Roman Sterlingov, the alleged operator of the Bitcoin mixer Bitcoin Fog, has just been sentenced to 12.5 years in prison.

The government is now seizing the little Bitcoin he has left (hint hint that's how your strategic bitcoin reserve gets built), while the Billions of Dollars he allegedly made operating Bitcoin Fog continue to remain unaccounted for.

Here's a primer on the wild story of his prosecution and why it shook the chain analysis space – full story coming when more info on the sentencing is available.

https://m.primal.net/LxGX.png
https://www.therage.co/bitcoin-fog-sentencing/


We have a new website!

https://cashu.space 👈

https://image.nostr.build/ba825f2c936b4a23b63183e5105940098e83e7423d783e2e20bef0cf3b32167d.png


I listened to his convo with Elon before and regretted it.


This is untrue. There is no compulsory UK ID card.


I found German easier than French because the pronunciation is much more like English. I also found German grammar logical, regular but maybe more complex and perhaps this is what people dislike.

Most young Germans speak English well and I've heard techie ones jokingly call English "compressed" German since the words are so long.


This is the official #Bitaxe 601 Gamma giveaway!

How to enter:
•Like this post
•Share this post.
•Follow us on NOSTR.

What you’ll receive:
•1- Bitaxe 601 Gamma.
•1- 5V, 6A power supply.
•1-Solo Satoshi Bitaxe stand.
•1- Bitaxe “Anarchy” t-shirt.
•1- Limited Edition PEZ dispenser.

This package will be shipped anywhere in the world completely free of charge.

•One winner will be randomly picked 72 hours from the time this is posted.

The winner has 24 hours to claim the reward. If the package is not claimed, another person will be randomly picked.

#Bitcoin #SoloSatoshi #BTC
https://m.primal.net/KxAL.jpg
https://m.primal.net/KyfE.jpg
https://m.primal.net/KxAM.jpg
https://m.primal.net/LWjz.jpg
https://m.primal.net/LWkB.jpg


day 6 in Berlin was an action packed one of day 2 of running nostr:npub1dwah6u025f2yy9dgwlsndntlfy85vf0t2eze5rdg2mxg99k4mucqxz7c52 ecash edition in #berlin
https://m.primal.net/LVRt.mov


Almost as good as being there!

An excellent presentation on NIP-60/61 by nostr:npub16dhgpql60vmd4mnydjut87vla23a38j689jssaqlqqlzrtqtd0kqex0nkq

Thanks for the shoutout on #nostr #safebox!

https://www.youtube.com/live/E81VNB3CRsY


Now streaming the workshop room on our second zap stream account
 https://zap.stream/naddr1qqjrvvekvcukxdt994nxzvp5956xvep495uxgcf494nxxcmxvyckvv34vymkgqgwwaehxw309ahx7uewd3hkctczyr85tf46zd366lkjzws83ecs6fq3ttnjrjd500g7haz936h0knp22qcyqqq8vec9tprvq


BWEST 2024 Mini Unconference

GRASSROOTS FINANCE: empowering individuals & communities with Bitcoin.

Hamilton House, Bristol, Sat Nov 16th 10-5pm

Featuring: nostr:nprofile1qqsvfa085adgecmg84ffelcxx6zrn3ffu5jrc6cjtwng0zge3ptv43cpz9mhxue69uhkummnw3ezuamfdejj7qgcwaehxw309anxjmr5v4ezumn0wd68ytnhd9hx2tcwmah2e nostr:nprofile1qqsvrlrhw86l5sv06wkyjgs6rrcekskvk7nx8k50qn9m7mqgeqxjpvgpzpmhxue69uhkummnw3ezumt0d5hscyekra nostr:nprofile1qqsp02kerjznyqgla3gujxw33dhr80lm7pvhp9vn8p2f2095afggdcgpr9mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuumwdae8gtnnda3kjctv9ugysshy nostr:nprofile1qqst5teefqektpr4aytgpwyclxlq78v9q9nvd2pem0sgf5pxdttwyzspzamhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuurjd9kkzmpwdejhgtcppemhxue69uhkummn9ekx7mp0qyfhwumn8ghj7ur4wfcxcetsv9njuetn9u4qf5yj nostr:nprofile1qqsthy887pf36j465w0ls5y32a6rf7m06whlnnacmgn4rx0zg845alcpz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduhsz5nfzh nostr:nprofile1qqsttwkhga9z0wj2cfnunw2a49qw3uz6qwdvxcf4558z4t6zkg5r3lcpzamhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumn0wd68ytnzv9hxgtcmuesm3 nostr:nprofile1qqsyvyjl47u724y643483g7ktwc86ku30ngew7xsgwwrlyxdmararwcpz4mhxue69uhhyetw9ehx7um5wgcjucm0d5hsz9nhwden5te0wfjkcctexghxzmn8daezu6t09uq3gamnwvaz7tmjd3ujucn0wpkxutnrdakj7y4rhnz & more + workshops, LN Market, lunch, gallery drinks & after-party.

