The poll results are in (547 votes, thanks!) and 46% of you would prefer to pay up-front one-time for a “best-in-class” Bitcoin wallet. What one feature would put you over the top to be willing to pay at least $50 for a mobile wallet?

Fri May 01 21:09:59 +0000 2020


Replying to @6102bitcoin

Have you tried Bitcoin Standup macOS yet? It is alpha and a bit clunky still, but works well. I have it both on my laptop and home entertainment Mac mini. https://github.com/BlockchainCommons/Bitcoin-StandUp-MacOS

Fri May 01 21:25:51 +0000 2020


Replying to @6102bitcoin

There are scripts for Bitcoin Standup for Linux systems and a Linode VPS as well.

Fri May 01 23:35:33 +0000 2020


👍“Will the real digital you please stand up? We must take back control of our digital shadows. If we don’t, we’ll continue to be incorrectly and unfairly penalized in our lives, both online and off.” https://qz.com/1525661/your-digital-identity-has-three-layers-and-you-can-only-protect-one-of-them/

Sat May 02 00:27:59 +0000 2020


Replying to @CoinCornerDanny

I’m became involved in Bitcoin due to its censorship-resistance, which is part of coercion-resistance, which is fundamental to anti-violence and human-rights.

Sat May 02 18:26:17 +0000 2020


This is true in general but is not commonly accepted: “the strongest attractor of trust shouldn’t be confidence, but the recognition of one’s limits, the tendency to point at expertise beyond one’s own, and the willingness to work as part of a whole” https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/04/pandemic-confusing-uncertainty/610819/

Sun May 03 07:00:12 +0000 2020


…“A lack of expertise becomes problematic when it’s combined with extreme overconfidence, and with society’s tendency to reward projected confidence over humility.” Again, a serious problem in our society today.

Sun May 03 07:02:18 +0000 2020


Replying to @cprkrn and @gadikian

BTW, we hope to do a major update to the Bitcoin from the Command Line course this summer updating for 0.20. https://github.com/ChristopherA/Learning-Bitcoin-from-the-Command-Line Also, if you have an iOS device you can use our Bitcoin Standup scripts or Mac App & you can apply what you learn to @FullyNoded 1 or use FN2.

Mon May 04 02:39:49 +0000 2020


@ewebber you should look at my series of blog posts on #DunbarNumber. First series starts at http://www.lifewithalacrity.com/2004/03/the_dunbar_numb.html with http://www.lifewithalacrity.com/2005/08/dunbar_world_of.html demonstrating my thesis of smaller numbers. 2nd series: http://www.lifewithalacrity.com/tags/community-by-the-numbers/

Mon May 04 03:04:18 +0000 2020


RT @SSIMeetup: SSIMeetup webinar: Introducing the SSI EU eIDAS Legal Report with @NachoAlamillo 7th of May 12 pm PDT / 3 pm EST / 9 pm CET.…

Mon May 04 18:55:26 +0000 2020


Replying to @VinayTaylor

I’ve written about the dynamics of larger groups (in particular as they approach the Dunbar Number) but we often forget about the smallest groups: dyads & triads. In this article I attempt to survey when one or the the other might be a more ideal group. http://www.lifewithalacrity.com/2013/04/dyads-triads-the-smallest-teams.html

Tue May 05 02:51:34 +0000 2020


RT @ChristopherA: @VinayTaylor I’ve written about the dynamics of larger groups (in particular as they approach the Dunbar Number) but we o…

Tue May 05 02:51:42 +0000 2020


RT @econoalchemist: Well that escalated quickly. @COLDCARDwallet v3.1.3 dropped April 30 and now you can import your wallet & watch it on t…

Tue May 05 06:59:29 +0000 2020


RT @FullyNoded: ⚠️🥶Full video tutorial! Airgapped wallet import and psbt signing with FullyNoded 2 and @COLDCARDwallet 🥶⚠️

So easy!!!

All…

Tue May 05 15:43:53 +0000 2020


RT @MeeplesTogether: Our newest case study covers “The Game”, a very abstract but very tense and thoughtful game of stacking numbers up (an…

Tue May 05 21:36:25 +0000 2020


RT @mattleacock: Looking for a new way to play Pandemic while physically distancing with your friends? I just posted rules and tips for pla…

Tue May 05 21:37:04 +0000 2020


Replying to @dstadulis

https://github.com/ChristopherA/iambic-mnemonic and https://github.com/ChristopherA/password_poem

Thu May 07 00:19:20 +0000 2020


Replying to @dstadulis

A lot of how & why in there needs to be documented. As well as what we hoped to do but didn’t get to.

Thu May 07 00:20:51 +0000 2020


Replying to @dstadulis

The algorithm also selected for concreteness (aka can be visualized like “table”) and valiance (aka emotional context, like “truth”). Both are important factors in memory. Since it knows pronunciation It eliminated homonyms (sounding alike) and commonly mispronounced words.

Thu May 07 00:39:21 +0000 2020


Replying to @dstadulis

Sentence structure also offers some bit storage. We didn’t quite get to physical hamming distance (typing) and pronunciation hamming distance (sounds almost like). We gave up on rhymes—insufficient for randomness, but I have some ideas there for a few bits loss.

