oh nice, thank you!


My brother in christ I literally have no idea what I'm doing – it said "copy link to note", do you know what the correct way of doing it would be? Or is this more of a general problem?


I don't think it makes sense to compare the two. Tor and Dandelion serve completely different purposes. Let's agree to disagree.


Really interesting observation since spending six (6) days on Nostr: this thing is complete dopamine detox. As a result people seem to actually engage with each other and share their thoughts instead of engineering posts and comments to get more likes or followers.

I have no idea how many likes my posts get, I have no idea how many followers I have, all I see is anon avatars and people called depressed analplug or horny hailbutt. It's the polar opposite of what social media has come to be.

@https://primal.net/e/note1enm8gth2rzlxxhdpy3863sh6uyyd74knt5sr4nz48hmnrwj7rdwsfsf8sz


Right but propagating exclusively via Tor/I2P even via proxy is not desirable for everyone due to reliability, but again its def an improvement. I don't think an anonymity set assumption makes sense for Dandelion++ as we're not hiding in a crowd, it's rather the idea of a sneakernet: since P2P traffic is encrypted now it's more the idea of passing messages out of band. You could likely observe who is running a stempool, but shouldn't be able to see much more beyond that


because it only works for nodes running behind Tor/I2P, which means that it improves obfuscation only to that percentage. Definitely better than nothing, but not complete heuristic breakage which Dandelion++ etc aim to achieve. I like that your autocorrect turns supernodes into supermodels though.


This is a work around but it does not achieve „the same thing“


Oh wow good question! I dont think so bc Erlay‘s goal is scaling not privacy, as it assumes that „every unreachable node is directly connected to several reachable nodes, this policy ensures that a transaction is quickly propagated to be within one hop from most of the nodes in the network“ - I think that obfuscating one hop (sometimes, not all the time) as a byproduct would probably not be enough to reliably break BS heuristics, but I wonder if parts of the BIP could be used to improve the stempool idea - would def be interesting to see an analysis from a privacy perspective for this!


I wrote a very basic overview of watermarking, fingerprinting, timing analysis and supernodes for Bitcoin Magazine's last print issue, which is pretty much an unsolicited advertisement for why I think we need a second mempool (and also mixnets, but thats a longer story). Since no one cares about stuff like this on Twitter anyway, I'll explain here.

Bitcoin has a privacy issue on baselayer. I know this. You know this. Everybody knows this. The problem is that there's a lot of stuff we can't do to solve this issue without completely fucking up how Bitcoin works, like, say, anonymous amounts. But there is some stuff we *can* do to increase privacy on the Bitcoin baselayer. One of those things is incorporating a second mempool to integrate Dandelion++, the routing protocol used in Monero. Hear me out.

One of the ways blockchain surveillance firms identify who what transactions belong to on the Bitcoin blockchain is by operating so-called supernodes. A supernode sets up as many connections to other nodes as it can, and by doing so can establish where a transaction was first seen in the peer-to-peer network, ergo ascribe whom a transaction belongs to.

Here's where Dandelion++ comes in. Instead of propagating transactions to *all* connected peers, Dandelion++ propagates transactions like, well, a Dandelion.

In Dandelion++ propagation, Bitcoin nodes send transactions to *one* peer, instead of to all of them. This peer sends it to another peer, they send it to another peer, and so on and so forth. This is called the "stem phase".

When we've established enough plausible deniability, Dandelion++ reaches the "fluff phase". At this point, a node that did not *create* the transaction, but is simply relaying it, propagates it to all nodes in the network it is connected to, including supernodes, and the next node does the same, and so on and so forth – business as usual.

Incorporating Dandelion++ (or any other anonymizing propagation protocol, like Dandelion, Dandelion Lite, or Clover) would arguably seriously fuck up the blockchain surveillance stick as we are taking away the most obvious attack vector for blockchain surveillance firms. It's also not a trivial task, see ajtowns' overview of stempools (and no one wants to maintain another mempool on bitcoin, if we're honest). But it's a really interesting proposal to think about to increase privacy on Bitcoin that, yes, would be a lot of work to implement and maintain, but also does not get talked about enough imo for everyone yapping about Bitcoin baselayer privacy.

