Bitcoin Magazine Block Inc. Launches Proto Rig: Modular Bitcoin Miner Challenging Bitmain’s Dominance Jack Dorsey’s Block Inc. recently announced the Proto Rig, a modular reinvention of Bitcoin mining hardware not seen since Bitmain’s launch of the S1 ASIC rig in 2013, over 12 years ago. The announcement was made from the facilities of Core Scientific with whom Block has partnered to design, test and develop the Proto line of mining hardware. Dorsey personally attended the event, among a who’s who of the Bitcoin mining industry. Spotted: The boss @jack getting a closer look at Proto Rig. pic.twitter.com/196Sk9KOzn — Proto (@protomining) August 14, 2025 The Proto Rig has the potential to disrupt and challenge Bitmain’s effective monopoly over mining hardware manufacturing, with approximately over 80% of the market, a position it has enjoyed for most of Bitcoin’s history. But the main innovation does not come from more powerful or energy-efficient chips — not yet anyway — rather from making everything else around the chip drastically better, designed to lower repair frequency and maintenance costs. Its modular design supports seamless upgrades and part replacements that can be swapped in seconds. In an interview with The Mining Pod, Perry Hothi, blockchain solutions architect at Block, focused on the mining division since 2022 said the device was more than just competitive with the Bitmain line of mining rigs; “When people hear competitive, they automatically think efficient, right? I always say it’s profitable… If it’s not running, efficiency doesn’t matter.” It changes the focus of the conversation in mining from the specs of ASIC chips toward the amateur design of mining rigs as a whole, which have not yet caught up with best practices developed by the data center industry in its many decades of experience. “When you look at the data center world, they’ve been doing it for 10 times as long [as Bitcoin miners]. There’s a lot of innovations they made that work for us,” Hothi said, implying the Proto Rig was designed to learn from the scaled-up data center industry. Erik Cativo, a Bitcoin product developer and HRF grantee echoed this sentiment on X saying the “Proto Rig looks clean. Reminds me of beautifully designed Swedish telecom hardware.” Proto Rig looks clean. Reminds me of beautifully designed Swedish telecom hardware. pic.twitter.com/4F3fLSPw6Q — Erik (@uxerik_) August 14, 2025 In the interview, Hothi also discussed the vision and complexities of manufacturing the Proto Rig in the United States, expressing the benefits of manufacturing pieces at home, which can improve reliability of supply chains and is also now strongly incentivized by President Trump’s new tariff regime. On the topic Hothi said, “there are certain components that can be built faster in China and brought over, others are better built in America now… Like there’s a not too distant future where every component in [the Proto Rig] will be built right here [in the United States].” He added that today, “the [ASIC] chips are going to be in Taiwan, but even those eventually, we’re looking to make those here.” Regarding the ASIC chip of the Proto Rig, Max Guise Product & ASIC Lead at Proto told Bitcoin Magazine “Our system is vertically integrated end-to-end, including our own chip. At a system level, we can offer different configurations that bring different efficiency depending on the mining operator needs, and our configurations go as low as 14.1 joules per hash efficiency rating.” keeping details about the chip close to the chest and emphasizing the Proto Rig’s customizability and modularity. Modularity In order to provide more reliable hashrate to miners, the Proto Rig is designed in modular pieces starting with the chassis, which measures 39cm by 29cm by 50cm and can host nine boards’ worth of chips, six fans and three modular power units. The Proto Rig can be liquid cooled as well, while the modular fans suggest the hardware is meant to be modded or extended to serve different use cases and approaches, perhaps enterprise miners or the booming home mining industry. The Proto Rig is highly customizable allowing miners to choose exactly how many chips to run, while also having clear hardware and software error signals in case a fan breaks or a power supply is overheating. The Proto Rig manages to squeeze the equivalent of three mining units in the space of two traditional models while being competitive to top-of-the-line industrial miners like the Bitmain Antminer S21 XP or the MicroBT Whatsminer M66S, both running on about 14 joules per terahash. Yet the Proto Rig delivers up to 810 TH per unit in the same space as the competitors, taking into account the real estate costs of industrial mining, which for years have filled out warehouses of units side by side. 14.1 J/TH !! https://t.co/bZtUkwAkEj — jack (@jack) August 14, 2025 The Proto Rig might not just be built for the big miners. There were multiple hints in the event and following commentary that suggest home miners will get some love as well from the Proto hardware team. Jack Dorsey himself tweeted out “A commitment to ALL the players in the mining industry, not just the big guys.” He retweeted a bitcoiner who attended the event and shared his excitement with some photographs. The mysterious tweet has not been followed up with any details but there are rumours that there might be a Bitaxe-style collaboration with Proto which would look to serve the home mining market. When asked about home mining Max Guise told Bitcoin Magazine “Proto is designing products for mining operators of all sizes. Our first product, Rig, is a 12 kilowatt system, which is a higher power requirement than most home miners can handle, so it is best suited for operators who have more infrastructure involved in their operations. That doesn’t rule out the possibility of future products that could be more retail-friendly, but right now it’s not our focus.” StratumV2 On By Default: Huge For Miner Decentralization Brian Stegall, head of design at Proto, announced at the launch event that the “Proto Rigs will support Stratum V2 out of the box,” adding that, “It’s a more efficient protocol that offers native hashrate auditing, which helps detect and reduce issues like miner misconfiguration, unwanted divergence and other fleet-wide issues.” Stratumv2 is a mining pool update to the popular Stratum V1 protocol which dominates adoption among miners, in part because it was one of the first software tools developed to pull hashrate from miners throughout the world, allowing them to act as one miner and share rewards. The old protocol, while well understood by miners has a serious downside, it centralizes the construction of blocks to the mining pool operator, an issue that was recently revealed to be worse than expected, as most mining pools appear to be copying block templates produced by Antpool. The risk threatens a deep layer of the Bitcoin network, potentially exposing transactions to censorship, if this trend is not reversed. StratumV2 was designed to put block template production in the hands of hashrate providers, pushing the process to the edges and thus increasing the diversity of blocks and transactions included, ultimately safeguarding Bitcoin’s censorship-resistance properties. But mining pools have been slow to adopt the protocol, likely because of the software development lift. With the Proto Rig building it into the software stack of the machine, we should expect a much higher rate of adoption as the Block’s mining rigs get rolled out into production. This is a development that the greater Bitcoin community has been working toward for many years. Open Sourcing The Software Going beyond just reinventing mining hardware, Proto has also announced the open source release of its mining management software, Fleet. Brian Stegall broke the news by sharing their experience researching the state of software in the Bitcoin mining industry as, “We chatted with a ton of different people in varying sizes of operations, and we listened to all the complaints… We broke that down into three areas… One, that there’s too many tools. Two, making it simple is important. And automation and AI is the third one.” Fleet consolidates a patchwork of tools used by miners to boot and track their machines as well as identify hardware or software failures. Laughing in playful disbelief Stegall said that “We went to a lot of facilities and there’s a lot of places where they’ll scan the network with BTC.com tools, still. Yeah. Right. And then will flip it into a spreadsheet and upload it.” As an example of how badly a modern software suite is needed, he described some arcane process of big mining. Stegall also made the case that having a better-designed and robust software tool to manage the hardware would help train employees more effectively and let them focus on more important issues rather than struggle with bad user interfaces. On the topic of security Stegall said that the “Proto Fleet comes out of the box with secure boot technology to guarantee that the firmware you’re running comes from Proto. This is an extra measure that prevents supply chain attacks, malware attacks, and theft of Bitcoin rewards.” He added that, “It will also allow you to disable secure boot technology easily if you want to do something of your own.” Finally, the topic of AI was teased out as a modern approach to user experience, though the hints made were somewhat vague: “We wanted to make clean and clear dashboards… If fan3 is broken, we tell you fan3 is broken… We’re providing robust repair guides right in proto-fleet… We want to introduce a modern AI-powered interface… Automated alerts so that you don’t even have to ask the chat interface.” While details on the depth of AI integration into Fleet are still scarce, what Stegall shared does reveal a vision of high-tech modern software helping increase the efficiency of Bitcoin miners as a whole. The software is expected to be open sourced in the near future, though no software has been released to the public yet. Pricing and Delivery Overall, while we have learned much about Block and Proto’s plans to serve and upgrade the Bitcoin mining industry, no details have been shared about the price of the Proto Rigs, on the topic Max Guise told Bitcoin Magazine that “We want to hear from everyone interested in Proto Rig. There are many ways to configure the rig, and pricing and configuration options are handled directly by our Sales team.” The rigs are starting to hit the market, apparently not just to Core Scientific who has a close partnership with Proto, Max Guise told Bitcoin Magazine that the “Proto Rigs are shipping to customers now. As far as availability, we recommend customers to check with our Sales team on exact availability depending on configuration and volume”. All and all, the Proto Rig reveal left a strong impression in the mining industry and greater Bitcoin community: It demonstrated a mastery in industrial design and showed off what top Western talent can bring to a hardware industry that for most of Bitcoin’s history has been dominated by the East. This post Block Inc. Launches Proto Rig: Modular Bitcoin Miner Challenging Bitmain’s Dominance first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Juan Galt.

[Bitcoin Magazine](https://bitcoinmagazine.com)
![](https://bitcoinmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/proto-rig.webp)
[Block Inc. Launches Proto Rig: Modular Bitcoin Miner Challenging Bitmain’s Dominance](https://bitcoinmagazine.com/bitcoin-mining/block-inc-launches-proto-rig-modular-bitcoin-miner-challenging-bitmains-dominance)

[Jack Dorsey’s Block Inc](https://bitcoinmagazine.com/business/jack-dorseys-block-inc-is-reinventing-finance-bitcoin). recently [announced the Proto Rig](https://bitcoinmagazine.com/business/block-launches-modular-bitcoin-miner-and-free-open-source-mining-software), a modular reinvention of Bitcoin mining hardware not seen since Bitmain’s launch of the [S1 ASIC rig in 2013](https://blog.bitmain.com/en/the-story-behind-the-asic-evolution/), over 12 years ago. The announcement was made from the facilities of Core Scientific with whom Block has partnered to design, test and develop the Proto line of mining hardware. Dorsey personally attended the event, among a who’s who of the Bitcoin mining industry.

