Block 873830: Important News of the Week

Another Bitcoin week is in the books. During this period, we raised 149,637 sats from over 55 contributors. Thank you for supporting No Bullshit Bitcoin news.

News

• Bitcoin: $100k milestone and $2 trillion market cap. The price of Bitcoin reached $100,000 for the first time in history, marking a notable milestone and surpassing a $2 trillion market cap.
• New Spiral grantee: Rachel Rybarczyk. The organization announced Rachel Rybarczyk as a new grantee. She is a core developer at Stratum v2 project.

• Recursive Capital has closed its first capital-raising round. The early-stage Bitcoin venture capital fund, which invests exclusively in Bitcoin companies focused on the African continent, has successfully closed Fund I at an undisclosed amount. Leading investors include Block's Chairman Jack Dorsey, Fortress Investments Group Chairman Pete L. Briger Jr., and Jeff Booth, Founding Partner at Ego Death Capital.

"The focus of Fund I is to lay the foundations for a thriving Bitcoin ecosystem in Africa that will lead the world in innovation, growth, and impact," said Abubakar Nur Khalil, the CEO of Recursive Capital.

• Jerome Powell: Bitcoin is a competitor to gold. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, speaking at the New York Times DealBook Summit, reiterated his view of Bitcoin as a competitor to gold, labeling it "digital gold" due to its "speculative nature and volatility." He also dismissed the notion that bitcoin competes with the US dollar.
• U.S. House Financial Services Committee investigates crypto debanking. In a recent hearing, the House Financial Services Committee discussed allegations of coordinated debanking of the crypto industry. Witnesses highlighted the 'importance' of consumer protections provided by legislation like the Bank Secrecy Act and noted the 'benefits' of AI-enabled compliance and blockchain-based identity, reports The Rage.
• Texas Court blocks Corporate Transparency Act (CTA). A Texas federal court preliminarily blocked the nationwide implementation of the Corporate Transparency Act, which mandates US business entities to report stakeholder information to the Treasury Department.
  • The CTA required approximately 32.6 million existing business entities to disclose their beneficial owners to the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network by 2025.
• Trump nominates Paul Atkins as SEC Chair. President-elect Donald Trump announced plans to nominate Paul Atkins, a former SEC commissioner and Bitcoin advocate, as SEC Chairman. Atkins, CEO of Patomak Partners, supports market innovation and minimal regulation, contrasting with outgoing SEC Chair Gary Gensler.
• David Sacks appointed as White House AI & Crypto Czar. 'The crypto czar' will be tasked with reshaping U.S. policy on digital currency along with a newly created crypto advisory council.
• U.S. officials urge Americans to use encrypted apps. Amid a major cyberattack, U.S. officials from CISA and the FBI advise Americans to use encrypted messaging apps to protect against foreign hackers. The attack, named Salt Typhoon and attributed to China, primarily targets telecom companies like AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon, and remains unresolved.

"Our suggestion, what we have told folks internally, is not new here: Encryption is your friend, whether it’s on text messaging or if you have the capacity to use encrypted voice communication. Even if the adversary is able to intercept the data, if it is encrypted, it will make it impossible," said Jeff Greene, the executive assistant director for cybersecurity at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

• EU's 'Going Dark group calls for data retention, encryption backdoors, and sanctions for privacy services. The controversial EU High Level Group on Data Access for Effective Law Enforcement (HLG) has released its final recommendations. The report advocates for "lawful" access to data from encrypted messaging services and calls for sanctions against uncooperative service providers.
• The European Central Bank has released its second progress report on the preparatory stage of the digital euro. Current discussions are focused on potential wallet limits, legal harmonization, design issues, and ongoing research. This report marks a midpoint in the preparatory phase, following the investigative and design stages.