AJ Towns' Stempool overview: https://gist.github.com/ajtowns/f3a19c33b80750a47c5b83ecf6a09aaf

BM Article:
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/print/whistleblowing-in-the-surveillance-age

https://image.nostr.build/c5f9e6ed6b9d987f553a6e7967037f552e96b3af87d33d5a04d95392b07a5f44.jpg
https://image.nostr.build/42c6fa51a8517c06c093a6405e467dbf29dfd9fdc440881cfe12f2138a9c5eb4.png


nice!


Thank you!


do you know what the reason is for twitter clones not supporting long form?


wat


Okay Nostr peeps we need to talk. I know Ive been on here for like 5 minutes and Im already complaining but hear me out.

Id really like to publish my newsletter directly on Nostr. You dont need to worry about clicking an extra link, I dont need to worry about writing a stupid summary, everyone is happy.

But here‘s the problem. Iris shows link previews and organizes pics where they are placed in the text. Primal does the same, but doesnt show link previews. Damus shows link previews, but organizes pics in a carousel. If I post both pics and link previews, the content repeats and gets unnecessarily long. If I dont, everything is all over the place.

Can you guys like get together and have a standard for this or something? Because that would be pretty helpful. Thanks!


Ah smart ok cool. Thank you!


New newsletter is out! Behind Enemy Lines: An Excursion into Parallel Societies. Read it below or subscribe for free for weekly updates.

Rage Weekly is a weekly linkdump bringing the best content on financial surveillance and beyond directly to your inbox.

New from The Rage: Open Source Arrests: US Officials Sour on Biden's War on Privacy (you've already seen this but I don't know how to link to notes) https://www.therage.co/us-officials-sour-on-biden-war-on-privacy/

Declaration of Separation republished on Anarplex https://anarplex.sirion.io/hosted/files/declarationseparation.html

https://image.nostr.build/08ab88117856ab6ebb5ad3acf27141ec23451bb85dcf8d0cd9cc858c1204aca3.png

Paralelni Polis' Institute of Cryptoanarchy hosts Pizza Day https://x.com/PizzaDayPrague/status/1791548751942656286

https://image.nostr.build/af1862a3ee5f537700df42614e63f576d497727d0fb29d3a9e980090760487d7.png

Ketominer gives a talk on Samourai Wallet at Pizza Day (featuring lots of more great talks) https://pizzaday.cz/

The Rage sends the feds some questions (you've already seen this too and I still don't know how to link to notes) https://x.com/L0laL33tz/status/1791779128447742272

https://image.nostr.build/14de6c1acb7067b61c8c7e4e64427f82b30a31f0bbfed4b1ccf35293ba535790.png

Yellow makes his bank send ecash https://x.com/ICOffenderII/status/1790704693225627751

https://image.nostr.build/6211fc5cb75d1dee3dff45123f6eaf2ce1ad7916c2a922f1db2cca6326e974a1.png

Bruce Schneier is still a moron https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/tornado-cash-not-free-speech-its-golem

Tether does some more money laundering https://protos.com/china-busts-2-billion-usdt-money-laundering-operation/

Paolo says he is a good boy https://x.com/paoloardoino/status/1789921257632207233

https://image.nostr.build/fa560250e78c9436c414a1e0527bad2f11e67bc7d34dbc50a8d2c225d219ed3e.png

Former State Dept. Cyber Mike Benz has theories https://x.com/MikeBenzCyber/status/1790606401569427479

https://image.nostr.build/be7dc2564b2e84fd09204e0db886566e4b718e442ed04a7006fd767fe5ea2ddd.png

Black Rock sells paper bitcoin https://x.com/DU09BTC/status/1791020511864246513

https://image.nostr.build/cfdc77b068ccc759f8860864943c4b2d8642a7ca40c4fd1dfb85d4aac8cde6f3.png

Silent Payments overview site is launched https://silentpayments.xyz/

https://image.nostr.build/15e819eb139920ce8979b38c3e00292495248ad25f295d0ff4c3480bc4a3d979.png

US Attorneys discover MEVil https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/two-brothers-arrested-attacking-ethereum-blockchain-and-stealing-25-million

Salame got some sweet Alameda loans to give to politicians https://x.com/leomschwartz/status/1790737620512739501

https://image.nostr.build/44db129926568d0f06aaabffcb08962798d518673eff0a455368de352bb65827.png