Thu May 07 00:42:02 +0000 2020


RT @dstadulis: Diceware words are hard to remember.
Iambic structures make it easier for humans to remember bits.

Interested? Read below.

Thu May 07 00:42:33 +0000 2020


RT @ChristopherA: @dstadulis The algorithm also selected for concreteness (aka can be visualized like “table”) and valiance (aka emotional…

Thu May 07 00:42:46 +0000 2020


RT @ChristopherA: @dstadulis Sentence structure also offers some bit storage. We didn’t quite get to physical hamming distance (typing) and…

Thu May 07 00:42:48 +0000 2020


RT @aniltj: Blockchain Interoperability Plug-Fest Day 1

  • 7 independent vendor implementations - ✅

  • 7 independent platforms - ✅
    ** Neofl…

Thu May 07 01:52:50 +0000 2020


RT @spherityproject: Our highlights from @idworkshop
#IIW30 are out today. Prominent themes include wallet competition, governance, co-deve…

Thu May 07 07:44:38 +0000 2020


RT @FullyNoded: In a 2 of 3 multi-sig set up using your hardware wallet, iPhone and your node would you prefer:

(assuming the app doing th…

Thu May 07 07:45:34 +0000 2020


RT @OdysseyHack: Pre-internet stories, game design, the process of out-collaborating competition, evolutionary implications of identity wit…

Thu May 07 16:01:32 +0000 2020


Excellent article on risks & advantages of #ContactTracing & #ImmunityCredentials (aka #ImmunityPassports), and opportunities in the self-sovereign identity #SSI ecosystem for decentralized identity. https://twitter.com/newmoneyreview/status/1258392234292101120

Thu May 07 16:12:39 +0000 2020


RT @OdysseyHack: “Every single line of code is an ethical judgement call” @trentmc0

Trent from @oceanprotocol shares about his mindset, be…

Thu May 07 16:18:23 +0000 2020


RT @FullyNoded: My favorite update yet FN2 v0.1.6:

-Automagically create multisig wallets with @COLDCARDwallet by uploading the multisig…

Thu May 07 17:33:44 +0000 2020


This interview does a great job capturing some of the essence of the underlying philosophy that guides my work (and play). Great job @AlexSayJrdv! https://twitter.com/OdysseyCreator/status/1258394225844125696

Thu May 07 17:43:09 +0000 2020


RT @FullyNoded: HD, privacy minded, secure, multi-sig has never been easier!

How to EASILY create a 2 of 3 HD multi-sig wallet using you…

Fri May 08 08:37:47 +0000 2020


🤷🏻‍♂️😢“The authors found that accurate news wasn’t able to chain together more than 10 retweets. Fake news could put together a retweet chain 19 links long—and do it 10 times as fast as accurate news put together its measly 10 retweets.” https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/03/largest-study-ever-fake-news-mit-twitter/555104/

Fri May 08 09:01:39 +0000 2020


Here is a multi-part walk-thru of our FullyNoded 2 bitcoin wallet on iOS, in late alpha on testnet. It demonstrates connecting to your own full node, a traditional hot singlesig, a 2 of 3 multisig, as well as compatibility to work with other advanced wallets. What are we missing? https://twitter.com/FullyNoded/status/1258755832449122311

Fri May 08 19:06:12 +0000 2020


This video adds a walk-thru demonstrating how to use FullyNoded 2 as a co-signer with another bitcoin wallet, in this case, @COLDCARDwallet https://twitter.com/fullynoded/status/1258626970864123904?s=21 https://twitter.com/FullyNoded/status/1258626970864123904

Fri May 08 19:22:37 +0000 2020


We also as a co-signer with Electrum https://github.com/Fonta1n3/FullyNoded-2/blob/0.1.1/Docs/Electrum-guide.md and with Spectre https://github.com/Fonta1n3/FullyNoded-2/blob/0.1.1/Docs/Specter-guide.md

Fri May 08 19:24:37 +0000 2020


We are also working with other bitcoin wallet companies on standards for co-signing airgapped transactions using QR codes. Some interesting challenges but we are making good progress. If you are wallet developer, the discussions are happening in issues at https://github.com/blockchainCommons/airgappedsigning/issues

Fri May 08 19:27:42 +0000 2020


This applies to much more than game design. In particular the part about sharing your appreciation of those that inspired you, motivated you, or whose work and strong shoulders you are trying to build upon. https://twitter.com/rdonoghue/status/1258796064255197184

Sat May 09 00:55:07 +0000 2020


RT @grittygrease: Really cool research I was lucky enough to be a small part of.

Ever since RSA was removed (no forward secrecy), TLS has…

Sat May 09 06:09:22 +0000 2020


Replying to @rdonoghue

I’ve been struggling with it too. So far frustrated like you.

Mon May 11 03:06:36 +0000 2020


Which bitcoin multisig scenarios are you most interested in having a mobile wallet support? I will describe each of these in the thread. If none of these are quite right, describe the multisig scenario you most need:

Mon May 11 18:37:31 +0000 2020


The Self-Sovereign HODL scenario is a multisig that allows you to more safely store your digital assets, but no other party other than you can spend or is involved in protecting your assets.

Mon May 11 18:41:24 +0000 2020


The Spouse/Partner Optional scenario is a multisig that allows you to offer the ability for someone else you trust to be able to without your explicit consent spend on your behalf, without using your keys. Equivalent of most joint checking accounts.