• Taiwan fast-tracks stricter AML rules for 'crypto service providers.' Effective November 30, new rules require crypto service providers, including exchanges, to register for AML compliance. Failure to comply can result in up to two years in prison and fines of up to NT$5 million ($153,700), reports The Block.
• South Korea delays crypto capital gains tax for two more years. The country’s left-wing Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), which holds a legislative majority, has agreed to a two-year delay on the proposed 20% tax (22% with local tax) on digital asset gains exceeding 2.5 million Korean won ($1,784). If approved, this would be the third postponement of the tax.
• Brazil proposes to ban stablecoin withdrawals to self-custody. The Banco Central do Brasil, the country's central bank, has issued a proposal to prohibit stablecoin transfers to self-custody wallets. This proposal is part of a draft regulation and is open for public consultation until February 28, 2025. The move comes in response to the significant depreciation of the Brazilian real against the US dollar.
• Florida Bitcoin Strategic Reserve may be launched in Q1 2025. Samuel Armes, President of the Florida Blockchain Business Association, announced on X that Florida could establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve as early as the first quarter of the 2025 legislative session.
• BlackRock's IBIT spot ETF has surpassed 500,000 BTC under management. On Monday, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs attracted $353.6 million in net inflows, following a record influx of $6.6 billion in November. Data compiled by The Block indicates that cumulative net inflows since the launch of these funds have now reached $31.2 billion.
• MicroStrategy has acquired 15,400 BTC. The company's Chairman Michael Saylor has announced another bitcoin purchase for $1.5 billion at approx. $95,976 per coin. As of December 2nd, the company claims to hold over 402,100 BTC, acquired for a total of $23.4 billion.
• Michael Saylor pitches bitcoin to Microsoft executives. In a three-minute presentation, Saylor said that if Microsoft fully adopts Bitcoin, its stock price could rise by hundreds of dollars by 2034 and generate trillions of dollars in enterprise value. You can watch the pitch here.

• Semler Scientific acquires additional 303 BTC. The latest purchase brings the company's total Bitcoin holdings to 1873 BTC, bought at an average price of $78,553 per coin.
• BitGo has launched BitGo Retail platform, introducing a global version of its digital asset solutions for retail investors. This platform offers regulated custody through cold and self-storage, as well as trading, staking, lending, and wallet services.

"Retail investors need a security-first, crypto-native platform, and we are excited to serve as that trusted partner. We look forward to enhancing the retail investing, trading, storage, and staking experience for investors around the world," said Mike Belshe, CEO of BitGo.

• Coinbase advises its users against using VPNs. "PSA: Don't use a VPN to access Coinbase. Attackers always use VPN's, so our risk models take that as a negative sign even if you're legitimately using your own account. Same with ad blockers and other extensions," said Scott Shapiro, Product Director at Coinbase.
• Japanese exchange DMM Bitcoin to shut down following a $300 million hack. The company announced an agreement with SBI to transfer customer accounts and custodial assets by March 2025. DMM Bitcoin suffered a hack earlier this year, resulting in losses exceeding $300 million.
• IVPN has acquired Safing, the company behind the consumer firewall application Portmaster and the SPN network.

"After considering the development of a new application from scratch, we determined that Portmaster, with its maturity and reliability, stands as the best service currently on the market," the company said in a blog post.

• Virgin Voyages becomes the first cruise line to accept bitcoin. The decision aligns with the company's focus on millennial and Gen Z travelers, who are more likely to favor Bitcoin for its ease and accessibility, reports TFTC.
• Bitcoin Well adopts bitcoin as strategic reserve asset. The publicly traded Canadian Bitcoin company has purchased 7.5 BTC and intends to raise $2 million more for BTC purchases.
• Volato Group integrates Bitcoin mining with aircraft operations. A Virginia-based private aviation company announced a new patent-pending technology that enables aircraft to generate revenue by repurposing unused resources for Bitcoin mining. The system uses excess electricity from normal flight operations, ensuring seamless integration without extra costs or resource demands.
• Riot added 495 BTC to its balance sheet in November. "Riot mined 495 Bitcoin in November, demonstrating consistent month-over-month production despite a 7% increase in network difficulty during the month," said Jason Les, CEO of Riot.
• Foundry lays off 16% of U.S.-based employees. The Digital Currency Group's KYC mining pool has laid off 16% of its U.S. employees and a small team in India to reduce costs, reports CoinDesk. Foundry's mining pool accounts for approximately 30% of Bitcoin's total hashrate.
• Countries' AML frameworks are more technically compliant but less effective in practice, states Basel AML Index 2024. "In contrast to the modest progress in technical compliance with the FATF Recommendations, the average effectiveness of AML measures globally as measured by the FATF remains at the low level of 28 percent, down from 30 percent in 2021," was stated in the report.

• Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky pleads guilty to two criminal counts. On Tuesday, Mashinsky agreed to plead guilty to two out of the seven charges: commodities fraud and a scheme to manipulate the price of Celsius's token, CEL.
• Hydra marketplace founder gets a life sentence. Russian authorities have sentenced Stanislav Moiseyev, the founder of the dark web drug platform Hydra, to life in prison for organizing a criminal drug enterprise.
  • In 2022, German authorities dismantled Hydra, seizing its servers, other infrastructure, and bitcoin worth millions. Since 2015, Hydra reportedly facilitated $5 billion in transactions for 17 million customers.
• Bitcoin Medellin conference 2025 to take place on January 17-18, 2025 in Colombia. Learn all about it and secure your tickets here.

Updates and releases

• Lark v1.0.0 is a new command-line application designed for the Lark Java USB Hardware Wallet library, enabling interaction with USB hardware wallets for various Bitcoin-related functions. It is designed to serve as a direct substitute for HWI, implementing a selection of its commands.
• Floresta v0.7.0, a fully-validating lightweight Bitcoin node powered by Utreexo with an integrated Electrum server, has been released. Find an extensive list of the latest features and improvements here.
• Kyoto v0.6.0, a simple, memory-conservative, and private Bitcoin client for developers to build wallet applications, adds pass FeeFilter to client, as well as Signet and Bitcoin checkpoints.
• Bisq v1.9.18 is a hotfix release for users who can't broadcast transactions due to not getting enough connections to the Bitcoin network.
• Peach Bitcoin v0.5.2 comes with a dark mode, along with several fixes.
• Machankura launched a mobile app for Android. It allows users to send and receive sats to your phone or phone number via USSD, Whatsapp, web, or mobile. The service is available in Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.
• Nix Bitcoin v0.0.116 has been released with the latest software updates.
• Aqua Wallet v0.2.6 fixes several bugs and improves overall app performance.
• Nunchuk Desktop v1.9.41 has been released with bug fixes and improvements.
• Dan Gould released Payjoin v0.21.0 (rust-payjoin). This version enables transaction cut-through by allowing the receiver to add an arbitrary number of inputs and outputs and permitting mixed input script types in Payjoin V2.
  • Besides, there are several changes to the Payjoin directory API and HPKE to stabilize the V2 protocol, resulting in many breaking changes.

• Full Noded - Server v0.0.1-beta is the first beta release that enables mainnet by default and adds a help button with links for creating issues, joining socials, and visiting the official Fully Noded website.
• Stack Duo wallet v1.2.4 fixes FROST errors, adds the ability to set Tor/Clearnet options for individual nodes, temporarily disables paynym support, and introduces watch-only wallets.
• Ginger Wallet v2.0.15, a fork of Wasabi Wallet which filters out 'blacklisted' coinjoin round input transactions, added simplified coinjoin settings, random coinjoin skip feature, and a tunable coin selector for coinjoins.
• Bitcoin Core v28.1 release candidate 1 is now available for testing.
• Eclair v0.11.0, a Scala implementation of the Lightning Network developed by ACINQ, introduces official support for Bolt 12 offers and advances liquidity management capabilities, including splicing, liquidity ads, and on-the-fly funding. Additionally, it incorporates numerous performance enhancements, expanded configuration options, and resolves minor bugs.
• Phoenix Wallet Android v2.4.5 fixes a navigation issue with LNURL-pay and adds a new migration screen in the Android legacy app.
• Alby Go v1.7.2, a simple Lightning mobile wallet interface that works with Nostr Wallet Connect (NWC) wallet services, brings the ability to delete contacts in the address book, as well as enhanced QR code readability.
• Alby Extension v3.10.0 introduces the Alby Hub Connector and a notification banner for upgrading shared wallets to Alby Hub. It also replaces 'Citadel' with 'Nirvati' and includes multiple translation updates.
• ZEUS v0.9.3-rc 1 is now available for testing.
  • Additionally, ZEUS Pay Lightning address fees have been reduced to zero.
• Core Lightning v24.11 release candidate 3 is now available for testing.
• Bitkit wallet v1.0.7 introduces the Quick Pay feature for faster Lightning payments.
• Polar v3.1.0, a tool allowing Lightning Network app developers to simulate networks locally, is a small release ensuring compatibility with the latest versions of litd v0.14.0-alpha.rc1 and tapd v0.5.0-alpha.rc1.
• CLBOSS v0.14.1, codenamed Hand at the Grindstone, has been released. It comes with contrib script enhancements, stack unwinding, and configurable exception backtrace support.
• Lipa-lightning-lib v0.73.0-beta, a Rust library that implements the main lightning logic of the Lipa wallet, has been released.
• Alby JavaScript SDK v3.8.0 has been released.
• Breez Mobile issued the latest update with bug fixes.
• Breez SDK Greenlight v0.6.5 includes increased reliability for trampoline payments and various bug fixes.
• Peerswap v4.0.0 rc1, an app enabling Lightning Network nodes to balance their channels by facilitating atomic swaps with direct peers, is now available for testing.
• Ark v0.4.0, an implementation of the Ark protocol by Ark Labs, comes with new address encoding, Ark notes, groundwork for Market Hours, server improvements, and more.
• Liquid.horse provides Liquid sidechain statistics.
• Bitcoin Connect v3.6.3 has been released. It includes a currency selection UI.
• Boltz Client v2.3.2 fixes an issue with wallet balance checks before swap creation.
• Boltz Web App v1.5.3 marks the launch of Rootstock Chain Swaps and completing Rootstock integration fundamentals at boltz.exchange.
  • Boltz Web App v1.5.4 has been released with a few miscellaneous chores and refactors.
• Minibits v0.1.10-beta, an Android ecash wallet with a focus on performance and usability, now runs NWC commands via Android's foreground service, reducing interruptions and ensuring smoother transactions.