IBEX Pay shuts down in US https://x.com/IBEXpay/status/1790814896239620577

https://image.nostr.build/37f3af869ac53cbf6b698155c1a7c5f25658a8c76c5710a080bc7f89dbe9808e.png

Bolt12 moves forward on LND https://x.com/nitesh_btc/status/1791847412916433095

https://image.nostr.build/a015a444f1f886fda0ea880b935b9bd51578ad4ca32e06164c9a2fafbaeef9bd.png

Silent Payments coming to Rust Bitcoin https://github.com/rust-bitcoin/rust-bitcoin/issues/2778

https://image.nostr.build/8a57f447b74b088341fda81ff2ebe3323f65904eb8bec387bb72a983db253cb8.png

Silent Payments coming to BlueWallet https://github.com/BlueWallet/SilentPayments

https://image.nostr.build/f5f0ef8aec770eec822f3530c97145c9b2060ecc3eda74e31acce9c2d44ee232.png

Bonus due to relevance: Room77's Joerg Platzer's talk at Paralelni Polis Hackers Congress 2018 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfdYmIxbODw


Three weeks ago I wrote an article on the EU's new AMLR in Bitcoin Magazine, detailing how the EU passed ALM laws restricting the use of Bitcoin privacy tools without any data to back up their claims that privacy heightens money laundering and terrorist financing risks.

Alex Stachtchenko took it a step further and ran the numbers. For every Euro confiscated, 200€ are spent. This means that the EU's AML compliance costs of 144B Euro exceeds all money ascribed to crime per year at 110B Euro – and still, 99% of criminal profits escape confiscation.

Despite their absolute inefficiency AML laws continue to be expanded, subjecting all EU citizens to total financial surveillance for the price of catching 1%. It is a system that has grown completely out of control and is in no way proportionate to the right to privacy enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

It's a long read, and its in French so you'll need to translate it, but I guarantee that it will be worth every minute of your time.

BM article:
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/legal/eu-parliament-adopts-aml-laws-regulating-bitcoin-based-on-questionable-assumptions

Alex' article:
https://medium.com/@AlexStach/les-d%C3%A9rives-de-la-surveillance-financi%C3%A8re-menacent-nos-d%C3%A9mocraties-323fbdc1ccbf

https://image.nostr.build/0d7632afe0b2d12e5c537683aeea5a2eab16f94acbb1842d1303e17e030b5e22.png
https://image.nostr.build/514287cc9ae1fe3d36a5de492cae8516d80643a9e56fb3cd4d4727ca344d90d2.png


Ok i think i figured it out


Im on damus mobile but i think i figured it out!


I think I have alby setup already!


I just checked the zap settings on damus but all i can find there is a drop down to select local wallet 🫠


Do you know where i can update it on damus mobile?


Do you know where i can find that on damus?


I have no idea - Im on damus for mobile, but i cant find where to add a new lightning address. Halp


Oh thank you, will send them the questions too then


Good morning, its been over 3 weeks since the Samourai Wallet indictment and there still seems to be no sign of TDev
 in the justice system. I don't like it, so I sent the Feds some questions.

(also can someone help me fix my zaps, they still seem to be borked)

https://image.nostr.build/4bb60befe9bcba370dc04e47c89ea7b8b7d1c284f8855cf249db542271c8ed1d.png
https://image.nostr.build/51fe005b5ce3669a9722af181fe5abcd8eb552cfa0f2b548893723b4816ecd52.png
https://image.nostr.build/e15bbad0b1d09ece2bc2b932a474a9129b118238a72af03f3c2779e4b453d5b7.png


Nice short piece about FATF by nostr:npub1mznweuxrjm423au6gjtlaxmhmjthvv69ru72t335ugyxtygkv3as8q6mak

https://www.therage.co/meet-fatf-the-financial-bullies-memberclub/

This is one of the most undemocratic imperial forces in the world. I'm hopeful that one day a group of countries decide to defy them and render their influence irrelevant, but that seems too optimistic.

In the meantime, best to just mock them and contribute to and use open source tools that cannot be controlled or surveiled.