Mon May 11 18:44:50 +0000 2020


The Spouse/Partner Required scenario is a multisig that requires two parties to consent to approve a any transactions. There will be ways to restore if either of you loose your keys, but normal usage is like a two line co-signing bank account.

Mon May 11 18:48:30 +0000 2020


The Timelock for Recovery scenario allows a third-party, for instance your executor, to have a key can’t be used to spend until some future point in time. Presumably the wallet would sweep forward your funds as long as you were active, but once inactive for too long unlocks.

Mon May 11 18:52:58 +0000 2020


My goal with this poll is to abstract what people need in these scenarios rather than go into specifics of things like “2 of 3”, “3 of 5” or one of my advanced favorites “two of three out of three 2 of 3s”. In best practices of #SmartCustody we need to understand the needs first.

Mon May 11 19:00:33 +0000 2020


For instance, given just three master seeds I can architect a Self-Sovereign HODL scenario (two keys not on your device), Spouse/Partner Optional or Required scenario (in both you each hold one key and one is offline, but construction is different), or a Timelock scenario. …

Mon May 11 19:08:40 +0000 2020


…with more master seeds I can design other scenarios as well, increase chances for recovery, decrease opportunities for attackers, etc. However, these designs have complexity trade-offs, and probably should not be in hands of ordinary people to decide. …

Mon May 11 19:12:23 +0000 2020


Your wallet should be YOUR wallet. It should be able to discover your needs and suggest solutions. But it should NOT (except for the very sophisticated & knowledgeable people) ask you what numbers in the threshold multisig contract you want. It should support best practices.

Mon May 11 19:18:18 +0000 2020


You can see the richness of choices in the first edition of the our free #SmartCustody book http://bit.ly/SmartCustodyBookV101 but it only covers single sig scenarios. Though it offers best practices, most people don’t do the risk modeling it demonstrates, so wallet must be able to do it.

Mon May 11 19:23:50 +0000 2020


We are working on the second edition of the #SmartCustody book, and a reference implementation iOS wallet called FullyNoded2 to inspire wallet vendors to join us in defining best practices. You can support keeping these efforts free at https://github.com/sponsors/BlockchainCommons or by BTC donations.

Mon May 11 19:29:33 +0000 2020


Replying to @VinayTaylor

No wonder we are so exhausted.

Tue May 12 07:38:36 +0000 2020


RT @tropicsquare: Tropic Square exits stealth mode, @SatoshiLabs announced @TropicSquare live today at http://bitcoinhalving.com online confe…

Tue May 12 07:40:52 +0000 2020


@EEnglberth I’d love to chat with you about various connections that @BlockchainComns has done in the area of open hardware & chips, in particular in Taiwan. We don’t want to be in that business but we need them to exist to support cryptographic security infrastructure. DM me.

Tue May 12 07:44:20 +0000 2020


I’m looking forward to seeing what @tropicsquare will be doing. Absence of truly open chips has been a worrying problem & something I’ve been investigating for years. Still some challenges—RISC-V is great, but getting a fab to open all the way down to power-on-reset is difficult. https://twitter.com/tropicsquare/status/1259925120740704256

Tue May 12 07:55:37 +0000 2020


So a question for you — do we really need multisig mobile wallets? Maybe a hot wallet for small amount of funds but smarter? It could offer to send coins to your cold wallet. It could do better coin control, such as sending change home to a mixer or a cool wallet. Ideas? https://twitter.com/ChristopherA/status/1259915555248566273

Tue May 12 18:50:00 +0000 2020


Some good thinking in this comic about the nature of conversations, chat & messaging. Ages ago there were many more experiments going on. For instance @kallewoof & I did a UI that was like a combination of google docs & chat — you could annotate or add new text chat anywhere. https://twitter.com/maxkriegers/status/1259168597429096450

Wed May 13 07:10:19 +0000 2020


Replying to @lackingceremony

Gate Watch

  1. Gate Watch is a gmless storygame that focuses on the stories that emerge from borders: those between worlds, regions, cultures, class, and more.

Wed May 13 07:33:45 +0000 2020


Replying to @lackingceremony

  1. The characters know about both sides of the border, though they usually call one side home. Differences between the two sides will manifest as mysteries, that the characters must either confront or reconcile to become a truth.

Wed May 13 07:36:19 +0000 2020


Replying to @lackingceremony

  1. The players are creating a cinematic experience for each other, with leading questions for each other, taking turns to direct scenes to resolve acts, and ultimately exploring the borders and edges between two worlds to discover something new. https://dyvershands.itch.io/gate-watch

Wed May 13 07:40:23 +0000 2020


RT @ChristopherA: So a question for you — do we really need multisig mobile wallets? Maybe a hot wallet for small amount of funds but smart…

Wed May 13 16:10:15 +0000 2020


RT @ChristopherA: Which bitcoin multisig scenarios are you most interested in having a mobile wallet support? I will describe each of these…

Wed May 13 16:10:47 +0000 2020


Replying to @maxkriegers and @kallewoof

We (@kallewoof and I) basically had a simultaneous editor like Google Wave (and later google docs) running circa ‘05-’06. It had some good features I haven’t seen since, and the DOM sync model was powerful. I was surprised I still have the old website up: https://www.synchroedit.com

Wed May 13 18:30:11 +0000 2020


Replying to @maxkriegers and @kallewoof

Here is an old blog post on the topic: http://www.lifewithalacrity.com/2005/10/for_the_last_se.html. In the end, Microsoft browsers at the time not supporting W3C standards, and Google later offering something that did less for free, killed the project.