> ![🔧](https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/16.0.1/72x72/1f527.png) Spotted: The boss [@jack](https://twitter.com/jack?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) getting a closer look at Proto Rig. [pic.twitter.com/196Sk9KOzn](https://t.co/196Sk9KOzn)
>
> — Proto (@protomining) [August 14, 2025](https://twitter.com/protomining/status/1956063239399145910?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

The Proto Rig has the potential to disrupt and challenge Bitmain’s effective monopoly over mining hardware manufacturing, with approximately over 80% of the market, a position it has enjoyed for most of Bitcoin’s history. But the main innovation does not come from more powerful or energy-efficient chips — not yet anyway — rather from making everything else around the chip drastically better, designed to lower repair frequency and maintenance costs. Its modular design supports seamless upgrades and part replacements that can be swapped in seconds.

In an interview with The Mining Pod, Perry Hothi, blockchain solutions architect at Block, focused on the mining division since 2022 said the device was more than just competitive with the Bitmain line of mining rigs; “When people hear competitive, they automatically think efficient, right? I always say it’s profitable… If it’s not running, efficiency doesn’t matter.” It changes the focus of the conversation in mining from the specs of ASIC chips toward the amateur design of mining rigs as a whole, which have not yet caught up with best practices developed by the data center industry in its many decades of experience. “When you look at the data center world, they’ve been doing it for 10 times as long \[as Bitcoin miners\]. There’s a lot of innovations they made that work for us,” Hothi said, implying the Proto Rig was designed to learn from the scaled-up data center industry.

Erik Cativo, a Bitcoin product developer and HRF grantee [echoed this sentiment on X](https://x.com/uxerik_/status/1956003830744613372) saying the “Proto Rig looks clean. Reminds me of beautifully designed Swedish telecom hardware.”

> Proto Rig looks clean. Reminds me of beautifully designed Swedish telecom hardware. [pic.twitter.com/4F3fLSPw6Q](https://t.co/4F3fLSPw6Q)
>
> — Erik (@uxerik\_) [August 14, 2025](https://twitter.com/uxerik_/status/1956003830744613372?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

In the interview, Hothi also discussed the vision and complexities of manufacturing the Proto Rig in the United States, expressing the benefits of manufacturing pieces at home, which can improve reliability of supply chains and is also now strongly incentivized by President Trump’s new tariff regime. On the topic Hothi said, “there are certain components that can be built faster in China and brought over, others are better built in America now… Like there’s a not too distant future where every component in \[the Proto Rig\] will be built right here \[in the United States\].” He added that today, “the \[ASIC\] chips are going to be in Taiwan, but even those eventually, we’re looking to make those here.”

Regarding the ASIC chip of the Proto Rig, Max Guise Product & ASIC Lead at Proto told Bitcoin Magazine “Our system is vertically integrated end-to-end, including our own chip. At a system level, we can offer different configurations that bring different efficiency depending on the mining operator needs, and our configurations go as low as 14.1 joules per hash efficiency rating.” keeping details about the chip close to the chest and emphasizing the Proto Rig’s customizability and modularity.

### Modularity

In order to provide more reliable hashrate to miners, the Proto Rig is designed in modular pieces starting with the chassis, which measures 39cm by 29cm by 50cm and can host nine boards’ worth of chips, six fans and three modular power units. The Proto Rig can be liquid cooled as well, while the modular fans suggest the hardware is meant to be modded or extended to serve different use cases and approaches, perhaps enterprise miners or the booming [home mining industry](https://bitcoinmagazine.com/business/make-bitcoin-mining-decentralized-again). The Proto Rig is highly customizable allowing miners to choose exactly how many chips to run, while also having clear hardware and software error signals in case a fan breaks or a power supply is overheating.

![Block Inc. Launches Proto Rig: Modular Bitcoin Miner Challenging Bitmain's Dominance](https://bitcoinmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/modular.png "Block Inc. Launches Proto Rig: Modular Bitcoin Miner Challenging Bitmain's Dominance 8")

![Block Inc. Launches Proto Rig: Modular Bitcoin Miner Challenging Bitmain's Dominance](https://bitcoinmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/specs1.png "Block Inc. Launches Proto Rig: Modular Bitcoin Miner Challenging Bitmain's Dominance 9")

![Block Inc. Launches Proto Rig: Modular Bitcoin Miner Challenging Bitmain's Dominance](https://bitcoinmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/specs2.png "Block Inc. Launches Proto Rig: Modular Bitcoin Miner Challenging Bitmain's Dominance 10")

The Proto Rig manages to squeeze the equivalent of three mining units in the space of two traditional models while being competitive to top-of-the-line industrial miners like the Bitmain Antminer S21 XP or the MicroBT Whatsminer M66S, both running on about 14 joules per terahash. Yet the Proto Rig delivers up to 810 TH per unit in the same space as the competitors, taking into account the real estate costs of industrial mining, which for years have filled out warehouses of units side by side.

> 14.1 J/TH !! [https://t.co/bZtUkwAkEj](https://t.co/bZtUkwAkEj)
>
> — jack (@jack) [August 14, 2025](https://twitter.com/jack/status/1956006538042093993?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

The Proto Rig might not just be built for the big miners. There were multiple hints in the event and following commentary that suggest home miners will get some love as well from the Proto hardware team. Jack Dorsey himself tweeted out “A commitment to ALL the players in the mining industry, not just the big guys.” He retweeted a bitcoiner who attended the event and shared his excitement with some photographs.

The mysterious tweet has not been followed up with any details but there are rumours that there might be a [Bitaxe](https://bitcoinmagazine.com/business/bitaxe-and-the-open-source-bitcoin-mining-movement)\-style collaboration with Proto which would look to serve the home mining market.

When asked about home mining Max Guise told Bitcoin Magazine “Proto is designing products for mining operators of all sizes. Our first product, Rig, is a 12 kilowatt system, which is a higher power requirement than most home miners can handle, so it is best suited for operators who have more infrastructure involved in their operations. That doesn’t rule out the possibility of future products that could be more retail-friendly, but right now it’s not our focus.”

### StratumV2 On By Default: Huge For Miner Decentralization

[Brian Stegall](https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-stegall/), head of design at Proto, announced at the launch event that the “Proto Rigs will support Stratum V2 out of the box,” adding that, “It’s a more efficient protocol that offers native hashrate auditing, which helps detect and reduce issues like miner misconfiguration, unwanted divergence and other fleet-wide issues.”

[Stratumv2](https://bitcoinmagazine.com/business/stratum-v2-will-save-bitcoin-mining) is a mining pool update to the popular Stratum V1 protocol which dominates adoption among miners, in part because it was one of the first software tools developed to pull hashrate from miners throughout the world, allowing them to act as one miner and share rewards. The old protocol, while well understood by miners has a serious downside, it centralizes the construction of blocks to the mining pool operator, an issue that was recently revealed to be worse than expected, as most mining pools appear to be [copying block templates produced by Antpool](https://b10c.me/observations/12-template-similarity/). The risk threatens a deep layer of the Bitcoin network, potentially exposing transactions to censorship, if this trend is not reversed.

StratumV2 was designed to put block template production in the hands of hashrate providers, pushing the process to the edges and thus increasing the diversity of blocks and transactions included, ultimately safeguarding Bitcoin’s censorship-resistance properties.

But mining pools have been slow to adopt the protocol, likely because of the software development lift. With the Proto Rig building it into the software stack of the machine, we should expect a much higher rate of adoption as the Block’s mining rigs get rolled out into production. This is a development that the greater Bitcoin community has been working toward for many years.

### Open Sourcing The Software

Going beyond just reinventing mining hardware, Proto has also announced the open source release of its mining managemen


Bitcoin Magazine An Excerpt From Bitcoin Circular Economies: The Beginning When people picture a tropical beach with volcanic sands, warm waters and dreamy surfing waves, they are describing El Zonte, in El Salvador. It’s hard to think that this natural paradise was once the battleground of Latin America’s most savage and violent gangs for decades. According to a UNICEF report, the homicide rate in 2015 was 103 per 100,000 inhabitants. The result was thousands of children orphaned and vulnerable to be recruited by the drug cartels, where the only option for a better life seemed to be to migrate to the United States. Chimbera was born in the community of El Zonte, where opportunities were divided by a road which separated the beach from the mountains. “In the past if you were born on the beach, you were a fisherman, like my father and grandfather. If you were born in the mountains, you were a farmer; while women were mainly housewives. The only hope for a better future for young people was to emigrate to the United States or Canada. We learned with sadness that the opportunities were there, the land of freedom where dreams supposedly came true. Paradoxically, these words come from a smiling face. It is very easy to fall in love with Román Martínez’s smile; known as “Chimbera” to his closest friends and family. His contagious joy comes from someone who knows in depth the darkest sides a society can fall into. His smile tells a story of collective overcoming, where a group of people believed that a better future was possible and, without expectations but with tireless determination, transformed a fishing village in one of the poorest and most violent countries in the world into a hub of technological innovation and human development. Something unusual in modern history. Chimbera looks to the sky before continuing to reflect on dreams. “We believe in God and in the law of attraction of different things, but it is fundamental to believe in something that moves you to commit and work every day for that dream. In the beginning, the dream was to help kids have more opportunities in the community, keep them out of delinquency and get them to start dreaming.” The problem, Román highlights, is that many times they tell you “fight for your dreams” but they don’t give you the tools or the knowledge to be able to achieve them. “That’s how our dream began: Jorge meeting with the children on the street, supporting them and inspiring them to dream of a better future. It’s hard not to get emotional with Jorge Valenzuela as he tearfully explains why they decided to create Hope House. “We sought to give these children the opportunities that our friends didn’t have and the reason why many of them are no longer here with us.” Like most of the residents of El Zonte, he too has a story to tell. Some twenty years ago, Jorge made his living from farming. He had a heart for surfing and the waves, but the sad reality around him forced him to keep his feet on the ground. At that time, the job market only offered two options: to become a gang member or to be hired as private security on a property. The sad and violent reality of those years presented a dead end. “There was a lack of employment, educational and personal development opportunities in general. Faced with this, many sought to emigrate and look for them elsewhere,” Jorge explains clearly. During those years, in the mornings, when the sun began to peek over the mountains, Jorge knew what he wanted to do. He would take his board and go down to the black sand beach. There, on his back, with his board stuck in the sand and his eyes on the horizon, Hirvin was waiting for him. Together they learned to read the sea, to feel the direction of the wind. They used to warn strangers about the treacherous currents that dragged the unsuspecting out to sea, and over time they began to pass on their knowledge of the sea and surfing to the youngest members of the community. Patience is the greatest virtue of surfers, for those who know how to wait are the ones who manage to ride the perfect wave. Both spent their afternoons sitting on their boards, looking for the best strategy to get ahead, to help their community. It was there, floating in the sea, where Hirvin and Jorge identified an area with enormous potential. “We took tourism as a main tool, as a window that would connect us with other countries, to whom we could show the beauty of our land and invite them to visit our community”. They were confident that they could generate new jobs in the town. “I was a surf instructor at the time and I felt that this sport would be fundamental for everything that happened later in El Zonte,” says Jorge. No one could have imagined that on that beach, surrounded by humble houses and dirt roads, the world’s first Bitcoin circular economy would emerge. Soon, Jorge and Hirvin’s paths would cross with the person who would change their lives. “For some twist of fate, people like Mike, Melissa, Carlos and Alex decided to move to El Zonte and dedicate their time and effort to help our community,” recalls Jorge. The beach and surfing were their rallying point. “We were kids, I remember they started teaching us English, they put us in contact with the tourists that were arriving, and that cultural exchange was what began to change our minds. This allowed us to dream, something we were not used to in El Zonte. They showed us that, no matter the circumstances, if we have dreams and commit to them, things can change.” Jorge evokes the figure of Mike Peterson and, in a moment, he realizes that his life could have been very different if he had not met him. With Mike’s incorporation into the project, they began to systematize the community work on the beach. The idea was simple: create opportunities and hope for young people. Empower them as leaders and give them the necessary tools so that they do not have to emigrate or get involved in gangs. Fill the “children’s love tank,” as Jorge defines it in his own words. “When we were little they taught us some words in English, they helped us to read and write better, but it was when my daughter, who is 17 today, was born that I understood that we had been children with an empty love tank.” A community where children grew up without parents or older siblings present to give them love, support and an example to follow. “We all have a tank, it can be empty or it can be filled with love and hope. That’s what the kids in our community needed.” Mike wasn’t just a blue-eyed gringo who came to El Zonte and fell in love with its beaches and people. Peterson arrived as a surfer but soon became a dream maker. Discover more in Bitcoin Circular Economies This excerpt is just the beginning. Dive deeper into how Bitcoin is transforming communities worldwide in Bitcoin Circular Economies. The e-book is available now, and the paperback is open for pre-order for only $21 for a limited time. Order your copy here This post An Excerpt From Bitcoin Circular Economies: The Beginning first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Gabriel Kurman.