Early Bird Tickets, pay £20 via LN to bristol@minibits.cash with npub/email as ref or pay fiat at Eventbrite. BitcoinBristol.org/#conference
https://video.nostr.build/9ecf1d34e076f5dcb73bd9efb6075be0ba1fd81d5a4e5ff9364426bf67260281.mp4


there’s a lot of talk about “covenants” but not a lot of understanding what that entails. lets do a little dive into how i think about the opcode proposals and how they relate to “enabling covenants on bitcoin”

what is a covenant?

great question. a covenant is the ability to specify what the transaction that spends your bitcoin must look like. for example, you could say “the transaction that spends this bitcoin must pay 500k sats to this address” or “the transaction that spends this bitcoin must have a locktime set to block 880,000”

in order to make these kinds of assertions in bitcoin transactions, you need the ability to find out what information is in the transaction that is spending an output. this information needs to be accessible when the script is running.

bitcoin script is a limited programming language that you use to write locks for bitcoin. one of the limitations is what data you have access to while the program is running.

so in order to write more “expressive” bitcoin scripts, which can say “one output must be to my address and pay 500k sats”, for example, you need to be able to look at the outputs on a transaction.

this ability to look at the info on a transaction is called “introspection”. being able to introspect a transaction is a big missing piece in bitcoin. adding introspection enables you to write covenants.

so how do you get introspection in bitcoin script?

you have to add a new opcode for it. in fact, we’ve added two opcodes to bitcoin that enable introspection already: op-checklocktimeverify (op-cltv) and op-checksequenceverify (op-csv)

these look at the locktime/sequence of a transaction and require a certain value to be set in order to be valid. they were added in order to enable lightning, which uses both op-cltv and op-csv to make “primitive” covenants. these were added to enable LN, to help scale bitcoin.

today you could write a bitcoin script that asserts “the transaction that spends this bitcoin must have a locktime set to block 880,000”. you’d use op-cltv to make that script, and any coins locked to that script wouldn’t be spendable til block 880,000.

there’s no way to look at the output fields in a transaction though. you cant write a script that requires funds to go somewhere, you’d have to use presigned txs (like how lightning does) to make that kind of assertion.

ok so the goal of introspection is to let you look at what information is in a transaction that’s spending a bitcoin output. we can do this already with op-cltv and op-csv. but this is limited just to timelocks, and doesn’t let us make assertions about outputs, or other inputs.

in the next post i’ll talk about how the current opcode proposals (op-ctv, op-txhash, op-tx, op-cat) work and how they enable more broad tx introspection !

if you found this interesting, check out nostr:npub1vmpf90hq56wzyxht6teg3llpa74rzcepw9suj5unxl3tph24zd4qgtxhm7 and our classes on bitcoin transactions!


Most of the "Fake News" today is actually a clickbait headline with body text that seems to contradict it if you actually read it. This is because "journalist" and "headline writer" are actually two separate jobs.


CATSTRR - a nostr relay that only accepts notes with cat pictures 😸

wss://catstrr.swarmstr.com

Powered by khatru framework by nostr:nprofile1qqsrhuxx8l9ex335q7he0f09aej04zpazpl0ne2cgukyawd24mayt8g2lcy6q

Uses facebook/detr-resnet-50 for object detection.

Feedback/suggestions (future relay ideas) appreciated.