Wed May 13 18:35:50 +0000 2020


Replying to @maxkriegers and @kallewoof

One of the interesting challenges of being based on DOM architecture, was if a co-editor had a web-based spell checker installed, everyone would see the spell check. We had to work around that, but that also meant that anything that used DOM UI worked. TiddlyWiki for instance.

Wed May 13 18:39:08 +0000 2020


Replying to @maxkriegers and @kallewoof

Three of my favorite features in SynchroEdit were in the chat sidebar. It was persistent (google docs are not), ordering was by when you STARTED typing, not when you hit return (made for better chat transcripts), and you can edit, add or annotate old comments with URLs and such.

Wed May 13 18:42:07 +0000 2020


Replying to @themadstone

I was a the meeting (89?) with @StupidFunWill where about a dozen orgs met with Maxis about commissioning Sim software. One I Iiked was associated with WHO and was Sim Pandemic. Sim PizzaHut actually wasn’t that bad of an idea, franchisers could bankrupt virtual restaurants…

Fri May 15 17:37:27 +0000 2020


Replying to @themadstone and @StupidFunWill

Lots of bad ideas at this meeting. At this event Will & I had a hard time explaining that Sim software wasn’t really very real. That in fact, there was a paradox where we would not trust programmed in behavior but instead only trust it if it emerged accidentally. …

Fri May 15 17:42:48 +0000 2020


Replying to @themadstone and @StupidFunWill

My own idea was a multi-user Sim Moonbase, but it was a collaborative game, not a “serious sim”. I thought at the end of the meeting Will didn’t want to do any of these, but serious money was being thrown around. …

Fri May 15 17:45:12 +0000 2020


Replying to @themadstone and @StupidFunWill

The event ended up being a key point in my career as it was facilitated by @GiffordPinchot who liked the intent behind my Sim Moonbase collaborative game & not convinced on any others. He eventually became my first investor in Consensus Development which ultimately did SSL/TLS.

Fri May 15 17:47:24 +0000 2020


RT @ChristopherA: @themadstone @StupidFunWill The event ended up being a key point in my career as it was facilitated by @GiffordPinchot wh…

Fri May 15 19:17:17 +0000 2020


RT @ChristopherA: @themadstone @StupidFunWill My own idea was a multi-user Sim Moonbase, but it was a collaborative game, not a “serious si…

Fri May 15 19:17:21 +0000 2020


I am intrigued by these small group governance experiments such as this one for voluntary group income. A subtlety in this video I like is where the defaults for the two proposal methods: consensus -1 and 75% — both good choices for small groups. … https://twitter.com/Group_Income/status/1261317414882381824

Fri May 15 19:37:21 +0000 2020


Another thing I like in this demo is payments using bitcoin, though I’d like to see xpub sharing by the community. Another thing like to see more are deliberation tools to reach consent on proposals. Another scenario for this kind of software could be mutual insurance.

Fri May 15 19:40:56 +0000 2020


RT @ChristopherA: Another thing I like in this demo is payments using bitcoin, though I’d like to see xpub sharing by the community. Anothe…

Fri May 15 19:41:01 +0000 2020


Replying to @gablerjonathan, @jeffemmett and @decentralion

Has anyone figured out how to do token bonding curve approaches using the more limited UTXO-style cryptographic smart contracts (like a L2 Bitcoin payment channel (Lightning) or side-chain (Liquid)) as opposed to the more scripting oriented smart contracts like Ethereum?

Fri May 15 19:47:45 +0000 2020


RT @techreview: In a simulated economy, an AI came up with a counterintuitive tax policy that led to a smaller gap between the rich and the…

Fri May 15 21:19:57 +0000 2020


RT @dakami: h/t Ronald, no idea original source, but LOOOOOOOOOOOOOL

Fri May 15 21:21:24 +0000 2020


In the 4 years since I chose the term Self Sovereign Identity aka #SSI for our movement, some people have expressed concern about using the word Sovereign. However when I see these statements in the @washingtonpost I feel it was right choice. People must also have an equal voice:

Sat May 16 00:31:35 +0000 2020


This is from https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/05/15/app-apple-google-virus/ My response to this is that neither governments nor multinational corporations solely should decide. Individuals can suffer greatest harm, thus their choice must also be considered in these discussions. Not a sole voice, but at least equal.

Sat May 16 00:36:58 +0000 2020


It looks like I’m not the only one who had a very visceral negative reaction to that Washington Post article. So did @daringfireball https://daringfireball.net/2020/05/washington_post_exposure_notification_story

Sat May 16 05:41:24 +0000 2020


RT @ChristopherA: It looks like I’m not the only one who had a very visceral negative reaction to that Washington Post article. So did @dar…

Sat May 16 05:41:30 +0000 2020


I’m enjoying watching this Twitter event: @La__Cuen posts about an author asking about Bitcoin & mentions in passed she’d die if @jk_rowling asked her. Of course, the author pops ups and asks. Then I see large numbers of people try to explain & JK ever so patiently wades through. https://twitter.com/jk_rowling/status/1261405158589771776

Sat May 16 05:53:11 +0000 2020


Replying to @HillebrandMax and @wasabiwallet

Its on my roadmap, but need to get L1 done right first.