• bullishNuts v0.2.61, a progressive web app (PWA) wallet for Cashu, introduces support for sending nuts to contacts via Nostr DMs using ephemeral keys and now publishes events to several relays instead of one.
• Cashu-ts v2.1.0 adds a MintInfo class that makes it easier to check whether a mint supports a certain optional NUT.
• lnwCash v0.0.9-alpha now uses V4 token support by default, adds support for Lightning Address and LNURL, and brings stability improvements and bug fixes.

• Boardwalk Cash v0.5.1 introduces gift splits and unlocked eGifts.
• Amethyst v0.93.1 is a bug fix release resolving a multitude of issues, including Satellite's Blossom uploads, image upload tests, badge crashes, and more. It also introduces NIP-22 replies to interactive stories and adds amount and personalization labels to DVM feeds.
• Snort v0.3.0 removes NIP-04 DM support and notifications chart, redesigns relay management pages, adds NIP-55 Amber signer support, implements Web-of-Trust filter for replies, and more.
• Notedeck v0.2.0 (alpha) by Damus is now available to Purple subscribers. It is a high-performance, multiplatform native Nostr client available on Linux, macOS, and Windows. Other platforms are expected to be supported in future releases.

• Olas v0.1.5 is now available on Android and iOS TestFlight. The latest update includes Nostr Wallet Connect (NWC) zaps and introduces a swipe-to-zap feature. It also enables reposts and incorporates various performance optimizations.
• The latest updates for YakiHonne include:
  • Mobile apps:
    • All-in-One Content Hub for creating notes, articles, videos, curations, and smart widgets in one place;
    • Support for new Nostr media servers;
    • NIP-44 Gift Messages are now enabled by default;
    • UI and performance improvements, and bug fixes.
  • Web app:
    • Upgraded note editor;
    • Support for more media options and servers;
    • Expanded search and browsing suggestions;
    • General improvements and bug fixes.
• Corny Chat v2024.11, an open-source audio space built on Jam that integrates Nostr and Lightning, has been released. It brings initial support for custom emojis, adds a server message of the day, includes animation settings, and other bug fixes and improvements.
• Nostrmo v2.9.4, a Flutter Nostr client for Android, iOS, macOS, Windows, Web, and Linux, adds support for syncing users' local events to relays, implements sending for long-form events, and includes a number of bug fixes and UI improvements.
• Citrine v0.5.6, a local Nostr relay for Android, adds an option to fetch events from relays, implements a 'delete all' button, and feeds by kind.
  • Citrine v0.5.7, a local Nostr relay for Android, fixes several issues related to downloading notes.
• Amber v3.0.1, a Nostr signer for Android, is a major release that initiates work on the new design, removes the push notification server, fixes several issues, and more.
• Pokey v0.1.2-alpha, a Nostr 'pull-notification' client for Android, introduces multi-accounts.
• NostrDVM v1.0.3 is out with bug fixes and a new tutorial on deleting NIP-89 announcements.
• Nak v0.9.0, a command-line tool for doing all things Nostr, has been released.
• Cherry Tree by hzrd149 is an experiment with chunked files stored on Blossom servers.