Source: https://github.com/ptrio42/catstrr


I do enjoy this site
https://terminaltrove.com


> In ancient times cats were worshipped as gods; they have not forgotten this.
>
> — Terry Pratchett

nostr:nprofile1qqsz9nr55u53zdecvenu7zj5z3hfu2ua5skjfft9t3lstqgrcy3n5uspzemhxue69uhkummnw3ex2mrfw3jhxtn0wfnj7g8xz56 #moxie #sphynx #catstr
nostr:nevent1qqsvj25avtye7wxud3d3ar64ua6u3xv9qlwysdykg5rv5uvkc325klgpz9mhxue69uhkummnw3ezuamfdejj7q3qf6ugxyxkknket3kkdgu4k0fu74vmshawermkj8d06sz6jts9t4ksxpqqqqzzwpu2udk


This is prolly a bad thing, but I cannot use in ear headphones anymore. I started using bone-conducting headphones because they're great for biking. You can hear your surroundings And stay aware while also being able to listen to like a podcast or some music.

I bought a pair of USB-C in ear headphones recently because I thought it would be useful for listening around the house and whatnot, but I can't even wear the headphones in the house because it cuts me off from all the noises in my neighborhood....Which I thought would be a good thing to help me focus, but it turns out it just ratchets up my paranoia another level or two. 😅 fuck


The genesis of a mind bootstrapped from mere software described in this book is incredible. I've never read such an impressive stream of consciousness before.

Diasporal by Greg Egan

https://image.nostr.build/9203cfca4739ca710ab7d349e934ae89365e91c2004ef647e004d1a000a6b370.jpg


#Nostr https://i.nostr.build/RRKwS53EgRRB1JIe.jpg


This is so true.

nostr:note12fn8z5wmhcjkpm8hlr585swcvg7n2yc4r9jm73d5wg50ye8dme5sxduk23


Long term, we need private money or it just gets traced / taxed / seized by the state anyway.

But truly private money makes for a bad store of value. You can’t audit the ledger, so a bug could create unlimited inflation that would be hard to detect.

So privacy is how you move money, not necessarily store it.


Nostr serves as the credible backup plan for when governments seize or ban X.


https://image.nostr.build/0af4b8c8126c84ebcd623fc2b6865b4a827c9049af8b962371e76ffc3d3457a4.jpg #meme #memestr #nostrmeme


BET THERE A TON OF BLUE CHECK BITCOINERS SAYING ELON SHOULD USE BITCOIN FOR THIS.

HE WILL NOT BECAUSE HE WANTS TO HARVEST CREDIT CARD DATA.
https://m.primal.net/HvdR.jpg


In case you've missed it!

✨ Join us for the Ecash Hackday V2 in Berlin June 20-21 2k24. This is a small and intimate event for hackers, researchers, and anyone else interested in Chaumian Ecash.

We have participants from GNU Taler, Fedimint, and Cashu. There will be talks, discussions, and a lot of code. Our goal is to bring the dev community closer together, exchange ideas, and work on cool projects during the hackathon.

Register here.

https://ecashhackday.github.io/

https://void.cat/d/DPg8Tq8Nb2nPTYArwq4o48.webp


English programmer, libertarian,UNIX, bookworm, retro-neophile, space,  crypto centralist, sane transhumanism, space, Tesla, Radical Thatcherite,  go/vim/debian


Nostr exclusive: Join us for the Ecash Hackday V2 in Berlin June 20-21 2k24. This is a small and intimate event for hackers, researchers, and anyone else interested in Chaumian Ecash.

We have participants from GNU Taler, Fedimint, and Cashu. There will be talks, discussions, and a lot of code. Our goal is to bring the dev community closer together, exchange ideas, and work on cool projects during the hackathon.

Register here.

https://ecashhackday.github.io/
 https://image.nostr.build/4ff512fdb913f50068c076df023f2eb1b34d8c94eddf1e2cbeffafb2a66ab43e.jpg


CITADEL DISPATCH 120: BITCOIN POWERED CHAUMIAN ECASH WITH CALLE -  nostr:npub12rv5lskctqxxs2c8rf2zlzc7xx3qpvzs3w4etgemauy9thegr43sf485vg

https://m.primal.net/HmIa.mp4


Are you the dinosaur hunter?