Sat May 16 07:36:23 +0000 2020


RT @hackylawyER: You’re right. I am a lawyer. I even have an extra law degree in IP law. And this is why I believe that #copyright is 100%…

Sun May 17 16:56:16 +0000 2020


RT @javiervargas: @FullyNoded I have written a guide in Spanish, thanks for such a complete wallet! https://medium.com/@sntgvrg/la-mejor-billetera-bitcoin-del-mercado-para-ios-fullynoded2-68bf3c36bd2d

Mon May 18 04:14:27 +0000 2020


Free #SmartCustody PDF v1.01 2019-09-16: http://bit.ly/SmartCustodyBookV101

At-cost POD (print-on-demand) $13.50 from Lulu #SmartCustody by Christopher Allen (Paperback) - Lulu: http://bit.ly/SmartCustodyBookViaLulu

Financially support updates to the next edition: #SmartCustody! https://smartcustody.btcpay.blockchaincommons.com

Mon May 18 17:14:43 +0000 2020


#SmartCustody advice: Controlling possession of hardware keys is essential. Your PIN is not enough. Don’t put a lot of money on a single signature hardware key (smaller amounts are ok). Use offline seeds (cold wallets) or multisig if you have larger amounts of bitcoin. …

Mon May 18 17:14:43 +0000 2020


My summary from a #SmartCustody perspective. It is possible with possession of your hardware key, about $200k of equipment, and specialized expertise to steal from a @ColdCard mk2, but mk3 is not vulnerable to this specific attack. … https://twitter.com/DonjonLedger/status/1262390534003400704

Mon May 18 17:14:43 +0000 2020


Best analysis yet of why we are not ready for #Covid19 #ImmunityCredentials aka #ImmunityPassports. I personally don’t like the anti-blockchain focus in this headline, but other arguments against this tech are spot on. I have a list of even more reasons why it is a bad idea now. https://twitter.com/hackylawyER/status/1262384545963347968

Mon May 18 17:27:55 +0000 2020


We are looking for corporate sponsors for our next edition of #SmartCustody, which among other topics will add multisig digital asset management scenarios. Contact me if you are interested.

Mon May 18 17:49:48 +0000 2020


RT @ChristopherA: #SmartCustody advice: Controlling possession of hardware keys is essential. Your PIN is not enough. Don’t put a lot of mo…

Mon May 18 17:50:06 +0000 2020


RT @ChristopherA: We are looking for corporate sponsors for our next edition of #SmartCustody, which among other topics will add multisig d…

Mon May 18 17:50:23 +0000 2020


Replying to @hackylawyER

The risk model and threat analysis is immature and not ready for public consumption, but the two annotated links documents are public: https://github.com/ChristopherA/Lists-of-High-Signal-Low-Noise-Links/blob/master/LocationPrivacy-ContractTracing-PublicHealthVsPrivacy-COVID19.md
https://github.com/ChristopherA/Lists-of-High-Signal-Low-Noise-Links/blob/master/ImmunityCredentials-VerifiableClaims-COVID19.md

Tue May 19 03:53:44 +0000 2020


Replying to @dakami, @FreedomIsntSafe, @JWWeatherman_, @COLDCARDwallet, @Trezor and @Ledger

BTC is leading to more secure chips, but unfortunately they have been slow in coming. There has been strong resistance from the silicon vendors to incorporate anything more than NIST (and EU equivalent) cryptography. But I know of at least 3 companies and a number of alliances.

Tue May 19 03:58:16 +0000 2020


RT @warikoo: Am just going to leave this here, so that it stays forever as a gentle reminder!

Tue May 19 04:39:41 +0000 2020


I’ve made a Youtube playlist of my various talks and lectures, and ordered them with the most current ones at the top, and the older & more redundant ones nearer to the bottom. Topics include #SSI, #decentralization #DigitalIdentity #InternetHistory, etc. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJ0DUQTMYEC5n-OgYtu5wJ1Ev7hpjDXuM

Tue May 19 04:42:44 +0000 2020


RT @FullyNoded: Anybody know of a good (free) api with historical price data for #btc?

Tue May 19 17:03:32 +0000 2020


Replying to @alphaazeta and @FullyNoded

I wish we could get more on these guys to support onion nodes for access.

Tue May 19 17:14:40 +0000 2020


I have available a part-time, 2 or 3 month, paid college internship position this summer for @BlockchainCommons. You’ll need to have basics of linux and/or mac command-line scripting, have taken my “Learning Bitcoin on the Command Line” course, and will be paid in Bitcoin. …

Tue May 19 19:25:20 +0000 2020


This intern will test our security code, upgrade our build systems to use GitHub actions, update static web page code tools for GitHub hosting, review and update documentation, test apps, and possibly more given the experience the coding experience of the intern. Virtual-only.

Tue May 19 19:30:28 +0000 2020


I am also open to taking a pre-law intern as well, as long as they are willing to learn some of these same tools (git/github, command-line) but coding experience is not required. Will hlep @BlockchainComns to do advocacy around the world about digital human rights, privacy, etc.

