I used to maintain the OpenPGP.js library (used in ProtonMail) and I don’t use PGP. And Phil Zimmerman doesn’t use PGP because he prefers Apple Mail on his iPhone. I always ask myself: what’s the point of asking users to download a PGP public key to verify a binary they download from the same website. Users aren’t getting more integrity assurances over what SSL already offers them, since most have no idea how to use WoT. It’s different with nostr... every user has a WoT that they can manage (with decent enough UX) and it already gives them value outside of verifying binaries. So I’d love to see an easy-to-use “nostr-verify” unix program that you pass your npub that *just works*. Anyone that wants to attest a given binary can upload their signatures to their relays. Then the “nostr-verify” program just pulls these sigs from my relays to verify the binary. Does this exist? View quoted note →

Just FYI Thailand now has digital nomad visas for 6 months for 270 USD

Khaosod English

Thailand Eases Visa Rules to Boost Economy Urgently

The Thai government has announced a three-phase economic stimulus plan, including easing visa rules to boost tourism and attract more foreign visit...

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It wouldn’t surprise me if US regulators greenlight a Tether Cashu mint for payments up to a certain threshold. It’s easier to regulate a single entity than multiple Taproot Asset LSPs or DLC stablecoin mints. It would also align incentives for increased US Treasury demand and private USD payments for citizens worldwide.

Behind anger there is always fear. But we aren’t afraid of what might happen in the future. We’re afraid of our emotional reaction to it. Recognizing that we are in control of that part is the most liberating lesson.

Great episode. Kinda feels wrong to get excited about ETF tech. But in-kind redemption could become one of the biggest onramps to self-custody strait from people’s bank accounts. View quoted note →

The more I test this wallet, the more I’m starting to agree PWAs can work for pocket sats and keys where it’s not a big deal if they’re lost. Wouldn’t paste my nsec here but for ecash it’s fine for me. Also the load up speed and minimalist design 😍 Awesome work @calle 🔥🔥🔥 View quoted note →

I’ve been giving this a lot of thought after the Lightning Summit in Tuscanny. I understand the concern. But stablecoins on Lightning and (the attempt) to regulate LSPs are both inevitable given massive incentives. These are also not things we can control. I think it’s more helpful to focus on things we can control. First of all we can all learn to run open source code. Regulators can capture fiat rails easily because banks ultimately require access to a central clearing house. But anyone can spin up a lightning node, a LSP or a Fedimint. Lightning is a permissionless system after all. Secondly we can focus on driving broad adoption of BOLT12 to improve receiver privacy. That way the sender does not know if they’re paying a recipient running a self-custody wallet, a Fedimint, or some random raspi on tor. BOLT12 is also an essential building block to enabling async payments for offline receive on self-custody mobile wallets. This should further reduce reliance on custodial Lightning solutions and centralized points of failure. View quoted note →

yep

Unfortunately a different messaging app or encryption protocol wouldn‘t solve the fundamental problem Signal faces. Even a Nostr based app would require trusting the app‘s vendor to build the correct source code on iOS. Until Apple adds support for reproducible builds to iOS, the only way to ensure E2EE for any app’s user base would be to constrain usage to Android. Jon Callas (co-founder of PGP Corp and Silent Circle) wrote a great post about this in his Reply to Zooko:

Silent Circle

Reply to Zooko | Silent Circle

Silent Circle

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I suspect it‘s only a matter of time until encrypted messengers and bitcoin wallets disappear from app stores. I hope for push back on the policy front but I‘m not hopeful here. There are a growing number of boogymen to invoke, and there seems to be little to no political incentive with a lack of awareness and public discussion. I suspect the only way to use Signal or wallet apps will be using open source mobile OSes and app stores. This is one area I‘d love to see more grants funding for. Re PWAs … they are a nice short term backup to get your funds out in case of an app store ban of wallets. But they are not the answer longterm as they rely on trust of web servers and SSL CAs. View quoted note →

Will test LineageOS on an old Android device. An open source mobile OS might be more important soon

LineageOS – LineageOS Android Distribution

LineageOS Android Distribution

💯 none of us have skin in the game. I‘m grateful for the Phoenix team‘s contribution and hope this decision gives them peace of mind to continue to build awesome stuff. View quoted note →

I’m now a @OpenSecret plus user! Accepting zaps via the lightning address to fedimint works like a charm. Sending zaps from Damus via NWC has not worked reliably for me. Not sure what I’m doing wrong? So I’m currently using Fedi to send zaps. Also love the new Zaprite integration. I use Zaprite for my business and will test that integration soon. Though I will likely wait a bit to use it in production for monthly client invoices. Payments from one federation often failed. But it’s still early days and I’m sure these issues will be ironed out soon. Anyway awesome work to the Mutiny team!

You’re not a criminal if you desire privacy and don’t need anyone’s permission. The first two are Satoshi and Hal…

Happy halving everyone. Grateful for you all 🧡 #bitcoin

For anyone looking for inspiration on turning their open source project into a business. My former colleague Andris wrote a great post on how he built a sustainable one-person startup without VC funding:

EmailEngine Blog

How I turned my open-source project into a business

When I started writing and publishing open-source software about 15 years ago, I was pretty radical about it. I only used permissive licenses like ...

Well deserved @PABLOF7z View quoted note →