If you want in-depth information about Roman's case listen to nostr:npub1qny3tkh0acurzla8x3zy4nhrjz5zd8l9sy9jys09umwng00manysew95gx on Citadel Dispatch and hear from the legal team directly

It is shocking.

https://www.youtube.com/live/P8jTkWzvbcw?si=V2mi9iUpWMSxHu_p


After almost 4+ years, 487 comments from 19 reviewers...

the spec proposal for adding v2 opens (aka dual-funding) to lightning is officially merged as spec in LN!!

huge thanks to Bastien Teinturier, Rusty Russell, Dustin Dettmer,
 Matt Morehouse and countless others for their review and input on the spec.

doing spec work is a really long process, that requires so much work and input from lots of different stakeholders. it's probably the hardest type of work a programmer can do, and i'm so so thrilled that we got this over the finish line!

what's next?  splicing and liquidity ads!

https://github.com/lightning/bolts/pull/851


Bringing back #Bitcoin #SkepticismSundays 😎

One of the things that showed me the intellectual honesty of the Monero community and helped to force the community to stay grounded in reality and always laser focused on their core ethos was their weekly "Skepticism Sunday" Reddit threads. These threads allowed the community to come together, ask hard and skeptical questions about the design of Monero, the privacy provided, the economic approach, and much more.

In my time in Bitcoin I've never seen anything similar, but the nuanced and high-signal crowd on Nostr seems like a perfect fit to fire things up and see how it goes.

The goal of this thread (which I'll post weekly on Sunday's) is for discussing the uncertainties, shortcomings, and concerns some may have about Bitcoin. Things like what makes it difficult for you to use Bitcoin, what pain-points you have, etc.

NOT the positive aspects of it.

Discussing things with a critical thinking approach and level-headed discussion helps us learn where Bitcoin and its community can improve and go from there.

P.S. -- I try to take a break from social media on Sundays so I will follow up and reply whwre I can tomorrow!


6 Messengers for Privacy

- Client is open source
- Does not use trackers
- Uses end-to-end encryption
- Current security audit is available

https://image.nostr.build/37025bf91958937bf20baef76c14fba1d422f04b6a0c7609366f9557020e355b.jpg#m=image%2Fjpeg&dim=1080x1260&blurhash=%7B65%23ni_N%25MIoD%25IURPadWEV%5ERkRkWCj%5BofoyV%40aeoJofofj%5BWCWBoej%3FWAWAaxofofj%5DjXoIoboeofofa%7DWDRPRiRiWAWBj%5BofogRjRkWCa%23j%5Bj%5Bj%5BoexvxvxvxuogWBRiRiM%7CM%7CRlWEa%7Dj%5Boeoe&x=0a888ed86ce83ecb6f4ef0dda424836a129ca9c249ec66f758b84d5d1efbdb54

https://privacy-checkup.info/en/recommendations/messenger


So this is not a fix, More of a Band-Aid. But if you're using the #amethyst client, you can turn off automatic image rendering and link previews.

I genraly keep this off on most of my apps specifically because of issues like the IP leaker thats DMing people.

There have been instances in other programs such as Telegram where automatically downloading a malicious image can compromise your account.


Bondo: The African Village Mining Bitcoin

"Bondo is a scattered cluster of villages in a remote region of Malawi near the border with Mozambique. Unlike in most places in this impoverished country, when night descends they can now switch on lights, stoves and televisions in their homes."

https://www.nobsbitcoin.com/bondo-the-african-village-mining-bitcoin/


Why I hope the #Atari 400 Mini will bring respect to Atari’s most underrated platform

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/01/why-i-hope-the-atari-400-mini-will-bring-respect-to-ataris-most-underrated-platform/


4 messengers

that don't spy on you

#privacy
https://image.nostr.build/5e4ebe8f01055e0bf67190f9007c75d421867e820840caf1de2ebedb747fdc6f.jpg#m=image%2Fjpeg&dim=1080x1242&blurhash=%7B6Q%5D%24q0Lb%7BR8sqo%7B%3FE%7EB00%3Fb%252oyM%7BMyIVIU00obM_NFWBs%3Bt8t800t9RkWCWUn%23WTWT00%250s%2BRjRkbJbcR.00s%2BoIWARjj%5Do%23bc00tSo%23RkjZk8avRhIUNFNFWBs%3Bogs%3Bxb%3FG-%3B%25NaLo3R%25M_Mx&x=c300b9f6b327049cad9abe50ec9287675f5f69cd4efab8149bb58417231b61f1


FREE MARKETS ARE NATURALLY VOLATILE SHORT TERM BECAUSE HUMANS ARE INHERENTLY VOLATILE SHORT TERM.