[Bitcoin Magazine](https://bitcoinmagazine.com)
![](https://bitcoinmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/BCE-1200x628-Article-Header-V2-1.webp)
[An Excerpt From Bitcoin Circular Economies: The Beginning](https://bitcoinmagazine.com/bitcoin-books/an-excerpt-from-bitcoin-circular-economies-the-beginning)

When people picture a tropical beach with volcanic sands, warm waters and dreamy surfing waves, they are describing [El Zonte](https://bitcoinmagazine.com/el-salvador-bitcoin-news/dare-to-dream-a-film-unveiling-the-genesis-of-bitcoin-beach?utm_source=chatgpt.com), in El Salvador. It’s hard to think that this natural paradise was once the battleground of Latin America’s most savage and violent gangs for decades. According to a UNICEF report, the homicide rate in 2015 was 103 per 100,000 inhabitants. The result was thousands of children orphaned and vulnerable to be recruited by the drug cartels, where the only option for a better life seemed to be to migrate to the United States.

Chimbera was born in the community of El Zonte, where opportunities were divided by a road which separated the beach from the mountains. “In the past if you were born on the beach, you were a fisherman, like my father and grandfather. If you were born in the mountains, you were a farmer; while women were mainly housewives. The only hope for a better future for young people was to emigrate to the United States or Canada. We learned with sadness that the opportunities were there, the land of freedom where dreams supposedly came true. Paradoxically, these words come from a smiling face. It is very easy to fall in love with Román Martínez’s smile; known as “Chimbera” to his closest friends and family. His contagious joy comes from someone who knows in depth the darkest sides a society can fall into. His smile tells a story of collective overcoming, where a group of people believed that a better future was possible and, without expectations but with tireless determination, transformed a fishing village in one of the poorest and most violent countries in the world into a hub of technological innovation and human development. Something unusual in modern history.

[![](https://bitcoinmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/BCE-970x250-1.png "An Excerpt From Bitcoin Circular Economies: The Beginning 7")](https://bm.b.tc/4mexI2G)

Chimbera looks to the sky before continuing to reflect on dreams. “We believe in God and in the law of attraction of different things, but it is fundamental to believe in something that moves you to commit and work every day for that dream.  In the beginning, the dream was to help kids have more opportunities in the community, keep them out of delinquency and get them to start dreaming.” The problem, Román highlights, is that many times they tell you “fight for your dreams” but they don’t give you the tools or the knowledge to be able to achieve them. “That’s how our dream began: Jorge meeting with the children on the street, supporting them and inspiring them to dream of a better future.

It’s hard not to get emotional with Jorge Valenzuela as he tearfully explains why they decided to create Hope House. “We sought to give these children the opportunities that our friends didn’t have and the reason why many of them are no longer here with us.” Like most of the residents of El Zonte, he too has a story to tell. Some twenty years ago, Jorge made his living from farming. He had a heart for surfing and the waves, but the sad reality around him forced him to keep his feet on the ground. At that time, the job market only offered two options: to become a gang member or to be hired as private security on a property. The sad and violent reality of those years presented a dead end. “There was a lack of employment, educational and personal development opportunities in general. Faced with this, many sought to emigrate and look for them elsewhere,” Jorge explains clearly.

During those years, in the mornings, when the sun began to peek over the mountains, Jorge knew what he wanted to do. He would take his board and go down to the black sand beach. There, on his back, with his board stuck in the sand and his eyes on the horizon, Hirvin was waiting for him. Together they learned to read the sea, to feel the direction of the wind. They used to warn strangers about the treacherous currents that dragged the unsuspecting out to sea, and over time they began to pass on their knowledge of the sea and surfing to the youngest members of the community. Patience is the greatest virtue of surfers, for those who know how to wait are the ones who manage to ride the perfect wave. Both spent their afternoons sitting on their boards, looking for the best strategy to get ahead, to help their community. It was there, floating in the sea, where Hirvin and Jorge identified an area with enormous potential. “We took tourism as a main tool, as a window that would connect us with other countries, to whom we could show the beauty of our land and invite them to visit our community”. They were confident that they could generate new jobs in the town. “I was a surf instructor at the time and I felt that this sport would be fundamental for everything that happened later in El Zonte,” says Jorge.

No one could have imagined that on that beach, surrounded by humble houses and dirt roads, the world’s first Bitcoin circular economy would emerge. Soon, Jorge and Hirvin’s paths would cross with the person who would change their lives. “For some twist of fate, people like Mike, Melissa, Carlos and Alex decided to move to El Zonte and dedicate their time and effort to help our community,” recalls Jorge. The beach and surfing were their rallying point. “We were kids, I remember they started teaching us English, they put us in contact with the tourists that were arriving, and that cultural exchange was what began to change our minds. This allowed us to dream, something we were not used to in El Zonte. They showed us that, no matter the circumstances, if we have dreams and commit to them, things can change.” Jorge evokes the figure of Mike Peterson and, in a moment, he realizes that his life could have been very different if he had not met him.

With Mike’s incorporation into the project, they began to systematize the community work on the beach. The idea was simple: create opportunities and hope for young people. Empower them as leaders and give them the necessary tools so that they do not have to emigrate or get involved in gangs. Fill the “children’s love tank,” as Jorge defines it in his own words. “When we were little they taught us some words in English, they helped us to read and write better, but it was when my daughter, who is 17 today, was born that I understood that we had been children with an empty love tank.” A community where children grew up without parents or older siblings present to give them love, support and an example to follow. “We all have a tank, it can be empty or it can be filled with love and hope. That’s what the kids in our community needed.”

Mike wasn’t just a blue-eyed gringo who came to El Zonte and fell in love with its beaches and people. Peterson arrived as a surfer but soon became a dream maker.

**[Discover more in _Bitcoin Circular Economies_](https://bm.b.tc/4mexI2G)**
This excerpt is just the beginning. Dive deeper into how Bitcoin is transforming communities worldwide in _Bitcoin Circular Economies_. The e-book is available now, and the paperback is open for pre-order for only **$21 for a limited time**.

![👉](https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/16.0.1/72x72/1f449.png) **[Order your copy here](https://bm.b.tc/4mexI2G)**

This post [An Excerpt From Bitcoin Circular Economies: The Beginning](https://bitcoinmagazine.com/bitcoin-books/an-excerpt-from-bitcoin-circular-economies-the-beginning) first appeared on [Bitcoin Magazine](https://bitcoinmagazine.com) and is written by [Gabriel Kurman](https://bitcoinmagazine.com/authors/janebitcoinmagazine-com).


How Ideologically-Driven Environmental NGOs Have Hindered the Phase-Out of Gas Peaker Plants