"The experiment was to see how easy it was to split a large file into chunks, then upload those chunks to multiple blossom servers and reassemble then on another computer. The best part about this is the blossom server has no idea its storing a chunked file. it just sees a bunch of binary blobs uploaded from a random pubkey," said the developer.

• kibo v0.5.0, a free and self-hostable alternative to Glassnode, brings more datasets and charts, updates website design, adds a library of PDFs, and much more.

• Mempal 1.3.0, a Bitcoin mempool monitoring and notification app for Android, now supports block height alerts, adds a Tor connection indicator, new widget features and settings, and more.
• ESP-Miner v2.4.1, an open-source ESP32 firmware designed to run on BitAxe v2+ miners, comes with multiple fixes and improvements.

• SATOSH.EE is a new website that provides customers with gift cards, exclusive discounts, and a rewarding Loyalty Program. Additionally, it promotes Open Source Culture, an initiative dedicated to the creation and distribution of copyright-free media, including books, essays, art, and audio. The site supports Nostr login through an extension or nsec.

• Fold introduced Authorized Users feature, which grants a dedicated Fold card to up to three authorized users per account.
• Geyser.fund announced Geyser Guardians - an upcoming feature for those who are passionate about accelerating Bitcoin adoption.
• The latest updates for Zaprite invoicing platform include view invoice page, new features discovery carousel, updated 'Help & Support' widget, and more.
• LN Markets launch LNM Futures with better liquidity, real-time volume ladder, and more resilience in high volatility environments. Learn more about it here.
• Stacker.news added the ability to receive payments directly to attached wallets and introduced send fallbacks if a user has multiple wallets attached.
• Bitcoin prediction market Predyx launched multi-option markets.
• Strike launched Bill Pay for U.S. customers. It is an automatic way to pay your bills directly from your Strike account with bitcoin or cash.

• The Tor Project introduced Rdsys - the next-generation bridge distribution system, designed from the ground up for a more flexible, maintainable, and user-friendly approach to bridge distribution. Learn all about it here.
• Arti v1.3.1, a next-generation Tor client in Rust, continues development on Arti Relay and the RPC subsystem, adds initial scaffolding for service-side proof-of-work support, and includes bug fixes, cleanups, and CI infrastructure improvements.
• GrapheneOS v2024120400 is an early December security update release.
• CalyxOS v5.14.0 is a December 2024 security update.

Guides and research

• Bitcoin Optech newsletter #332 announces the disclosure of a transaction censorship vulnerability and summarizes discussion about the consensus cleanup soft fork proposal.
• Saving Satoshi is a light-hearted, interactive science fiction story and a technical game for developers of all ages who want to learn how Bitcoin works.
• 'Keeping it Cool: Mining Bitcoin in Space' is the latest article by Peter Todd.
• Learn how to start using Miniscript with Blockstream Jade and Liana Wallet here.

• NUT-19: Cached responses has been merged into the Cashu specification.
• The Getting Started with Bitcoin for Merchants guide by DarthCoin has been updated.
• Atlas21 published a guide to Payjoin transactions.
• The Bitcoin Dev Kit Foundation's 2024 Q4 code audit of the current bdk 1.0.0-beta Rust codebase is available here.

• HRF's Weekly Financial Freedom Report #52 is available here.
• Bitvocation published Bitcoin Job Market update for November. Check it out here.
• Buckets of blind signatures is the latest post on Cashu Blog.
• Covenants support list on Bitcoin Wiki documents Bitcoin developers' preferences for various Covenants support proposals.

Mining stats

• Bitcoin mining difficulty has reached a new all-time high, now standing at 103.92T.
• The network's hashrate (7-day SMA) is currently at ~737 EH/s.

Lightning stats

Nostr stats

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