Tue May 19 19:32:54 +0000 2020


RT @ChristopherA: I am also open to taking a pre-law intern as well, as long as they are willing to learn some of these same tools (git/git…

Tue May 19 19:32:58 +0000 2020


Shorter, slightly easier version of @mattleacock’s Pandemic game, one of the best cooperative games of the last decade. Included is a link to a free Print-and-Play version to use while social distancing. Learn about Pandemics & how to Collaborate! https://twitter.com/WatchItPlayed/status/1262793825275252736

Tue May 19 21:09:08 +0000 2020


Here is the direct link to the Print-and-Play version: https://images.zmangames.com/filer_public/89/b4/89b4fed3-000c-4168-9957-65e6f0ea9848/pandemic_hotzone_printplay.pdf

Tue May 19 21:10:56 +0000 2020


Replying to @alphaazeta and @FullyNoded

Another option is that if we can find the data, host then near the 3 Tor Exit nodes that we are planning to offer around the world.

Wed May 20 00:45:12 +0000 2020


“‘9x effect’: Consumers value what they have as 3 times better than what they stand to gain, while designers overvalue their new creation by the same factor. ‘The result is a mismatch of 9 to 1, or 9x, between what innovators think consumers desire & what consumers really want’” https://twitter.com/ozm/status/1263210656653889538

Wed May 20 20:56:22 +0000 2020


RT @BitcoinLixin: @KevinR4v @PsychedelicBart @CoboVault Yes. We are also working with @ChristopherA & @BlockchainComns for a standard of an…

Thu May 21 00:36:33 +0000 2020


Last night @BlockchainComns tagged our first release of bc-seedtool-cli, a Mac & Linux command line tool for for some emerging standards for cryptographic seeds. https://github.com/BlockchainCommons/bc-seedtool-cli

Thu May 21 00:48:29 +0000 2020


We believe this to be a stable and useful release. However, we have not done any formal security auditing — this release is intended for additional review by third-parties before requesting formal auditing.

Thu May 21 00:49:15 +0000 2020


Seedtool itself is is written in C++, but it uses a number of pure C libraries that we also have tagged as release 0.1. In particular, the bc-shamir, bc-slip39, and bc-bech32 libraries have functionality of broader interest to blockchain community for securing digital assets.

Thu May 21 00:51:23 +0000 2020


Seedtool is also compatible with LetheKit, our DIY box for generating offline seeds. https://github.com/BlockchainCommons/bc-lethe-kit

Thu May 21 00:52:27 +0000 2020


Seedtool also supports the latest draft of something we are calling the UR: scheme for encoding this information in a QR-optimized, URL safe, double-clickable selectable & compact bech-32-like encoding for cryptographic seeds, bip39 mnemonics, and slip39 shards.

Thu May 21 00:55:08 +0000 2020


For instance, a cryptographic seed can be determined from a variety of entropy sources and formats, including offline entropy like dice, and then expressed as hex, base64, bip39, slip39 or ur encoding. Complete manual at https://github.com/BlockchainCommons/bc-seedtool-cli/blob/master/MANUAL.md

Thu May 21 01:01:00 +0000 2020


More to come, including UR: (QR-optimized, URL safe, double-clickable selectable & compact bech-32-like encoded) standards for derived keys & paths, signatures in a variety of formats for ECDH & Schnorr, wallet account maps, PSBTs, and many other useful primitives for wallets.

Thu May 21 01:06:02 +0000 2020


Some challenges on the way. A number of these wallet primitives require QR codes larger than what can fit into a single QR code. We are puzzling through a number of different approaches for multipart and/or animated QRs, and possible ideas such as fountain codes to facilitate it.

Thu May 21 01:08:18 +0000 2020


If you are interested in participating in these topics, we are currently hosting conversations on these in the issues section of https://github.com/blockchainCommons/airgappedsigning/issues and also a private Signal group. Contact me for more information.

Thu May 21 01:10:01 +0000 2020


In particular, this is a 0.1 alpha release — we are seeking feedback on if we are meeting the requirements of all the wallet vendors (and not just Bitcoin wallets — all digital asset wallets require cryptographic seeds), and we would like to have more source code review & audit.

Thu May 21 01:13:06 +0000 2020


.@BlockchainComns is a “not-for-profit” benefit organization founded to support blockchain infrastructure & the broader security industry through cryptographic & privacy protocol implementations, research, and standards. Please become a Patron of our work: https://github.com/sponsors/blockchaincommons

Thu May 21 01:17:07 +0000 2020


RT @dhruvbansal: 1 @unchainedcap just released a new version of Caravan, our open-source multisig wallet.

Check out our blog post to lear…

Thu May 21 03:09:16 +0000 2020


“It is clearly premature to deploy immunity passports. But that doesn’t mean we should stop trying to determine whether/how they will be useful.…If implemented poorly, the authors’ doomsday scenario will come to pass.” https://twitter.com/rileyphughes/status/1263193547139776512

Thu May 21 06:07:22 +0000 2020


RT @ChristopherA: Last night @BlockchainComns tagged our first release of bc-seedtool-cli, a Mac & Linux command line tool for for some eme…

Thu May 21 16:01:36 +0000 2020


RT @pdubl22: Got my node running exclusively over Tor, and remotely connected to it using @FullyNoded on my phone!