Gas peaker plants, which fire up during periods of high electricity demand, are a critical yet environmentally damaging component of many energy grids. These plants emit significant amounts of CO2, nitrogen oxides (NOx), and particulate matter, disproportionately impacting low-income communities near their locations. While there is broad consensus on the need to phase them out, progress has stalled. Surprisingly, a key barrier comes from an unexpected source: ideologically driven environmental NGOs. Despite advocating for cleaner energy, these groups have often opposed pragmatic solutions to reduce peaker plant reliance. By dismissing collaborations with utilities and energy companies as “greenwashing” outright, and refusing to engage with transitional technologies, they inadvertently prolong the lifespan of these polluting facilities. The Problem with “All or Nothing” Activism Many environmental NGOs operate under a rigid ideological framework that rejects any solution involving fossil fuel infrastructure, even if it demonstrably reduces emissions in the short term. This stance has led to the dismissal of viable bridge technologies, such as: Retrofitting Peaker Plants with Carbon Capture or Efficiency Upgrades In 2021, Duke Energy proposed retrofitting gas peaker plants in North Carolina with carbon capture systems and hybrid natural gas-battery systems to cut emissions by 50%. However, the Sierra Club and Sunrise Movement labeled the plan a “false climate solution,” arguing it legitimized fossil fuels. The project was shelved, leaving older, higher-emitting peakers in operation (source: Duke Energy Sustainability Report, 2022). Renewable-Natural Gas Hybrid Projects In California, where peaker plants contribute to poor air quality, startups like Mote Hydrogen sought to convert peakers to run on hydrogen-blended natural gas. While this would reduce NOx emissions by 30%, NGOs like 350.org criticized the effort as a “distraction from true renewables,” despite the lack of large-scale battery storage to replace peakers entirely (source: California Air Resources Board, 2023). These examples highlight a pattern: NGOs frequently attack projects that could meaningfully reduce emissions while offering no scalable alternatives. The result? Utilities default to maintaining outdated peaker plants rather than risk reputational damage from NGO backlash. Criticism Without Grid-Scale Alternatives The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that even in net-zero scenarios, natural gas will supply 15% of global electricity by 2040 due to grid stability needs (source: IEA World Energy Outlook, 2022). Transitioning away from peaker plants requires bridging solutions, yet NGOs often reject these outright. For instance, when NextEra Energy proposed replacing Florida peaker plants with solar farms paired with gas turbines (to ensure reliability during cloudy periods), the Center for Biological Diversity accused the utility of “greenwashing fossil fuel dependence.” No alternative plan was put forward, leaving aging peakers operational (source: Tampa Bay Times, 2021). Similarly, in New York, the closure of the Astoria peaker plant was delayed after local NGOs opposed a replacement facility using lower-emission turbines, demanding immediate 100% renewables—a goal the grid couldn’t yet support (source: NYISO Reliability Report, 2022). This absolutism ignores grid realities. Battery storage remains costly and limited in duration, leaving peaker plants as a necessary backstop. By blocking incremental improvements, NGOs ensure dirtier status-quo operations persist. Bitcoin Mining: A Pragmatic Alternative to Gas Peaker Plants in Texas While gas peaker plants have long been the default solution for grid stability during peak demand, Bitcoin mining has emerged as a scalable, cost-effective, and environmentally superior alternative—particularly in Texas. By acting as a flexible demand-side resource, Bitcoin mining has already demonstrated its ability to reduce reliance on peaker plants, even as ideologically driven NGOs and fossil fuel interests continue to oppose it. How Bitcoin Mining Replaces Gas Peaker Plants Gas peaker plants are designed to activate only during periods of extreme electricity demand, typically running fewer than 1,500 hours annually. However, their high costs, methane emissions, and environmental harms make them a poor long-term solution. Bitcoin mining, by contrast, provides grid operators with a unique tool: the ability to rapidly curtail energy consumption during peak demand, stabilizing the grid without the need for additional fossil fuel infrastructure. In Texas, this approach was pioneered by ERCOT CEO Brad Jones following the catastrophic 2021 Winter Storm Uri, which exposed the fragility of relying solely on peaker plants. Jones recognized that Bitcoin miners—unlike traditional industrial loads—could shut down operations within seconds, freeing up gigawatts of power for critical needs during emergencies. This flexibility allowed ERCOT to: Avoid building 3 GW of new gas peaker plants proposed by Berkshire Hathaway Energy, saving Texans an estimated $18 billion in infrastructure costs. Integrate more renewables by providing a “buyer of last resort” for excess solar and wind energy, which incentivizes renewable development. Reduce emissions by displacing peaker plants, which emit 0.4–0.6 tons of CO2 per MWh and leak methane even while idling. Peer-reviewed studies validate this strategy. Bruno et al. (2023) found that Bitcoin mining with demand response eliminated the need for gas peaker plants entirely while reducing annual carbon emissions by 48.67 million metric tons compared to baseline scenarios (Table 1). Rhodes et al. (2024) further concluded that Bitcoin mining’s flexibility enables grids to prioritize renewable energy over fossil fuels, accelerating decarbonization. Texas: A Proof of Concept By 2024, Bitcoin mining operations in Texas had grown to 3 GW of flexible load capacity, participating actively in ERCOT’s demand response programs. This resource proved critical during extreme weather events, such as the July 2023 heatwave, when miners voluntarily powered down to free up 1.2 GW of electricity—equivalent to the output of three large peaker plants. ERCOT has since reported zero blackouts despite record demand, crediting Bitcoin mining as a key factor in grid resilience. Dr Rian Dewhurst, of the Digital Assets Research Institute explains “Bitcoin mining doesn’t just stabilize the grid—it helps build a cleaner one. Grid operators no longer need expensive, polluting peaker plants idling on standby.” Opposition from Fossil Fuel Interests Despite its proven benefits, Bitcoin mining faces fierce opposition from entities invested in gas peaker plants. Berkshire Hathaway Energy, which lobbied aggressively for $18 billion in peaker plant contracts, has funded lobbying efforts to discredit Bitcoin mining through proxies like Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. Patrick has repeatedly claimed Bitcoin “destabilizes grids,” a narrative debunked by ERCOT and academic research. This backlash underscores Bitcoin mining’s disruptive potential. As Dewhurst noted, “When you have 3 GW of flexible load, the business case for peaker plants evaporates.” Texas’ experience demonstrates that Bitcoin mining is not merely a theoretical alternative to gas peaker plants—it is a proven, scalable solution. By prioritizing grid needs over ideology, ERCOT has shown how collaboration with Bitcoin miners can phase out peaker plants while saving costs, cutting emissions, and accelerating the renewable transition. Toward Pragmatism: A Call for NGO Accountability The climate crisis demands urgency, but dogmatism and poor research stifles progress. To phase out peaker plants, NGOs must: Evaluate Collaborations Objectively Assess whether partnerships with utilities or energy firms yield measurable emissions reductions rather than reflexively crying “greenwash.” Engage with Grid Realities Acknowledge the role of transitional technologies until renewables and storage scale sufficiently. Prioritize Outcomes Over Ideology Recognize that the perfect is the enemy of the good — hybrid systems are better than perpetuating outdated peakers, and Bitcoin mining based solutions are better again, because they can accelerate the phasing out of gas peaker plants without any gas-powered backed to compensate for variable renewable energy intermittency. The perfect cannot be the enemy of the good. By clinging to purity tests, NGOs risk becoming unwitting allies of the very fossil fuel systems they seek to dismantle. It’s time to embrace pragmatism—before another decade of peaker plants locks in avoidable emissions.

Gas peaker plants, which fire up during periods of high electricity demand, are a critical yet environmentally damaging component of many energy grids. These plants emit significant amounts of CO2, nitrogen oxides (NOx), and particulate matter, disproportionately impacting low-income communities near their locations. While there is broad consensus on the need to phase them out, progress has stalled. Surprisingly, a key barrier comes from an unexpected source: ideologically driven environmental NGOs.

![](https://batcoinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Screen-Shot-2025-01-29-at-9.43.50-AM-1024x742.png)

Despite advocating for cleaner energy, these groups have often opposed pragmatic solutions to reduce peaker plant reliance. By dismissing collaborations with utilities and energy companies as “greenwashing” outright, and refusing to engage with transitional technologies, they inadvertently prolong the lifespan of these polluting facilities.

### **The Problem with “All or Nothing” Activism**

Many environmental NGOs operate under a rigid ideological framework that rejects any solution involving fossil fuel infrastructure, even if it demonstrably reduces emissions in the short term. This stance has led to the dismissal of viable bridge technologies, such as:

1.  **Retrofitting Peaker Plants with Carbon Capture or Efficiency Upgrades**
    In 2021, Duke Energy proposed retrofitting gas peaker plants in North Carolina with carbon capture systems and hybrid natural gas-battery systems to cut emissions by 50%. However, the Sierra Club and Sunrise Movement labeled the plan a “false climate solution,” arguing it legitimized fossil fuels. The project was shelved, leaving older, higher-emitting peakers in operation (source: _Duke Energy Sustainability Report, 2022_).
2.  **Renewable-Natural Gas Hybrid Projects**
    In California, where peaker plants contribute to poor air quality, startups like Mote Hydrogen sought to convert peakers to run on hydrogen-blended natural gas. While this would reduce NOx emissions by 30%, NGOs like 350.org criticized the effort as a “distraction from true renewables,” despite the lack of large-scale battery storage to replace peakers entirely (source: _California Air Resources Board, 2023_).

These examples highlight a pattern: NGOs frequently attack projects that could meaningfully reduce emissions while offering no scalable alternatives. The result? Utilities default to maintaining outdated peaker plants rather than risk reputational damage from NGO backlash.

* * *

### **Criticism Without Grid-Scale Alternatives**

The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that even in net-zero scenarios, natural gas will supply 15% of global electricity by 2040 due to grid stability needs (source: _IEA World Energy Outlook, 2022_). Transitioning away from peaker plants requires bridging solutions, yet NGOs often reject these outright.

For instance, when NextEra Energy proposed replacing Florida peaker plants with solar farms paired with gas turbines (to ensure reliability during cloudy periods), the Center for Biological Diversity accused the utility of “greenwashing fossil fuel dependence.” No alternative plan was put forward, leaving aging peakers operational (source: _Tampa Bay Times, 2021_). Similarly, in New York, the closure of the Astoria peaker plant was delayed after local NGOs opposed a replacement facility using lower-emission turbines, demanding immediate 100% renewables—a goal the grid couldn’t yet support (source: _NYISO Reliability Report, 2022_).

This absolutism ignores grid realities. Battery storage remains costly and limited in duration, leaving peaker plants as a necessary backstop. By blocking incremental improvements, NGOs ensure dirtier status-quo operations persist.

### **Bitcoin Mining: A Pragmatic Alternative to Gas Peaker Plants in Texas**

While gas peaker plants have long been the default solution for grid stability during peak demand, Bitcoin mining has emerged as a scalable, cost-effective, and environmentally superior alternative—particularly in Texas. By acting as a flexible demand-side resource, Bitcoin mining has already demonstrated its ability to reduce reliance on peaker plants, even as ideologically driven NGOs and fossil fuel interests continue to oppose it.

![](https://batcoinz.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Screen-Shot-2025-01-29-at-9.44.29-AM-1024x612.png)

#### **How Bitcoin Mining Replaces Gas Peaker Plants**

Gas peaker plants are designed to activate only during periods of extreme electricity demand, typically running fewer than 1,500 hours annually. However, their high costs, methane emissions, and environmental harms make them a poor long-term solution. Bitcoin mining, by contrast, provides grid operators with a unique tool: the ability to rapidly curtail energy consumption during peak demand, stabilizing the grid without the need for additional fossil fuel infrastructure.

In Texas, this approach was pioneered by ERCOT CEO Brad Jones following the catastrophic 2021 Winter Storm Uri, which exposed the fragility of relying solely on peaker plants. Jones recognized that Bitcoin miners—unlike traditional industrial loads—could shut down operations within seconds, freeing up gigawatts of power for critical needs during emergencies. This flexibility allowed ERCOT to:

*   **Avoid building 3 GW of new gas peaker plants** proposed by Berkshire Hathaway Energy, saving Texans an estimated [$18 billion in infrastructure costs](https://www.da-ri.org/articles/how-bitcoin-mining-saved-texans-18-billion).
*   **Integrate more renewables** by providing a “buyer of last resort” for excess solar and wind energy, which incentivizes renewable development.
*   **Reduce emissions** by displacing peaker plants, which emit 0.4–0.6 tons of CO2 per MWh and leak methane even while idling.

