Good Morning, Bitcoin - Wednesday, October 9th, 2024

What's happening

• Bitcoin mining difficulty climbs 4.12%. The network's mining difficulty has reached 92.05T, nearing its all-time high of 92.67T set four weeks ago.

• Bitkey partners with Robinhood. BitKey users in the US can now leverage their Robinhood accounts to directly purchase and transfer cryptocurrencies to cold storage without leaving the BitKey interface. Other supported exchanges include Cash App, Coinbase, and MoonPay.
• IMF continues to pressure El Salvador over Bitcoin adoption. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has again urged El Salvador to reduce its reliance on Bitcoin.

"What we have recommended is a narrowing of the scope of the bitcoin law, strengthening the regulatory framework and oversight of the bitcoin ecosystem, and limiting public sector exposure to bitcoin," said the IMF spokesperson Julie Kozack.

• UAE exempts bitcoin transactions from VAT. The United Arab Emirates has exempted bitcoin and altcoin transactions from value-added tax (VAT), effective November 15th. This change is retroactive to January 1st, 2018, removing the previous 5% fee on transfers and conversions.
• Senator Lee Introduces the Saving Privacy Act. Utah Senator Mike Lee has introduced the Saving Privacy Act, officially titled "a bill to amend the Right to Financial Privacy Act of 1978 to preserve the confidentiality of certain records, and for other purposes." The bill aims to reduce financial surveillance within the US banking system, reports The Rage.
• 0.34% of cryptocurrency transactions potentially linked to crime. Crypto Information Sharing and Analysis Center (ISAC) reports that cash continues to be the dominant means in criminal activities globally.

• Google Play Store to distribute third-party app stores. A federal judge has ordered Google to allow third-party app stores onto the Google Play Store, as part of a nationwide injunction stemming from Epic Games' antitrust victory. The injunction takes effect November 1, with Google granted up to eight months to comply fully.
• Day 1 of Bitcoin Amsterdam 2024 is taking place today. You can follow the event live on zap.stream here. View the agenda for upcoming talks here.

Use the tools

• Bitcoin Core v28.0 is here. Highlights include support for testnet4, opportunistic 1-parent-1-child (1p1c) package relay, default relay of opt-in TRUC and pay-to-anchor transactions, limited package RBF relay, and full-RBF by default. It also adds default parameters for assumeUTXO, enabling the loadtxoutset RPC to use a UTXO set downloaded outside the Bitcoin network.
  • Learn more about key upgrades found in v28 by listening to the episode 95 of the Bitcoin Explained show.

• Bitkey App v2024.70.0 renames Mobile Pay to Transfer without hardware and removes its daily limits.
• Alby Go v1.6.2 fixes the 'white screen of death' issue.
• Braiins Toolbox v24.09 makes free batch management update publicly available.
• Phoenix Android v2.3.11 is the latest bug fix release addressing several crashes and connection issues.
• Zeus Wallet v0.9.1-beta2 is available for testing. It fixes a bug with default inbound fees, disables blinded paths, AMP, and Route Hints for receives, and adds a back button to the lock screen when using the app in Point-of-Sale mode.
• Blitz Wallet v0.2.9-beta fixes some bugs introduced in v0.2.8-beta.
• Envoy v1.8.3-beta is now available for testing. It expands the Buy bitcoin feature to all 50 US states, bolsters Tor connection stability, and refines the wallet's UI.

• Stack Duo v1.2.3 includes tweaks and changes for FROST implementation and connection to ElectrumX, thus enhancing the app's stability.
• Simple Bitcoin Wallet v2.6 drops hardware wallet, built-in Tor, and LNURL support.
• Boltz Web App v1.4.2 comes with enhanced embed parameters, improved swap history list, and more.
• Boltz Client v2.1.7 includes some fixes for read-only wallets, a new RPC for listing wallet transactions, and expanded LND connection possibilities.
• Coracle v0.4.12 is a smaller bug fix release for the Nostr web and Android client with custom feeds and web-of-trust content recommendations.
• Relay Wizard v0.3.0 alpha 3 adds support for nostr-rs-relay, masks private key input, improves error log styling, and more.
• Tails v6.8 introduces the ability to repair file system when unlocking from the Welcome Screen.

• GrapheneOS v2024100800 is an early October security update for the privacy and security-focused mobile operating system.
• Tor Browser v14.0a8 includes a variety of security updates.

Other stuff

• Coin Center published an elaborate analysis of the recent denial of the motion to dismiss in the Roman Storm (Tornado Cash developer) case.

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