Im not sure I understand your argument re cjs, is it that CISA makes batching in general cheaper with cjs being a byproduct, meaning that private txs would have no economic benefit over batched txs and, assuming cjs will continue to be centrally coordinated in a fee model, cj txs continue to be less economically favorable to non-cj txs even with CISA?

If I understand this correctly I agree that CISA doesn't technically address your OP. Practically I think I disagree if we assume that the tx gets cheaper the bigger it gets with full aggregation – reaching sizes of 400+ inputs will likely mostly be unachievable for single signers, so i think cjs practically would have an economic benefit over non-private txs excluding fees (at least until there is non-private CISA collaboration).

Do you have any proposals in mind that would explicitly make privacy cheaper than non-privacy?


I fundamentally disagree with this for several reasons.

First, re counterparty risk, this is what reputation scores are for, and in my experience they work fairly well. Second, I think we are speaking from extremely different perspectives here. When I dont have a means of payment (say bc my bank blocked my account), I really dont care weather I'll pay a premium on my tx because my plan is not do engange in degen trading but to have money to live. Comparing a P2P marketplace necessary for people to transact in private (or even at all) to broker interfaces is not the right approach here imoo.

The point is also not that people are 'lazy users' – of course its nice for stuff to work at the click of a button, but the point is that people can easily be overwhelmed when facing complex systems, keeping them from using them at all – not because they are lazy, but because they dont understand them, which then also speaks to the liquidity issue.

Lastly, and again speaking to perspective, Im not talking about people doing six figure trades here. Im talking about people who earn their income in bitcoin or have no other means of payment and need to pay their bills, who will be facing complete financial exclusion unless they are willing to submit themselves to full surveillance tyranny.


I agree, but we're already doing that with CISA


Unpopular opinion, but here it goes: UX is the most important problem we need to solve for Bitcoin Privacy.

We can hate on KYC exchanges all we want, but they've got UX nailed down. We cannot expect privacy to become the norm when I have to take an hour out of my day to make a P2P trade.

Now that CASPs will start delisting privacy assets like Monero and blocking coinjoined btc with the EU's new AMLR, we're being stripped of using regulated exchanges even semi-privately. This makes P2P exchanges like BISQ Network even more important, but its of no use to regular users when you need an introductory course in computer science before understanding what's going on in the app.

Privacy will only become the norm when we make it usable for everybody. **If you're a UX designer, copywriter, or in any other way have expertise in UX design, please consider contributing BISQ:** https://github.com/bisq-network/bisq

ℹ If you're not a developer, contributing to GitHub projects can be scary. It really doesn't have to be. I can't tell my asshole from a python script either, and if I can do it, you can too.

Here's how to get started:

If you find a UX issue in the BISQ app that could be improved, start by opening an issue in the BISQ github repository. Give it a clear title describing the problem you want to solve.

Add screenshots or videos to your issue showing what the problem is. If you can, add a proposal for a potential solution. Bonus points if you can add wireframes, layouts or clickdummy documentation. For reference, see npub1zqsu3ys4fragn2a5e3lgv69r4rwwhts2fserll402uzr3qeddxfsffcqrs 's work on eNuts: https://github.com/cashubtc/eNuts/issues/341 (I don't know how to tag people here but you get the idea).

In open source projects, questions are your friends. I've spent countless hours asking every dev i know absolutely insufferable questions, and I still dont know how the fuck to get out of VIM. Everybody starts somewhere, and most people are happy to help.

If you already know how to use git or github and can code a little, ask where you could find the corresponding code for your problem in your issue and offer to do a PR. If you can't, ask what assets would be needed to implement your proposal. Remember that people are nice and generally happy about new contributors, even if you're a beginner.

If you have any questions on contributing to open source projects as a non-coder, feel free to reach out anytime. My DMs are open (I think).