Peer-reviewed studies validate this strategy. [Bruno et al](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0928765523000313?via%3Dihub). (2023) found that Bitcoin mining with demand response eliminated the need for gas peaker plants entirely while reducing annual carbon emissions by 48.67 million metric tons compared to baseline scenarios (Table 1). [Rhodes et al](https://lancium.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Lancium_Flexible_Data_Center_Whitepaper_4.2022.pdf). (2024) further concluded that Bitcoin mining’s flexibility enables grids to prioritize renewable energy over fossil fuels, accelerating decarbonization.

#### **Texas: A Proof of Concept**

By 2024, Bitcoin mining operations in Texas had grown to 3 GW of flexible load capacity, participating actively in ERCOT’s demand response programs. This resource proved critical during extreme weather events, such as the July 2023 heatwave, when miners voluntarily powered down to free up 1.2 GW of electricity—equivalent to the output of three large peaker plants. ERCOT has since reported zero blackouts despite record demand, crediting Bitcoin mining as a key factor in grid resilience.

Dr Rian Dewhurst, of the [Digital Assets Research Institute](https://www.da-ri.org/) explains “Bitcoin mining doesn’t just stabilize the grid—it helps build a cleaner one. Grid operators no longer need expensive, polluting peaker plants idling on standby.”

#### **Opposition from Fossil Fuel Interests**

Despite its proven benefits, Bitcoin mining faces fierce opposition from entities invested in gas peaker plants. Berkshire Hathaway Energy, which lobbied aggressively for $18 billion in peaker plant contracts, has [funded lobbying efforts to discredit Bitcoin mining](https://www.da-ri.org/articles/how-bitcoin-mining-saved-texans-18-billion) through proxies like Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. Patrick has repeatedly claimed Bitcoin “destabilizes grids,” a narrative debunked by ERCOT and academic research.

This backlash underscores Bitcoin mining’s disruptive potential. As Dewhurst noted, “When you have 3 GW of flexible load, the business case for peaker plants evaporates.”

Texas’ experience demonstrates that Bitcoin mining is not merely a theoretical alternative to gas peaker plants—it is a proven, scalable solution. By prioritizing grid needs over ideology, ERCOT has shown how collaboration with Bitcoin miners can phase out peaker plants while saving costs, cutting emissions, and accelerating the renewable transition.

### **Toward Pragmatism: A Call for NGO Accountability**

The climate crisis demands urgency, but dogmatism and poor research stifles progress. To phase out peaker plants, NGOs must:

1.  **Evaluate Collaborations Objectively**
    Assess whether partnerships with utilities or energy firms yield measurable emissions reductions rather than reflexively crying “greenwash.”
2.  **Engage with Grid Realities**
    Acknowledge the role of transitional technologies until renewables and storage scale sufficiently.
3.  **Prioritize Outcomes Over Ideology**
    Recognize that the perfect is the enemy of the good — hybrid systems are better than perpetuating outdated peakers, and Bitcoin mining based solutions are better again, because they can accelerate the phasing out of gas peaker plants without any gas-powered backed to compensate for variable renewable energy intermittency.

The perfect cannot be the enemy of the good. By clinging to purity tests, NGOs risk becoming unwitting allies of the very fossil fuel systems they seek to dismantle. It’s time to embrace pragmatism—before another decade of peaker plants locks in avoidable emissions.


Bitcoin transaction fees limit network abuse by making usage expensive. There is a cost to every transaction, set by a dynamic free market based on demand.

![High Fees? Bitcoin is Working As Designed](https://www.discreetlog.com/content/images/2023/05/mempoolspace.png)

There must be a limit to how much data is transferred across the bitcoin network in order to keep the ability to run and use your own node accessible. **A node is required to interact with the global bitcoin network - if you do not use your own node then you must trust someone else's node.** If nodes become inaccessible to run then the network will centralize around the remaining entities that operate them - threatening the censorship resistance at the core of bitcoin's value prop. **The bitcoin protocol uses three main mechanisms to keep node operation costs low - a fixed limit on the amount of data in each block, an automatic difficulty adjustment that regulates how many blocks are produced based on current mining hash rate, and a robust dynamic transaction fee market.**

Bitcoin transaction fees limit network abuse by making usage expensive. There is a cost to every transaction, set by a [dynamic free market](https://www.discreetlog.com/utxos/) based on demand for scarce block space. It is an incredibly robust way to prevent spam without relying on centralized entities that can be corrupted or pressured.

After the 2017 bitcoin fee spike we had six years of relative quiet to build tools that would be robust in a sustained high fee market. Fortunately our tools are significantly better now but many still need improvement. Most of the pain points we see today will be mitigated.

**The reality is we were never going to be fully prepared - pressure is needed to show the pain points and provide strong incentives to mitigate them.**

**It will be incredibly interesting to watch how projects adapt under pressure. Optimistic we see great innovation here.**

* * *

_If you are willing to wait for your transaction to confirm you can pay significantly lower fees. Learn best practices for reducing your fee burden [**here**](https://www.discreetlog.com/utxos/).

My guide for running and using your own bitcoin node can be found **[here](https://werunbtc.com/bitcoincore?ref=discreetlog.com)**._

* * *

_**If you found this post helpful support my work with [bitcoin](https://geyser.fund/project/citadel?ref=discreetlog.com).**_

![High Fees? Bitcoin is Working As Designed](https://werunbtc.com/donate.png)


There are going to be many more bank failures as this ponzi system unravels. Unlike 2008, we have the ability to opt out of these broken and corrupt institutions by using bitcoin.

![More Banks Will Fail](https://www.discreetlog.com/content/images/2023/05/bankfailures.jpg)

People forget Bear Stearns failed March 2008 - months of denial followed before the public realized how bad the situation was under the surface.

Similar happening now but much larger scale. They did not fix fundamental issues after 2008 - everything is more fragile.

The Fed preemptively bailed out every bank with their BTFP program and First Republic Bank still failed. The second largest bank failure in history.

There will be more failures. There will be more bailouts. Depositors will be "protected" by socializing losses across everyone.

Our President and mainstream financial pundits are currently pretending the banking crisis is over while most banks remain insolvent. There are going to be many more bank failures as this ponzi system unravels.

**Unlike 2008, we have the ability to opt out of these broken and corrupt institutions by using bitcoin.** Bitcoin [held in self custody](https://werunbtc.com/coldcard?ref=discreetlog.com) is unique in its lack of counterparty risk - you do not have to trust a bank or other centralized entity to hold it for you. Bitcoin is also incredibly difficult to change by design since it is not controlled by an individual, company, or government - the supply of dollars will inevitably be inflated to bailout these failing banks but bitcoin supply will remain unchanged. **I do not need to convince you that bitcoin provides value - these next few years will convince millions.**

* * *

_**If you found this post helpful support my work with [bitcoin](https://geyser.fund/project/citadel?ref=discreetlog.com).**_

![More Banks Will Fail](https://werunbtc.com/donate.png)


Wealth requires freedom: the ability to make decisions without coercion. Freedom requires privacy: the ability to selectively reveal yourself to the world. Rights are not granted: they are earned through struggle and defended through sacrifice.

* * *

![No Privacy? No Freedom. No Freedom? No Wealth.](https://www.discreetlog.com/content/images/2023/04/freedom-1.webp)

_"Privacy is necessary for an open society in the electronic age. Privacy is not secrecy.  A private matter is something one doesn't want the whole world to know, but a secret matter is something one doesn't want anybody to know. Privacy is the power to selectively reveal oneself to the world."_ **\- Eric Hughes, [A Cypherpunk's Manifesto](https://www.activism.net/cypherpunk/manifesto.html?ref=discreetlog.com), 1993**

* * *

**Privacy is essential to freedom.** Without privacy, individuals are unable to make choices free from surveillance and control. Lack of privacy leads to loss of autonomy. When individuals are constantly monitored it limits our ability to express ourselves and take risks. Any decisions we make can result in negative repercussions from those who surveil us. Without the freedom to make choices, individuals cannot truly be free.

**Freedom is essential to acquiring and preserving wealth.** When individuals are not free to make choices, restrictions and limitations prevent us from economic opportunities. If we are somehow able to acquire wealth in such an environment, lack of freedom can result in direct asset seizure by governments or other malicious entities. At scale, when freedom is compromised, it leads to widespread economic stagnation and poverty. Protecting freedom is essential to economic prosperity.

The connection between **privacy, freedom, and wealth** is critical. Without privacy, individuals lose the freedom to make choices free from surveillance and control. While lack of freedom prevents individuals from pursuing economic opportunities and makes wealth preservation nearly impossible. **_No Privacy? No Freedom. No Freedom? No Wealth._**

_**Rights are not granted. They are taken and defended.**_ Rights are often misunderstood as permission to do something by those holding power. However, if someone can give you something, they can inherently take it from you at will. People throughout history have necessarily fought for basic rights, including privacy and freedom. These rights were not given by those in power, but rather demanded and won through struggle. Even after these rights are won, they must be continually defended to ensure that they are not taken away. **Rights are not granted - they are earned through struggle and defended through sacrifice.**

* * *

_**If you found this post helpful support my work with [bitcoin](https://geyser.fund/project/citadel?ref=discreetlog.com).**_

![No Privacy? No Freedom. No Freedom? No Wealth.](https://werunbtc.com/donate.png)


> ![Nostr: A Revolutionary Communication Protocol](https://www.discreetlog.com/content/images/2023/04/nostr.webp)
>
> [@matt\_odell](https://twitter.com/MATT_ODELL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=discreetlog.com) don't you even dare not ask about nostr!
>
> — Kukks (Andrew Camilleri) (@MrKukks) [May 18, 2021](https://twitter.com/MrKukks/status/1394638825675177986?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=discreetlog.com)

Nostr first hit my radar spring 2021: created by fellow bitcoiner and friend, [fiatjaf](https://twitter.com/fiatjaf?ref=discreetlog.com), and [released](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nostr?ref=discreetlog.com) to the world as free open source software. I was fortunate to be able to host a [conversation with him on Citadel Dispatch](https://www.podpage.com/citadeldispatch/cd63-building-nostr-a-censorship-resistant-alternative-to-twitter-with-fiatjaf-jb55-and-mrkukks/?ref=discreetlog.com) in those early days, capturing that moment in history forever. Since then, the protocol has seen explosive viral organic growth as individuals around the world have contributed their time and energy to build out the protocol and the surrounding ecosystem due to the clear need for better communication tools.