THIS APPLIES EQUALLY TO THE PRICE OF BITCOIN AND THE DEMAND FOR SCARCE BLOCK SPACE WHEN TRANSACTING BITCOIN.

BOTH WILL TREND UP OVER TIME WITH HUMAN PRODUCTION.


Dive into the vast expanse of Biblioteca Vasconcelos in Mexico City.
Covering 38,000 sqm, it's a megalibrary that's as grand in scale as it
is in spirit! 📖 #BibliotecaVasconcelos #Megabiblioteca #MexicoCity
https://video.nostr.build/292f4327bb82871b0ec37bd5145eeffbdab157ade79f9055c24744b241361697.mp4


PSA: Ticket prices for our upcoming Austin *and* Buenos Aires conferences go up tomorrow, Dec 15!

Get your pass today and avoid the hike!

✨ https://btcpp.dev


New Geyser Launches: Our New Weekly Series

This is the first issue of our new weekly series in collaboration with Geyser. Here, we'll take a look at the most recent and interesting initiatives launched via Geyser crowdfunding platform.

https://www.nobsbitcoin.com/geyser-weekly-new-projects-and-initiatives/


“Nobody is using Lightning” should now be a dead meme.

Launching a new Bitcoin report from nostr:npub1xkere5pd94672h8w8r77uf4ustcazhfujkqgqzcykrdzakm4zl4qeud0en: How the Lightning Network grew by 1212% in 2 years ⚡

It’s time to pay attention to the incredible work of so many people in the space.

In this report:
- How many transactions on Lightning
- How much volume
- How many users
- Industry overview of 173 companies
- Funding overview
- River-specific insights
- Why are companies interested in Lightning
- Growth accelerators

And yes, an executive summary 😉

You can find the report here https://blog.river.com/the-lightning-network-in-2023/

It would mean a lot if you could share this post and/or the report 🧡

I'll be sharing this report at The Bitcoin Conference in Amsterdam in 2 days! https://image.nostr.build/bf9f3fb3e2404406284640a5861e0a510bfe3e08a3e3fa3db51c885cb8a12469.png


After a successful $5M raise in the first Blockstream ASIC (BASIC) Note series and the swift acquisition of new Antminer S19k Pro miners, we are excited to announce the launch of an upcoming second series on stokr.io

https://image.nostr.build/2273109a219a931407ce99acb7adc284bdde8fe4a5a25c97a9c3b4dedbd4d9b0.jpg

https://blog.blockstream.com/basic-note-series-1-closes-successfully-series-2-debuts-on-stokr/](https://t.co/ZCkdFpeKNI


🔥
drop
//with
ThrillerX

https://m.primal.net/HToC.png

"The Texas #Bitcoin community is on a remarkable growth trajectory, particularly in Central Texas."

THRILLER ZINE – 13 DECEMBER 2023 – PUB VIEW →

discover ↯
https://www.thrillerbitcoin.com/the-texas-bitcoin-triangle-update/


The nostrudel feed of who messaged whom is scary.

NIP4 was a bad idea...

https://image.nostr.build/e626f22d0be1e42691d58d04736b94ffa0a7bfd0659613a031cfe3064a6c7c8b.jpg#m=image%2Fjpeg&dim=1080x1865&blurhash=%5D484b%3D%7EqD%25%25LjDkCNGs%3BWBM%7BayjcoNWBRjRjofoffikBt7ofj%40a%7BWUV%40axWARjoft8aya%7Bj%5DWBjIRPWAV%5BWB%25MRjxts%3AIU&x=755046e648fd284bcd386e9835e83234f1d1128ac00c36a9ec53f396f7362ff2

https://nostrudel.ninja/#/tools/dm-feed


simple mobile tools is in the process of being bought by non-privacy respecting ZipoApps.

