds audio configuration in settings, enables copying of ecash tokens from ecash messages, and supports media deletion.
• Wavlake introduced the ability for artists to promote their music in the Listen To Earn section.
• ezdvm v0.1.2, a simple DVM implementation in Python, now uses nostr-sdk v0.36, adds a test script to send events to DVMs, and improves the project's documentation.
• Grain v0.2.1, an open-source Nostr relay implementation written in Go, fixes event purging.
• Gifbuddy, a Nostr-companion progressive web app (PWA) for sharing GIFs, now allows users to upload, search, and create GIF memes on the spot. Try it at gifbuddy.lol.
• Geyser v0.15.0, the latest update for bitcoin crowdfunding platform geyser.fund, introduced Ambassadors and Heros —a new feature designed to earn recognition for spreading the word about Bitcoin projects via dedicated "hero links."

"Every Geyser user gets their own Hero Card. Whether you’ve created, contributed, or promoted, you’re a Hero in the Bitcoin movement. Your Hero Card showcases your ranking as a creator, contributor, and ambassador," added the project.

• Casa launched Case Enterprise, a Bitcoin treasury management solution for businesses.
• Bitkey app v2024.73.0 now lists Coinbase offers alongside other partner exchanges when selling bitcoin.
• Satadelica is a fun and trippy web-based Bitcoin price visualizer.
• The latest stacker.news update introduces a proxied Lightning address feature for payments exceeding the auto-withdraw threshold set by users, a pull-to-refresh feature in the (PWA), wallet status indicators and logos for attached wallets, and various bug fixes.
• Mullvad Browser v14.0 has been released. It is based on Firefox ESR 128 and incorporates a year's worth of changes from Firefox. It also brings back Firefox Screenshots, and enables Picture-in-Picture mode.
• GrapheneOS v2024111800 is the latest release for a security-focused, free, and open-source Android-based mobile operating system.

Guides and research

• Bitcoin Optech Newsletter #330 covers pluggable channel factories, links to a report examining transactions on the default signet, describes an update to the LNHANCE multi-part soft fork proposal, and discusses a paper about covenants based on grinding rather than consensus changes.
• Lightning Dev Kit's team published new guidance on how to overcome the challenges of routing payments on the Lightning Network.
• Stratum V2 SRI's roadmap for Q4 2024 and 2025 is available here. A more detailed version of the roadmap can be found on GitHub.
• Nostr Wallet Connect published an updated NWC ecosystem map.

• The Bitcoin Dev Project wrote a guide on how to sign a transaction using MuSig.
• Atlas21 published a Bitcoin full node guide.
• The Tor Project shared a blog post about memory quota tracking, a new feature introduced in Arti v1.3.0. It allows users to limit the amount of memory that other people can cause their Arti instance to use, improving Onion Service DoS resistance.
• BTCPay Server shared a new case study on its collaboration with Namecheap, one of the world’s leading domain registrars. Since 2020, Namecheap's BTCPay instance has reportedly processed $73 million worth of Bitcoin payments through 1.1 million transactions from more than 500,000 users.
• The HRF's Financial Freedom Report issue #50 is available here.
• truthforall shared a video investigation by Factum documenting the death of Alejandro Muyshondt, a Salvadorian ex-security advisor who was also an avid Bitcoiner and the user of Nostr.
• djuri, the creator of BTClock, shared his perspective on the Coinkite vs BTClock saga.
• Bitcoin brand assets by Bek provides a library for Bitcoin logos and assets.
• stacker.news user Rexdentron shared a comprehensive Bitcoin Ecosystem Map as of November 2024.

Mining stats

• Bitcoin mining difficulty increased by 0.63% and is currently at 102.29T. The network's hashrate (7-day Simple Moving Average) is approximately 741 EH/s.

Lightning stats

• The Lightning Network has surpassed $0.5 billion in routing capacity this week.

Nostr stats

• The Nostr protocol has recently surpassed 45,000 active weekly trusted pubkeys, according to nostr.band stats.

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