_**nostr is to twitter as bitcoin is to paypal**_

As an intro to nostr, let us start with a metaphor:

_**twitter is paypal** - a centralized platform plagued by censorship but has the benefit of established network effects_

_**nostr is bitcoin** - an open protocol that is censorship resistant and robust but requires an organic adoption phase_

**Nostr is an open communication protocol that can be used to send messages across a distributed set of relays in a censorship resistant and robust way.
** - Anyone can run a relay.
 - Anyone can interact with the protocol.
 - Relays can choose which messages they want to relay.
 - Users are identified by a simple public private key pair that they can generate themselves.

Nostr is often compared to twitter since there are nostr clients that emulate twitter functionality and user interface but that is merely one application of the protocol. **Nostr is so much more than a mere twitter competitor.** Nostr clients and relays can transmit a wide variety of data and clients can choose how to display that information to users. The result is a revolution in communication with implications that are difficult for any of us to truly comprehend.

Similar to bitcoin, nostr is an open and permissionless protocol. **No person, company, or government controls it.** Anyone can iterate and build on top of nostr without permission. Together, bitcoin and nostr are incredibly complementary freedom tech tools: censorship resistant, permissionless, robust, and interoperable - money and speech protected by code and incentives, not laws.

As censorship throughout the world continues to escalate, freedom tech provides hope for individuals around the world who refuse to accept the status quo. This movement will succeed on the shoulders of those who choose to stand up and contribute. We will build our own path. A brighter path.

* * *

**My Nostr Public Key:** [npub1qny3tkh0acurzla8x3zy4nhrjz5zd8l9sy9jys09umwng00manysew95gx](https://primal.net/odell?ref=discreetlog.com)

* * *

_**If you found this post helpful support my work with [bitcoin](https://geyser.fund/project/citadel?ref=discreetlog.com).**_

![Nostr: A Revolutionary Communication Protocol](https://werunbtc.com/donate.png)


> ![Money Without Trust](https://www.discreetlog.com/content/images/2023/03/rdogs.webp)
>
> Bank run on every crypto bank then bank run on every "real" bank.
>
> — ODELL (@ODELL) [December 14, 2022](https://twitter.com/ODELL/status/1602838429447999491?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=discreetlog.com)

The four main banks of bitcoin and “crypto” are Signature, Prime Trust, Silvergate, and Silicon Valley Bank. Prime Trust does not custody funds themselves but rather maintains deposit accounts at BMO Harris Bank, Cross River, Lexicon Bank, MVB Bank, and Signature Bank. Silvergate and Silicon Valley Bank have already stopped withdrawals. **More banks will go down before the chaos stops. None of them have sufficient reserves to meet withdrawals.**

Bitcoin gives us all the ability to opt out of a system that has massive layers of counterparty risk built in, years of cheap money and broken incentives have layered risk on top of risk throughout the entire global economy. If you thought the FTX bank run was painful to watch, I have bad news for you: every major bank in the world is fractional reserve. **Bitcoin held in self custody is unique in its lack of counterparty risk, as global market chaos unwinds this will become much more obvious.**

The rules of bitcoin are extremely hard to change by design. Anyone can access the network directly without a trusted third party by using their own node. Owning more bitcoin does not give you more control over the network with all participants on equal footing.

> _Bitcoin is:
> \- money that is not controlled by a company or government
> \- money that can be spent or saved without permission
> \- money that is provably scarce and should increase in purchasing power with adoption_

**Bitcoin is money without trust.** Whether you are a nation state, corporation, or an individual, you can use bitcoin to spend or save without permission. Social media will accelerate the already deteriorating trust in our institutions and as this trust continues to crumble the value of trust minimized money will become obvious. **As adoption increases so should the purchasing power of bitcoin.**

> _A quick note on "stablecoins," such as USDC - it is important to remember that they rely on trusted custodians. They have the same risk as funds held directly in bank accounts with additional counterparty risk on top. The trusted custodians can be pressured by gov, exit scam, or caught up in fraud. Funds can and will be frozen at will. **This is a distinctly different trust model than bitcoin, which is a native bearer token that does not rely on any centralized entity or custodian.**_

Most bitcoin exchanges have exposure to these failing banks. Expect more chaos and confusion as this all unwinds. Withdraw any bitcoin to your own wallet ASAP.

Simple Self Custody Guide: [https://werunbtc.com/muun](https://t.co/J61rFmeovE?ref=discreetlog.com)
More Secure Cold Storage Guide: [https://werunbtc.com/coldcard](https://t.co/LMTDzJ86Ec?ref=discreetlog.com)

* * *

_**If you found this post helpful support my work with [bitcoin](https://geyser.fund/project/citadel?ref=discreetlog.com).**_

![Money Without Trust](https://werunbtc.com/donate.png)


![KYC Bitcoin: Individuals are on Lists](https://www.discreetlog.com/content/images/2023/02/binancekycleak.webp)

**_What is KYC/AML?_**

*   The acronym stands for Know Your Customer / Anti Money Laundering.
*   In practice it stands for the surveillance measures companies are often compelled to take against their customers by financial regulators.
*   Methods differ but often include: Passport Scans, Driver License Uploads, Social Security Numbers, Home Address, Phone Number, Face Scans.
*   Bitcoin companies will also store all withdrawal and deposit addresses which can then be used to track bitcoin transactions on the bitcoin block chain.
*   This data is then stored and shared. Regulations often require companies to hold this information for a set number of years but in practice users should assume this data will be held indefinitely. Data is often stored insecurely, which results in frequent [hacks and leaks](https://www.newsweek.com/binance-hack-telegram-kyc-data-extortion-changpeng-zhao-cryptocurrency-bitcoin-1452989?ref=discreetlog.com).
*   KYC/AML data collection puts all honest users at risk of theft, extortion, and persecution while being ineffective at stopping crime. Criminals often use [counterfeit, bought, or stolen](https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2021/10/19/for-200-you-can-trade-crypto-with-a-fake-id/?ref=discreetlog.com) credentials to get around the requirements. Criminals can buy "verified" accounts for as [little as $200](https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2021/10/19/for-200-you-can-trade-crypto-with-a-fake-id/?ref=discreetlog.com). Furthermore, billions of people are excluded from financial services as a result of KYC/AML requirements.

During the early days of bitcoin most services did not require this sensitive user data, but as adoption increased so did the surveillance measures. At this point, **most large bitcoin companies are collecting and storing massive lists of bitcoiners, our sensitive personal information, and our transaction history.**

**Lists of Bitcoiners**

KYC/AML policies are a direct attack on bitcoiners. Lists of bitcoiners and our transaction history will inevitably be used against us.

Once you are on a list with your bitcoin transaction history that record will always exist. Generally speaking, tracking bitcoin is based on probability analysis of ownership change. Surveillance firms use various heuristics to determine if you are sending bitcoin to yourself or if ownership is actually changing hands.  You can obtain better privacy going forward by using collaborative transactions such as coinjoin to break this probability analysis.

Fortunately, you can buy bitcoin without providing intimate personal information. Tools such as [peach](https://peachbitcoin.com/?ref=discreetlog.com), [hodlhodl](https://hodlhodl.com/?ref=discreetlog.com), [robosats](https://learn.robosats.com/?ref=discreetlog.com), [azteco](https://azte.co/?ref=discreetlog.com) and [bisq](https://bisq.network/?ref=discreetlog.com) help; mining is also a solid option: anyone can plug a miner into power and internet and earn bitcoin by mining privately.

You can also earn bitcoin by providing goods and/or services that can be purchased with bitcoin. Long term, circular economies will mitigate this threat: most people will not buy bitcoin - they will earn bitcoin - most people will not sell bitcoin - they will spend bitcoin.

**There is no such thing as KYC or No KYC bitcoin, there are bitcoiners on lists and those that are not on lists.**

* * *

_**If you found this post helpful support my work with [bitcoin](https://geyser.fund/project/citadel?ref=discreetlog.com).**_

![KYC Bitcoin: Individuals are on Lists](https://werunbtc.com/donate.png)


PacWest is the first of many small regional banks that will go under this year. Most will get bought by the big four in gov orchestrated sales. This has been the playbook since 2008.

> ![Bank Consolidation Then CBDC](https://www.discreetlog.com/content/images/2023/05/banks-1.jpg)
>
> Bank run on every crypto bank then bank run on every "real" bank.
>
> — ODELL (@ODELL) [December 14, 2022](https://twitter.com/ODELL/status/1602838429447999491?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=discreetlog.com)

Good morning.

It looks like PacWest will fail today. It will be both the fifth largest bank failure in US history and the sixth major bank to fail this year. It will likely get purchased by one of the big four banks in a government orchestrated sale.

**March 8th - Silvergate Bank
March 10th - Silicon Valley Bank
March 12th - Signature Bank
March 19th - Credit Suisse
May 1st - First Republic Bank
May 4th - PacWest Bank?**

PacWest is the first of many small regional banks that [will go under](https://www.discreetlog.com/banking-crisis/) this year. Most will get bought by the big four in gov orchestrated sales. This has been the playbook since 2008. Follow the incentives. Massive consolidation across the banking industry. PacWest gonna be a drop in the bucket compared to what comes next.

First, a hastened government led bank consolidation, then a public/private partnership with the remaining large banks to launch a surveilled and controlled digital currency network. We will be told it is more convenient. We will be told it is safer. We will be told it will prevent future bank runs. All of that is marketing bullshit. **The goal is greater control of money. The ability to choose how we spend it and how we save it. If you control the money - you control the people that use it.**

* * *

_**If you found this post helpful support my work with [bitcoin](https://geyser.fund/project/citadel?ref=discreetlog.com).**_

![Bank Consolidation Then CBDC](https://werunbtc.com/donate.png)


Chain data shows that binance bitcoin wallets are near all time highs with roughly 700k bitcoin currently valued at $18.2 Billion USD.

![Is there a bank run on Binance?](https://www.discreetlog.com/content/images/2023/08/ev.webp)

Influencers would have you believe there is an ongoing binance bank run but bitcoin wallet data says otherwise.

\- binance wallets are near all time highs
\- bitfinex wallets are also trending up
\- gemini and coinbase are being hit with massive withdrawals though

**You should not trust custodians, they can rug you without warning.** It is incredibly important you learn how to hold bitcoin yourself, but also consider not blindly trusting influencers with a ref link to shill you.