Big thanks to @coinmonk…

Fri May 22 02:30:26 +0000 2020


RT @milessuter: Things have accelerated even more quickly than I could have envisioned.

It’s hard to overstate the implications of the los…

Fri May 22 16:25:14 +0000 2020


Replying to @CaitlinLong_

One topic I will be testifying about is to asking the Select Committee to reintroduce last years’s HB0041 bill preventing “Disclosure of Private Cryptographic Keys” https://wyoleg.gov/Legislation/2020/HB0041

Fri May 22 18:16:48 +0000 2020


Replying to @CaitlinLong_

This topic is critical for the security of not only blockchain technology but also to the future of digital identity. Once a private cryptographic key is disclosed to a judge it is permanently compromised, even if the judge attempts to protect it from further disclosure …

Fri May 22 18:18:04 +0000 2020


Replying to @CaitlinLong_

Even if well-intentioned, such compelled disclosure could put at risk your spouse, your business partners, or the entire custody businesses of multi-billion dollar companies because a private key cannot easily be changed once it’s compromised. …

Fri May 22 18:19:04 +0000 2020


Replying to @CaitlinLong_

To be clear, a judge can still achieve the desired outcome by compelling the use of private cryptographic keys (such as to turn over assets in a divorce proceeding, or to prove ownership of an asset) without requiring the disclosure of the key itself. …

Fri May 22 18:19:36 +0000 2020


Replying to @CaitlinLong_

Wyoming 2020 HB0041 resolves the essential differences between how cryptographic security works and how it is misunderstood by prosecutors & law enforcement. …

Fri May 22 18:20:20 +0000 2020


Replying to @CaitlinLong_

Another topic I hope to talk about is improving some definitions around custody. Wyoming has some very good new regulations around digital asset custody, but I’d like to see some clarity around its use with multi-signature technology. …

Fri May 22 18:23:57 +0000 2020


Replying to @CaitlinLong_

For instance, in the case of assets held by multi-signature technology, if Wyoming entities hold the majority of the private keys or have sufficient authority to control or leverage digital assets held by private keys, then the assets should remain “located” in Wyoming.

Fri May 22 18:25:09 +0000 2020


Replying to @CaitlinLong_

Other topics that I believe Wyoming will have sympathy for is address the hazards of DRM. Many farmers and ranchers are facing use of DRM regulations to prevent them from repairing their own equipment, or office workers from refilling their ink cartridges…

Fri May 22 18:27:17 +0000 2020


Replying to @CaitlinLong_

I have a bunch of small items (allowing attorneys to accept digital assets in trust accounts, use if digital credentials in the corporation registration system, funding security review of standards, etc) but the above are my main points.…

Fri May 22 18:30:42 +0000 2020


Replying to @CaitlinLong_

I’m am on the agend at about 2:15 MDT this afternoon. Live stream at https://youtu.be/_0MOWBH3s7w

Fri May 22 18:31:27 +0000 2020


RT @CaitlinLong_: HOWDY! #Wyoming’s Select Committee on #Blockchain, Financial Technology & Digital Innovation is having its kick-off meeti…

Fri May 22 18:31:36 +0000 2020


Replying to @CaitlinLong_

My full letter to the Wyoming Legislative Select Committee on Blockchain, Financial Technology, and Digital Innovation Technology is on the public record at https://wyoleg.gov/InterimCommittee/2020/S19-20200522Wyoming2020LegislationAgendaLetter-ChristopherAllen.pdf

Fri May 22 18:34:29 +0000 2020


Replying to @COLDCARDwallet

I learned from Bitcoin that censorship resistance, a first step toward coercion resistance, is now possible.

Fri May 22 22:55:34 +0000 2020


RT @FullyNoded: There has been a lot going on behind the scenes at FullyNoded2, very much hope to release a mainnet version in the not too…

Sat May 23 17:03:02 +0000 2020


…made the world shift and the more it is, in fact, the microscopic – from a historical standpoint, teamwork of everybody. So never feel that the stuff you’re doing isn’t important.”—@Ada_Palmer https://www.singularityweblog.com/ada-palmer/

Sat May 23 17:51:56 +0000 2020


👍“Teamwork: The small things that we are achieving that feel small are the way that the civilization-wide big things happen. The more I look at history and zoom in the less it is the geniuses and the people whose names we know that…

Sat May 23 17:51:56 +0000 2020


I have a volunteer who has contributed a French translation to the first 3 chapters of my “Learning Bitcoin from the Command Line” course. Could get a native French speaker to comment and approve on this PR? https://github.com/BlockchainCommons/Learning-Bitcoin-from-the-Command-Line/pull/121/files

Sun May 24 19:31:39 +0000 2020


RT @FullyNoded: 💥The latest @unchainedcap Caravan release is very cool! Thanks to the team for a great way to use collaborative multisig!…

Mon May 25 17:15:03 +0000 2020


Replying to @FullyNoded

The next step is to do this fully with QRs, but we have some work to do to define standards for this, especially as some transactions will have many inputs and thus will not fit in one QR. If you are interested in helping define & test these emerging standards let us know!