100% ->

The entire Tornado Cash verdict is completely insane and will turn the legality of building any privacy service on its head.🧵

1. Open-source devs building non-custodial tools can be held responsible for criminal activity when crim. actors cannot be stopped or deanonymized👇

https://image.nostr.build/61ad445c0ab6ddbcf095d4d9fc23cba061f4d5c4f2f747e07fb8a047f8589287.jpg

2. TC cannot be classified as a communications service despite the fact that that's exactly what TC is: a tool to communicate transactions between users. It does not matter whether TC took custody of funds. 👇

https://image.nostr.build/c0ef660880e94650992565970b4b0e45f0e199f1513d2af2a585f2bb6f50ffa7.jpg
https://image.nostr.build/ffa639345eb79f7f57b731103a58580e8b21df2165899cb3ecf9e959aac3e218.jpg

3. Building an unstoppable privacy system is laid out to suggest criminal intent.👇

https://image.nostr.build/e551a2dfa2f2fb2a447c09a3a99f082770a88fe352c80216f4993f357ec893a8.jpg

4. TC dev was aware of money laundering activity in TC, laid out as intentional participation in the act. 👇

https://image.nostr.build/686dd512a8ed8aeec0195eee690446b6e37ea9e3f0620cdae1fed1e4d0e7d5b4.jpg
https://image.nostr.build/d5bc6320bae0b34ddf3d13351954434ffbff2c49940d919d1901597842ff3756.jpg

5. Devs are fully responsible when their open source code is used for criminal activity through the development of source code and UIs. 👇

https://image.nostr.build/11c1b73ede61028b7580ca8598dc5a795b356c6cf53f21a069b8afb752f00926.jpg

As predicted, the verdict references FATF, which has no regulatory powers and operates with zero democratic oversight. https://www.therage.co/meet-fatf-the-financial-bullies-memberclub/

https://image.nostr.build/3081d485e043e88854ed9eb264b0f1296259631f77c35269a0203387811c3b52.png

The assumption that "criminal intent lies with the individuals and not the tools they use" seems void with the TC verdict. This verdict is a full on declaration of war against privacy service in existence.

https://image.nostr.build/ecca018a46cb3e76f68f84ed27b4abdd2fd7f929756e4f5d5a2511aaeeadf8e3.jpg

FYI I am not a legal scholar and this is just my opinion


Alright assholes I'm back in this bitch because I've had it with the Twitter shithole censoring my links and telling me i cant say fuck, no idea if anyone is reading this but if you do read nostr:npub15dnln6cukw3yrflnv3hnrntdt9amh0uw466u6tns05ymqp3nal4qzz3lfc 's fantastic new piece speaking to US regulators on open-source arrests:

https://www.therage.co/us-officials-sour-on-biden-war-on-privacy/


Yeah hi. This is completely wrong and literally not how TC worked. At all.


Statistics like these make chain analysis firms look like your friends. They're not. Here's why:

Statistics showing that the overall use of cryptocurrencies is *not* illicit help us fight FUD. They're also necessary for chain analysis companies to keep existing: no cryptocurrencies, no business model.

The problem arises with how chain analysis firms *calculate* the use of illicit transactions, as this includes the use of privacy technologies.

For example, every transaction involved in a coinjoin is flagged as illicit by chain analysis firms. This completely distorts the overall volume of illicit transactions. The actual volume of illicit transactions (hacked funds, sanctioned entities, etc) is *much lower*.

Privacy is not just a human right, it is also outlined in the US constitution via the 4th amendment, as well as via federal financial privacy regulations.

If you want to have an intellectually honest debate about illicit transaction volume, stop criminalizing privacy.

For context: Every coinjoin/"mixing" transaction is deemed as incompliant by blockchain analysis software by default and therefore "illicit".


Cashu tokens have been
1) send to space and back to earth, and
2) sent over mesh network radio
3) sent offline from phone to phone

Are we in a cypherpunk's dream?

https://void.cat/d/XNkUnyLicY7tfNEWyN8cRX.webp


Cashu LNURL

Service that allows users to sign up for an ln address via nostr. Sats paid to this address are minted as cashu tokens of the users preferred mint and direct messaged to them via nostr.

https://github.com/thesimplekid/cashu-lnurl


stop stealing my memes


You can zapper me directly with ecash, try https://www.enuts.cash/

much private, very easy, super wow


Thanks, but if one more person tries to sell me their inclusivity agenda by basing adoption rate on people's genitals I swear to god


right now only he can decrypt the message containing the e-cash token with his private key. If I would post the token publicly anyone could take it. With P2SH only he could redeem the token even if it was posted pubicly, but that's not implemented yet (s/o @calle)