![Is there a bank run on Binance?](https://www.discreetlog.com/content/images/2023/08/telegram-cloud-photo-size-1-5130069278517734406-y-10.jpg)

![Is there a bank run on Binance?](https://www.discreetlog.com/content/images/2023/08/telegram-cloud-photo-size-1-5130069278517734407-y.jpg)

![Is there a bank run on Binance?](https://www.discreetlog.com/content/images/2023/08/telegram-cloud-photo-size-1-5130069278517734408-y.jpg)

![Is there a bank run on Binance?](https://www.discreetlog.com/content/images/2023/08/telegram-cloud-photo-size-1-5127877758570048404-y.jpg)

* * *

_**If you found this post helpful support my work with [bitcoin](https://geyser.fund/project/citadel?ref=discreetlog.com).**_

![Is there a bank run on Binance?](https://werunbtc.com/donate.png)


> ![Life is Complicated - Bitcoin is Simple](https://www.discreetlog.com/content/images/2023/05/mothers.jpg)
>
> I often hear "bitcoin doesn't interest me, I'm not a finance person."
>
> Ironically, the beauty of sound money is you don't have to be. In the current system you're expected to manage a diversified investment portfolio or pay someone to do it. Bitcoin will make that optional.
>
> — ODELL (@ODELL) [September 16, 2018](https://twitter.com/ODELL/status/1041358813482364928?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=discreetlog.com)

At first glance bitcoin often appears overwhelming to newcomers. It is incredibly easy to get bogged down in the details of how it works or different ways to use it. Enthusiasts, such as myself, often enjoy going down the deep rabbit hole of the potential of bitcoin, possible pitfalls and theoretical scenarios, power user techniques, and the developer ecosystem. If your first touch point with bitcoin is that type of content then it is only natural to be overwhelmed. While it is important that we have a thriving community of bitcoiners dedicated to these complicated tasks - the true beauty of bitcoin lies in its simplicity. Bitcoin is simply better money. It is the best money we have ever had.

**Life is complicated. Life is hard. Life is full of responsibility and surprises.** Bitcoin allows us to focus on our lives while relying on a money that is simple. A money that is not controlled by any individual, company, or government. A money that cannot be easily seized or blocked. A money that cannot be devalued at will by a handful of corrupt bureaucrat who live hundreds of miles from us. A money that can be easily saved and should increase in purchasing power over time without having to learn how to "build a diversified stock portfolio" or hire someone to do it for us.

**Bitcoin enables all of us to focus on our lives - our friends and family - doing what we love with the short time we have on this earth. Time is scarce. Life is complicated. Bitcoin is the most simple aspect of our complicated lives.** If we spend our scarce time working then we should be able to easily save that accrued value for future generations without watching the news or understanding complicated financial markets. Bitcoin makes this possible for anyone.

Yesterday was Mother's Day. Raising a human is complicated. It is hard, it requires immense personal responsibility, it requires critical thinking, but mothers figure it out, because it is worth it. Using and saving bitcoin is simple -  [simply install an app on your phone](https://werunbtc.com/phoenix?ref=discreetlog.com). Every mother can do it. Every person can do it.

**Life is complicated. Life is beautiful. Bitcoin is simple.**

* * *

_**If you found this post helpful support my work with [bitcoin](https://geyser.fund/project/citadel?ref=discreetlog.com).**_

![Life is Complicated - Bitcoin is Simple](https://werunbtc.com/donate.png)


Chaos or Tyranny? Freedom tech fixes this.

![Chaos, Order, and Freedom](https://www.discreetlog.com/content/images/2023/10/flowchart.png)

**Humanity's Natural State Is Chaos**
Without order there is chaos. Humans competing with each other for scarce resources naturally leads to conflict until one group achieves significant power and instates a "monopoly on violence."

**Power Brings Stability**
Power has always been the key means to achieve stability in societies. Centralized power can be incredibly effective in addressing issues such as crime, poverty, and social unrest efficiently. Unfortunately this power is often abused and corrupted.

**Centralized Power Breeds Tyranny**
Centralized power often leads to tyrannical rule. When a select few individuals hold control over a society, they tend to become corrupted. Centralized power structures often lack accountability and transparency, and rely too heavily on trust.

**Distributed Power Cultivates Freedom**
New technology that empowers individuals provide us the ability to rebuild societies from the bottom up. Strong individuals that can defend and provide for themselves will help build strong local communities on a similar foundation. The result is power being distributed throughout society rather than held by a select few.

**In the short term, relying on trust and centralized power is an easy answer to mitigating chaos, but freedom tech tools provide us the ability to build on top of much stronger distributed foundations that provide stability while also cultivating individual freedom.**

**The solution starts with us. Empower yourself. Empower others. A grassroots freedom tech movement scaling one person at a time.**

* * *

**_If you found this post helpful support my work with [**_bitcoin_**](https://geyser.fund/project/citadel?ref=discreetlog.com)._**

![Chaos, Order, and Freedom](https://werunbtc.com/donate.png)


Gradually then suddenly nostr will become the standard.

![Nostr Adoption Update](https://www.discreetlog.com/content/images/2023/08/birdx.jpeg)

**Nostr is an open communication protocol that can be used to send messages across a distributed set of relays in a censorship resistant and robust way.**

* * *

_If you missed my nostr introduction post you can find it [here](https://www.discreetlog.com/nostr/). My nostr account can be found [here](https://primal.net/odell?ref=discreetlog.com)._

* * *

We are nearly at the point that if something interesting is posted on a centralized social platform it will usually be posted by someone to nostr.

We are nearly at the point that if something interesting is posted exclusively to nostr it is cross posted by someone to various centralized social platforms.

We are nearly at the point that you can recommend a cross platform app that users can install and easily onboard without additional guides or resources.

As companies continue to build walls around their centralized platforms nostr posts will be the easiest to cross reference and verify - as companies continue to censor their users nostr is the best censorship resistant alternative - gradually then suddenly nostr will become the standard. 🫡

[![Nostr Adoption Update](https://www.discreetlog.com/content/images/2023/08/image.png)](https://primal.net/explore?ref=discreetlog.com)

Current Nostr Stats

* * *

_**If you found this post helpful support my work with [bitcoin](https://geyser.fund/project/citadel?ref=discreetlog.com).**_

![Nostr Adoption Update](https://werunbtc.com/donate.png)


RoboSats offers a simple and private way for exchanging bitcoin for fiat currencies. It streamlines the peer-to-peer experience and utilizes Lightning hold invoices to minimize custody and trust requirements as deterministically generated avatars help users stick to the best security practices.

[Contribute to keep No Bullshit Bitcoin news going.](https://geyser.fund/project/nobsbitcoin)

*   RoboSats v0.7.7-alpha is now available!

> NOTE: "This version of clients is not compatible with older versions of coordinators. Coordinators must upgrade first, make sure you don't upgrade your client while this is marked as pre-release."

*   This version brings a new and improved coordinators view with reviews signed both by the robot and the coordinator, adds market price sources in coordinator profiles, shows a correct warning for canceling non-taken orders after a payment attempt, adds Uzbek sum currency, and includes package library updates for coordinators.

![RoboSats v0.7.7-alpha: New Coordinators View (UPDATED)](https://www.nobsbitcoin.com/content/images/2025/04/image-54.png)

Source: RoboSats.

*   _siggy47_ is writing daily RoboSats activity reviews on stacker.news. Check them out [here](https://stacker.news/search?q=daily+robosats&sort=recent).
*   Stay up-to-date with RoboSats [on Nostr](https://njump.me/nprofile1qqsyx53h3h7ec4fwlspjq0kqec5gv54t7rc48xdtq6q4y94wsw4fnjqsg3jtv).

What's new
----------

*   New coordinators view (see the picture above).
*   Available coordinator reviews signed by both the robot and the coordinator.
*   Coordinators now display market price sources in their profiles.

![RoboSats v0.7.7-alpha: New Coordinators View (UPDATED)](https://www.nobsbitcoin.com/content/images/2025/04/image-55.png)

Source: RoboSats.

*   Fix for wrong message on cancel button when taking an order. Users are now warned if they try to cancel a non taken order after a payment attempt.
*   Uzbek sum currency now available.
*   For coordinators: library updates.
*   Add docker frontend ([#1861](https://github.com/RoboSats/robosats/pull/1861)).
*   Add order review token ([#1869](https://github.com/RoboSats/robosats/pull/1869)).
*   Add UZS migration ([#1875](https://github.com/RoboSats/robosats/pull/1875)).
*   Fixed tests review ([#1878](https://github.com/RoboSats/robosats/pull/1878)).
*   Nostr pubkey for Robot ([#1887](https://github.com/RoboSats/robosats/pull/1887)).

### New contributors

*   [@hexlorn](https://github.com/hexlorn) made their first contribution in [#1858](https://github.com/RoboSats/robosats/pull/1858).
*   [@umk0m1qk](https://github.com/umk0m1qk) made their first contribution in [#1864](https://github.com/RoboSats/robosats/pull/1864).

![RoboSats v0.7.7-alpha: New Coordinators View (UPDATED)](https://www.nobsbitcoin.com/content/images/2025/04/robosats-v0777.jpg)

**Full Changelog**: [v0.7.6-alpha...v0.7.7-alpha](https://github.com/RoboSats/robosats/compare/v0.7.6-alpha...v0.7.7-alpha)

[**GitHub Repo**](https://github.com/RoboSats/robosats/releases)


Cake Wallet is an open-source, privacy-oriented multi-currency wallet available on Android, iOS, macOS, Windows (beta) and Linux.

[Contribute to keep No Bullshit Bitcoin news going.](https://geyser.fund/project/nobsbitcoin)

*   This release introduces Payjoin v2 functionality to Bitcoin wallets on Cake, along with several UI/UX improvements and bug fixes.
*   The [Payjoin v2 protocol](https://payjoin.org/) enables asynchronous, serverless coordination between sender and receiver, removing the need to be online simultaneously or maintain a server. This simplifies privacy-focused transactions for regular users.

> "I cannot speak highly enough of how amazing it has been to work with [@bitgould](https://x.com/bitgould) and Jaad from the[@payjoindevkit](https://x.com/payjoindevkit) team, they're doing incredible work. None of this would be possible without them and their tireless efforts. PDK made it so much easier to ship Payjoin v2 than it would have been otherwise, and I can't wait to see other wallets jump in and give back to PDK as they implement it like we did," [said](https://xcancel.com/sethforprivacy/status/1924815548543541711) Seth For Privacy, VP at Cake Wallet.