Mon May 25 17:27:45 +0000 2020


RT @ChristopherA: @FullyNoded The next step is to do this fully with QRs, but we have some work to do to define standards for this, especia…

Mon May 25 17:27:54 +0000 2020


…enables a pluralism of operators and technologies, you can ensure interoperability, encourage diversity, and prevent technology and vendor lock-in.”—@aniltj in https://www.cyberforge.com/illusion-of-interoperability/

Tue May 26 15:41:07 +0000 2020


I agree with @aniltj on this & have been quoting him in my testimony In Wyoming, California & Netherlands: “By explicitly setting the expectation that all of the entities in the model above are not built, managed or operated by a single entity, but instead by an ecosystem that…

Tue May 26 15:41:07 +0000 2020


“The company’s algorithms weren’t bringing people together. They were driving people apart. ‘Our algorithms exploit the human brain’s attraction to divisiveness…If left unchecked…more and more divisive content in an effort to gain user attention & increase time on the platform. https://twitter.com/hshaban/status/1265315302742646790

Wed May 27 05:48:23 +0000 2020


RT @ziggamon: Kind of mandatory reading, read up on what is happening in Argentina and it should give you an idea what currency collapse mi…

Wed May 27 05:58:25 +0000 2020


Spent a few weeks in Buenos Aires before rushing home on last regularly scheduled American flight before Covid-19 closed everything down. Dealing with informal currency exchange almost everywhere was common & hatred of banks was really fascinating as a cultural phenomenon. https://twitter.com/MattAhlborg/status/1254760870187610113

Wed May 27 06:03:35 +0000 2020


Even without the limitations of a small device display & a single seed, this is a key challenge in designing multisig UX for our @FullyNoded 2 iOS bitcoin wallet. “Striking a balance between the two with the right amount of silent verification and user confirmation is not easy.” https://twitter.com/BitBoxSwiss/status/1201913737969467392

Wed May 27 06:44:01 +0000 2020


Research by @KasparEtter

Wed May 27 06:44:58 +0000 2020


Replying to @BitcoinLixin, @FullyNoded and @CoboVault

A challenge is how do we educate the wallet holder on what to look for? I’m concerned that the ability for even sophisticated users to know how to spot problems is already compromised. @WolfMcnally worked on some visual hash ideas that might be interesting, but some object to it.

Wed May 27 17:00:34 +0000 2020


Replying to @davidstrayhorn, @pm, @jack and @kimdhamilton

We have made progress on implementing social key recovery based on collaborations at last two RWOT events. Social Identifier Recovery is long-term better than Key Recovery, but also is harder to do. It too is in progress but may be another year.

Wed May 27 18:52:38 +0000 2020


Replying to @davidstrayhorn, @pm, @jack and @kimdhamilton

I have been designing the architectural underpinnings of BTCR and the Amira use case in my design of @FullyNoded 2 iOS bitcoin multisig wallet. But it is underfunded so slow going. Also challenging is BTCR roots were designed 5 years ago pre-segwit, so aspects needs rethink.

Wed May 27 19:07:44 +0000 2020


Replying to @WolfMcnally, @BitcoinLixin, @FullyNoded and @CoboVault

Their guess is that it would not be too hard to find a close visual match. Imagine if you run your color name interpreter as a filter and some other simple visual pattern AI to find close enough matches to fool people. But I think it might still be useful.

Wed May 27 23:22:46 +0000 2020


Replying to @BitcoinLixin, @WolfMcnally, @FullyNoded, @CoboVault and @mflaxman

I was talking to @MarkFriedenbach and it could be that some pre-commit phase before creating account map (aka wallet descriptor) could be useful. We’ll need one for Schnorr at some point anyhow so we’ll need UX for that someday.

Thu May 28 02:22:28 +0000 2020


This is one of my concerns with some of the newer DID methods. The whole point originally of DIDs was you could use many of them, revoke them cheaply & rotate each to new keys regularly. But many DIDs are returning to long-term key use patterns that I don’t believe are as secure. https://twitter.com/durumcrustulum/status/1265719108680769536

Thu May 28 05:49:15 +0000 2020


I have walked this path down Market Street to the Ferry Building in San Francisco so many times, it is quite stunning to see this same road 114 years ago: https://youtu.be/VO_1AdYRGW8

Thu May 28 06:06:49 +0000 2020


Re: social distancing I miss doing things together. “Larping is fundamentally a social endeavour, done together with others. Doing things together is hardwired in humans. It is fundamentally different to do things together than to do things side-by-side.” https://nordiclarp.org/2020/05/28/beauty-in-larp/

Fri May 29 01:58:19 +0000 2020


RT @FullyNoded: Finally giving some much needed love to http://Standup.app to help all levels of users very easily (1 click) set up a…

Fri May 29 15:24:49 +0000 2020


RT @elsultanbitcoin: BOOM 🤯 now that @DIRECTVVE no longer provides services inside Venezuela 🇻🇪 I’m finally going offline by setting up my…

Fri May 29 23:25:46 +0000 2020


Replying to @BTCSocialist, @ksedgwic and @arduino

Right now you have to re-install any new code into Lethekit. My GitHub PR #29 below describes how I updated my LetheKit using my Mac(I’m not an arduino expert and it wasn’t hard). Our goal is to offer more tools this year. https://github.com/BlockchainCommons/bc-lethekit/pull/29/files

Sat May 30 22:25:27 +0000 2020

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