Good Morning, Bitcoin - Monday, February 24th, 2025

Good morning! Here comes another freedom-packed No Bullshit GM report, perfectly on time, and precisely when needed.

News

• Bitcoin mining difficulty adjusted down to 110.57T. A 3.2% decline slightly elevated the network’s hashprice to $56/PH/s.

• Apple has pulled end-to-end iCloud encryption in the UK and removed over 135,000 'non-compliant' apps from the EU App Store. Apple iCloud backups can no longer be end-to-end encrypted in the UK, while all apps without a verified trader status and contact information have been removed from the EU App Store to comply with the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA).
• Vinteum has awarded a grant to LND developer Pins. Pins has become the fifth Vinteum grantee and will focus on improving invoicing features in LND and supporting blinded payment paths, enhancing error handling and feedback mechanisms, as well as code review.
• VanEck has donated $50,000 to Brink. The funds will support open-source Bitcoin development efforts.
• BIP 3 has been merged. It proposes new guidelines for the preparation of Bitcoin Improvement Proposals (BIPs) and policies relating to the publication of BIPs. If adopted, it would replace BIP 2.
• Bitcoin++ Freedom+Privacy Edition will take place in Riga, Latvia, on August 7-8, 2025. This will happen right before The Baltic Honeybadger 2025 conference. Get your tickets here.

Use the tools

• Blitz wallet v0.4.1-beta update brings important efficiency improvements and bug fixes.
• Validating Lightning Signer v0.13.0, a library and reference implementation for a signer module to secure Lightning nodes, delivers a fresh wave of improvements designed to enhance configuration, boost security, and streamline core functionalities.

"While we address common LN attack vectors, v0.13 isn’t a full production release yet. We recommend using it on testnet or with limited funds until you’re comfortable it covers your use case," said the project.

• Ark v0.5.0 protocol update introduces branch-only signing sessions and connector trees. There will probably be a blog post explaining what it all means sometime later.
  • Ark Labs also unveiled Coinflip, a proof-of-concept for exploring multiparty contracts on Ark. Learn how to use it here.
• ZEUS Wallet v0.9.7 addresses a bug where LNURL invoice amounts were passed incorrectly.
• ZEUS v0.10.0-alpha4 is now available for testing.

• COLDCARD EDGE firmware v6.3.5X for Mk4 and Q devices is now available for testing. It supports origin-less extended keys in multisig and miniscript descriptors and disallows static internal keys.
• Alby Hub v1.14.3 is the latest bug fix release for Alby Hub.
• Breez SDK Nodeless v0.7.1 (Liquid implementation) brings support for multiple Liquid assets, including USDT, the ability to drain all funds via LNURL-Pay, refundable swaps, real-time sync optimizations, regtest support, and more.
• Dana wallet v0.4.1, a mobile silent payments wallet for Android, is now available.
• Shockwallet v0.0.17-beta, the first wallet to use Nostr-based accounts for Lightning Network connections, is now available for testing.
• Utreexo v0.3.3 has been released.
• Kyoto v0.9.0, a simple, memory-conservative, and private Bitcoin client for developers to build wallet applications, introduces log level optimization for release builds and enables configuring a custom DNS resolver.
• Bitcoin QR is a zero-dependency, zero-framework HTML web component designed to help developers create stylish QR codes for Bitcoin on-chain, Lightning, and unified BIP-21 payments.
• BDK v0.30.2 is a patch release that fixes a crash occurring when syncing wallets with over 10,000 UTXOs.

NOTE: "The bdk library is now deprecated and replaced by bdk_wallet. All projects should migrate to bdk_wallet 1.0.0 or newer as soon as possible. For migration instructions see the "Book of BDK" chapter on "Migrating from 0.x"."

• Mostro mobile app v1.0.0-alpha+4 is now available for testing on both Android and iOS.
• HAMSTR by Liberty Farmer enables fully off-grid Nostr communication over ham radio, allowing clients with no internet access to interact with Nostr relays through a server with internet connectivity.
• The latest Plebeian.market updates include social sharing buttons, open graph integration, pagination on mobile, and more.
• Fedimint v0.6.0-rc.4 is now available for testing.
• Questforsats.com is a geocaching app for hiding and finding hidden bitcoin.

Other stuff

• Super Testnet published a video on how to build your own Coinpool.

• Super Testnet also shared a list of exceptional projects and winners of Bitcoin++ Hackathon at Floripa 2025.
• BTC Sessions published a new Bitcoin home mining tutorial with Bitaxe.

• Ben Arc shared a video on how to receive LNbits server notifications over the Nostr protocol.

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