if you use any of the simple apps on android (like me) because you wanted a solid privacy-respecting app, didn't want ads or privacy-invasive tracking...read the article below.

a fork is happening, but either way, it looks like it's time to jump ship...now

#grapheneos #calyxos #privacy #opensource #android #cybersecgirl

https://liliputing.com/android-app-maker-simple-mobile-tools-acquired-by-zipoapps/


if you are using the experimental npub@cashu.me address from nostr:npub12rv5lskctqxxs2c8rf2zlzc7xx3qpvzs3w4etgemauy9thegr43sf485vg, it has apparently stopped working. as of right now. i have lost thousands of sats (no biggie. we were warned, but still), and even more time troubleshooting over the past 2 days. thank you nostr:npub1dx5q2el8nd4eh3eg9t2e25fd7zuqg7zxz6ldkc3uzgh66ss2yc6st288sj for the fast reply and definitive answer. also good to know they have a nostr ln address and more in the works. can't wait 🤙🏻💜

nostr:nevent1qqsrytpqgv4s28yq0zghvrt2dkd2rtxyveukvm8s4z5ykjk5k5ex6dgpzpmhxue69uhkummnw3ezuamfdejsygzwhzp3p445ak2ud4n289dn6084txu9ltkg7a53mt75qk5jup2ad5psgqqqqqqsj6dmld
https://image.nostr.build/83bc542c676b2eccfd6f98b720ad31e659a2f92fb6dbff7a7721ad31f9ade8ca.jpg


love it or hate it: jack dorsey sponsoring luke’s pool was the biggest accelerationist act of the decade in terms of moving the chess board forward for bitcoin protocol design around tx relay and block construction


one time i worked at a really great coding camp, and we had an off week without students

i decided i wanted to clean out the coat closet and turn it into a cozy spot for meetings. the space was an open floor plan and meeting spots were in high demand.

i spent the majority of the week moving stuff out, coordinating give aways of leftovers, another coworker painted it, i rented a car and made hardware store runs for supplies.

while i was doing all this, the majority of my coworkers hung out and had important conversations about how to improve the space.

i dont think anything they planned or discussed came to pass

the cleaned out coat room was well loved and saw a few different makeovers before the org moved to a new location

conversations are important, but action matters more


Linux FTW
https://image.nostr.build/7df0670073d1f84baebabc9ecd2f357669dc8341c8907783e808482b7f76081c.jpg


Cashu tokens can be owned by more than a single party. Multisig ecash!

https://github.com/cashubtc/nuts/blob/main/11.md


zapping is nostrian economics


SO BULLISH ON MICROPAYMENTS

nostr:note1mgmkwfq2xj7xckgv5t0pgjdlcl2avzgmzqw9ncpc992wwaw63wrs0am9gx


God I'm so thankful that Nostr basically solved the transport medium medium problem between user to user for Cashu from day 1.

Ecash is the O in Nostr 🧡🥜


Is stacker.news broken or is it me?


### #Amethyst v0.78.0: Mute words

https://image.nostr.build/68539c05101a52f9faf18c5ee49a7884222f053e9024884978c9d77c97395a2c.jpg

- Adds the ability to mute words and sentences in the Security Filters screen
- Adds an option in Settings to disable immersive scrolling
- Removes ability to export keys if account is using Amber because keys are not known to Amethyst
- Reverts change to have videos starting from the IO thread again
- Bug Fix for restarting the relay filters when switching accounts after Amber's integration.

Download:
- [Play Edition](https://github.com/vitorpamplona/amethyst/releases/download/v0.78.0/amethyst-googleplay-universal-v0.78.0.apk )
- [FOSS Edition - No translations, no notifications](https://github.com/vitorpamplona/amethyst/releases/download/v0.78.0/amethyst-fdroid-universal-v0.78.0.apk )


online anonymity is essential https://i.nostr.build/PkW0.jpg


finally ditched audible

used Libation to losslessly liberate my audible library for playback anywhere. installed audiobookshelf on my nas. loving my new self-hosted audiobook and podcast setup 🤓🤙🏻

support open source

check em out:

https://www.audiobookshelf.org/

https://github.com/rmcrackan/Libation

#floss #foss #libation #audiobookshelf