Bitcoin Core | Four New BIPs Assigned
This week, four new proposed upgrades were officially assigned Bitcoin Improvement Proposal numbers: BIP 347, 352, 387, and 388. BIP 347 (OP_CAT) would introduce covenants enabling the creation of more sophisticated applications, at the risk of introducing potential vulnerabilities and using excessive memory. BIP 352 (Silent Payments) would enhance Bitcoin transaction privacy by enabling senders to generate unique addresses for transactions while using a receiver’s static address. BIP 387 (Tapscript Multisig Output Script Descriptors) proposes new functions for creating tapscript-based multisig wallets in Bitcoin, while BIP 388 (Wallet Policies for Descriptor Wallets) would set more secure standards for hardware and software wallets to communicate and manage transaction addresses. While not yet activated, these BIPs are being recognized as a potential part of Bitcoin’s future development.
Lightning Labs | First Mainnet Multi-Hop Asset Payment With Taproot Asset Protocol
Bitcoin developer and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Lightning Labs, Olaoluwa Osuntokun, announced the completion of the first mainnet multi-hop asset payment using Taproot Asset Channels. This demonstrates the practical application of the Taproot Asset Protocol (TAP) and is a step forwards towards the ability for users to trade digital assets on the Lightning Network. With TAP, anyone can issue digital assets on Lightning’s payment rails to transfer ownership of that asset across multiple payment channels, benefiting from instant and low-cost transactions. This advancement has the potential to help improve privacy for people using stablecoins for global payments and remittances.
HRF | CISA Research Fellow Announced
HRF is pleased to announce its selection for the Cross Input Signature Aggregation Research Fellowship announced last month. Fabian Jahr, the appointed fellow and Bitcoin core contributor, will lead research into the potential for CISA to enhance privacy and provide cost savings for Bitcoin transactions. If implemented, CISA has the potential to benefit human rights activists by making it more cost-effective to send privacy-protecting payments. Jahr will provide an approachable layman’s explanation of CISA’s impact. This research and proposal will take place over the next 6 months, examining the current state and future of CISA to answer the question of whether it makes sense for Bitcoin. Jahr’s research will be documented at cisaresearch.org where readers can learn more about this potential upgrade and follow along the research process. Look out for Jahr to also make a short talk on the topic at the Oslo Freedom Forum on June 5.
Tornado Cash | Founder Sentenced to 64 months in prison
This week, a Dutch court sentenced Alexey Pertsev, the co-founder of Tornado Cash — a decentralized cryptocurrency privacy tool — to 64 months in prison for his alleged involvement in money laundering. The court pointed to Pertsev’s role in facilitating the use of Tornado Cash for illicit activities. However, Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Smenov emphasized that “it is a decentralized software protocol that no one entity or actor can control.” Either way, the targeting of this decentralized privacy tool designed to obscure transactions is the latest in a string of escalations against privacy in the digital asset space. Alex Gladstein, Chief Strategy Officer at the HRF stressed the broader implications in an interview with WIRED, stating “for human rights activists, it’s essential that they have money the government can’t surveil.”
Utreexod | Beta Release Now Available
Open-source Bitcoin developer, Calvin Kim, announced the beta release of utreexod, a Bitcoin full node implementation using utreexo accumulators. The utreexod node implementation offers advantages over traditional nodes including immediate bootstrapping, reduced memory usage, and significantly lower disk space requirements. A unique feature of utreexod nodes is the ability to immediately finish the initial block download (IBD) of the Bitcoin blockchain — the process by which new nodes join the network. This saves time and bandwidth while maintaining the same trust assumptions. HRF is delighted to support Calvin in his efforts to scale Bitcoin.
Emessbee | Unstoppable Coinjoins With No Coordinator
During the bitcoin++ developer conference in Texas, Bitcoin developer Super Testnet unveiled Emessbee, a novel way to conduct coinjoins without a central coordinator. Emessbee enables decentralized coinjoins, where multiple users combine their transactions into one to obscure the original sources and destination of funds, thus improving privacy. Instead of relying on a central coordinator, Emessbee uses a public bulletin board, such as Nostr, to exchange messages. While promising, developers need to do more work. Emessbee remains proof-of-concept and currently lacks mechanisms to prevent Denial of Service (DoS) and Sybil attacks, where malicious actors could flood the system with fake identities. You can learn more about Emessbee in this demo.
RoboSats | Revamped Android App
Robosats, a platform that facilitates private peer-to-peer (P2P) bitcoin exchanges using the Lightning Network, released its latest version, heralding the return of its Android app. The release introduces a revamped Android app that now serves as the optimal means of utilizing RoboSats. It functions as a fully self-hosted client and ensures connectivity to all RoboSats coordinators. Other improvements include torified networking by default as well as minor bug and coordinator fixes. Through its decentralized, private, and P2P platform, RoboSats provides a way for activists and citizens worldwide to access neutral, censorship-resistant, and inflation-free money. HRF is proud to support this open-source project in getting freedom money into the hands of those who need it most.
BOLT12 | New Payment Protocol for the Lightning Network
The release of BOLT12, a new payment protocol for the Lightning Development Kit (LDK) promises increased privacy, security, and usability for Lightning. BOLT12 makes several key improvements. For starters, BOLT12 uses “offers” which are precursors to invoices that enable reusable payment codes without a dedicated server. This allows for a static QR code when receiving payments, particularly useful for activists and merchants. Offers may also contain blinded paths, where nodes along the payment route are blinded using advanced cryptography, thereby preventing the exposure of sensitive payment information. While still early in adoption, BOLT12 promises more private and autonomous payments and addresses the issue of receiving payments offline, offering a more efficient, versatile, and private Lightning Network.