![Cake Wallet v4.28: Payjoin v2 Support](https://www.nobsbitcoin.com/content/images/2025/05/cakewalletv4040.jpg)

**How to started with Payjoin in Cake Wallet:**

1.  Open the app menu sidebar and click `Privacy`.
2.  Toggle the `Use Payjoin` option.
3.  Now on your receive screen you'll see an option to copy a Payjoin URL

![Cake Wallet v4.28: Payjoin v2 Support](https://www.nobsbitcoin.com/content/images/2025/05/image-9.png)

*   [Bull Bitcoin Wallet v0.4.0](https://www.nobsbitcoin.com/bull-bitcoin-wallet-v0-4-0/) introduced Payjoin v2 support in late December 2024. However, the current implementations are not interoperable at the moment, an issue that should be addressed in the next release of the [Bull Bitcoin Wallet](https://github.com/SatoshiPortal/bullbitcoin-mobile).

[![Cake Wallet v4.28: Payjoin v2 Support](https://www.nobsbitcoin.com/content/images/2025/05/image-11.png)](https://xcancel.com/francispouliot_/status/1924958880804589739)

*   Cake Wallet was [one of the first wallets](https://www.nobsbitcoin.com/cake-wallet-v4-18-0/) to introduce [Silent Payments](https://silentpayments.xyz/) back in May 2024. However, users may encounter sync issues while using this feature at present, which will be resolved in the next release of Cake Wallet.

[![Cake Wallet v4.28: Payjoin v2 Support](https://www.nobsbitcoin.com/content/images/2025/05/image-10.png)](https://xcancel.com/sethforprivacy/status/1924770756828831867)

What's new
----------

*   [**Payjoin v2**](https://payjoin.org/docs/how-it-works/payjoin-v2-bip-77/) implementation.
*   **Wallet group improvements**: Enhanced management of multiple wallets.
*   **Various bug fixes**: improving overall stability and user experience.
*   Monero (XMR) enhancements.

Learn more about using, implementing, and understanding [BIP 77: Payjoin Version 2](https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/pull/1483) using the `payjoin` crate in Payjoin Dev Kit [here](https://payjoin.org/docs/tutorials/receive-payjoin-v2).

[**Announcement**](https://njump.me/nevent1qqs2k8yn2s8eres7gzcnhkj36easy939jz3nddrm7wv7gkdvg93tjhcpz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0wd68ytnsw43qyg8uq7ecmfs397lxe48qjwc90jldzzrfyuz3s9nn7vk46s82m6k5my4r5zne)
[**Blog Post**](https://blog.cakewallet.com/bitcoin-privacy-takes-a-leap-forward-cake-wallet-introduces-payjoin-v2/) / [Archive](http://archive.today/RpdxK)
[**GitHub Repo**](https://github.com/cake-tech/cake_wallet/releases/tag/v4.28.0)


Notedeck is a modern, multiplatform Nostr client built with Rust. It provides a feature-rich experience for interacting with the Nostr protocol on both desktop and Android platforms.

[Contribute to keep No Bullshit Bitcoin news going.](https://geyser.fund/project/nobsbitcoin)

*   "Today we're launching the beta version of our multiplatform Nostr browser! Think Google Chrome but for Nostr apps. The beta is our big first step toward this vision," [announced](https://njump.me/nevent1qqs2dseuw3d4sqkyt97pzq3vg5ncx6zv2fk6ummejf88ezesa2exkrc8y4zm9) Damus.
*   This version comes with the Dave Nostr AI assistant, support for zaps and the Nostr Wallet Connect (NWC) wallet interface, full-text note search, GIFs and fullscreen images, multiple media uploads, user tagging, relay list and mute list support, along with a number of other improvements."

> "Included in the beta is the Dave, the Nostr AI assistant (its Grok for Nostr). Dave is a new Notedeck browser app that can search and summarize notes from the network. For a full breakdown of everything new, check out our beta launch [video](https://njump.me/nevent1qqs2dseuw3d4sqkyt97pzq3vg5ncx6zv2fk6ummejf88ezesa2exkrcpzemhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumn0wd68ytnzv9hxgq3q8m76awca3y37hkvuneavuw6pjj4525fw90necxmadrvjg0sdy6qsncyhyu)."

[![Damus Notedeck v0.4.0 Beta: Zaps, Dave AI Assistant, Android Improvements](https://www.nobsbitcoin.com/content/images/2025/05/image-3.png)](https://njump.me/nevent1qqswjgzrrcmhn3e98y5xrar5t9tq78sgt09e38783fnxqerucff3ppczyqewrqnkx4zsaweutf739s0cu7et29zrntqs5elw70vlm8zudr3y26au00v)

What's new
----------

*   Dave Nostr AI assistant app.
*   GIFs.
*   Fulltext note search.
*   Add full screen images, add zoom, and pan.
*   Zaps! NWC/ Wallet UI.
*   Introduce last note per pubkey feed (experimental).
*   Allow multiple media uploads per selection.
*   Major Android improvements (still WIP).
*   Added notedeck app sidebar.
*   User Tagging.
*   Note truncation.
*   Local network note broadcast, broadcast notes to other notedeck notes while you're offline.
*   Mute list support (reading).
*   Relay list support.
*   Ctrl-enter to send notes.
*   Added relay indexing (relay columns soon).
*   Click hashtags to open hashtag timeline.
*   Fixed timelines sometimes not updating (stale feeds).
*   Fixed UI bounciness when loading profile pictures
*   Fixed unselectable post replies.

![Damus Notedeck v0.4.0 Beta: Zaps, Dave AI Assistant, Android Improvements](https://www.nobsbitcoin.com/content/images/2025/05/notedeckv041.jpg)

[**Announcement**](https://njump.me/nevent1qqs2dseuw3d4sqkyt97pzq3vg5ncx6zv2fk6ummejf88ezesa2exkrcpzemhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumn0wd68ytnzv9hxgq3q8m76awca3y37hkvuneavuw6pjj4525fw90necxmadrvjg0sdy6qsncyhyu) / [Archive](https://archive.is/AQNsV#selection-171.0-171.165)
[**GitHub Repo**](https://github.com/damus-io/notedeck/releases)
[Website](https://damus.io/notedeck/)


Samourai Dojo is an end-to-end bitcoin wallet backing server for powering Samourai Wallet and other light clients.

*   This version introduces the [Soroban](https://www.nobsbitcoin.com/whirlpool-dencetralization-stage-1/) P2P network, enabling Dojo to relay transactions to the Bitcoin network and share others' transactions to break the heuristic linking relaying nodes to transaction creators.

[![Samourai Dojo v1.27.0: Soroban Network, PandoTx, API Key Management](https://www.nobsbitcoin.com/content/images/2025/05/image-13.png)](https://xcancel.com/PavelTheCoder/status/1925673526255665415)

*   Additionally, Dojo admins can now manage API keys in DMT with labels, status, and expiration, ideal for community Dojo providers like [Dojobay](https://dojobay.pw/). New API endpoints, including "/services" exposing Explorer, Soroban, and Indexer, have been added to aid wallet developers.
*   Other maintenance updates include Bitcoin Core, Tor, Fulcrum, Node.js, plus an updated ban-knots script to disconnect inbound Knots nodes.

> "I want to thank all the contributors. This again shows the power of true Free Software. I also want to thank everyone who donated to help Dojo development going. I truly appreciate it," [said](https://xcancel.com/PavelTheCoder/status/1925609421746389035) Still Dojo Coder.

What's new
----------

*   **Soroban P2P network.** For MyDojo (Docker setup) users, Soroban will be automatically installed as part of their Dojo. This integration allows Dojo to utilize the Soroban P2P network for various upcoming features and applications.
*   **PandoTx.** PandoTx serves as a transaction transport layer. When your wallet sends a transaction to Dojo, it is relayed to a random Soroban node, which then forwards it to the Bitcoin network. It also enables your Soroban node to receive and relay transactions from others to the Bitcoin network and is designed to disrupt the assumption that a node relaying a transaction is closely linked to the person who initiated it.
    *   Pushing transactions through Soroban can be deactivated by setting `NODE_PANDOTX_PUSH=off` in `docker-node.conf`.
    *   Processing incoming transactions from Soroban network can be deactivated by setting `NODE_PANDOTX_PROCESS=off` in `docker-node.conf`.
*   **API key management** has been introduced to address the growing number of people offering their Dojos to the community. Dojo admins can now access a new API management tab in their DMT, where they can create unlimited API keys, assign labels for easy identification, and set expiration dates for each key. This allows admins to avoid sharing their main API key and instead distribute specific keys to selected parties.
*   **New API endpoints.** Several new API endpoints have been added to help API consumers develop features on Dojo more efficiently:
    *   New:
        *   `/latest-block` - returns data about latest block
        *   `/txout/:txid/:index` - returns unspent output data
        *   `/support/services` - returns info about services that Dojo exposes
    *   Updated:
        *   `/tx/:txid` - endpoint has been updated to return raw transaction with parameter `?rawHex=1`
    *   The new `/support/services` endpoint replaces the deprecated `explorer` field in the Dojo pairing payload. Although still present, API consumers should use this endpoint for explorer and other pairing data.

### Other changes

*   Updated ban script to disconnect inbound Knots nodes.
*   Updated Fulcrum to v1.12.0.
*   Regenerate Fulcrum certificate if expired.
*   Check if transaction already exists in pushTx.
*   Bump BTC-RPC Explorer.
*   Bump Tor to v0.4.8.16, bump Snowflake.
*   Updated Bitcoin Core to v29.0.
*   Removed unnecessary middleware.
*   Fixed DB update mechanism, added api\_keys table.
*   Add an option to use blocksdir config for bitcoin blocks directory.
*   Removed deprecated configuration.
*   Updated Node.js dependencies.
*   Reconfigured container dependencies.
*   Fix Snowflake git URL.
*   Fix log path for testnet4.
*   Use prebuilt addrindexrs binaries.
*   Add instructions to migrate blockchain/fulcrum.
*   Added pull policies.

![Samourai Dojo v1.27.0: Soroban Network, PandoTx, API Key Management](https://www.nobsbitcoin.com/content/images/2025/05/image-14.png)

[#FREESAMOURAI](https://freesamourai.com/)

![Samourai Dojo v1.27.0: Soroban Network, PandoTx, API Key Management](https://www.nobsbitcoin.com/content/images/2025/05/dojo-v127.jpg)

Learn how to set up and use your own Bitcoin privacy node with Dojo [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULZoPMCYPfk).

[**Announcement**](https://xcancel.com/PavelTheCoder/status/1925609410757378206) / [Archive](http://archive.today/xT2sG)
[**GitHub Repo**](https://github.com/Dojo-Open-Source-Project/samourai-dojo/releases/tag/v1.27.0)