Adding and editing tags will be a bit nicer in the next Arké release. The old version was essentially AI slop.

Interesting to see some tense conversation around Ark, Spark, Liquid, etc and different defenses of tech choices. Tough discussion, because there are so many facets. From basic architecture to protocol dynamics and then protocol and library/SDK implementation, to infrastructure operations and end-user apps. And the project background matters, too, where a heavily-funded commercial entity will have different dynamics and incentives than a lean open-source focused startup, and those show up in various decisions. Things are not clear cut, but that's how it is with many things.

Arké has had unilateral exits (called forced moves) for some time. I am currently refining the experience and tinkering with this feature video intro to better communicate how it works. What do you think?

"All design is a quarrel between two impulses: the wild idea and the cold edit. Unleash the wild, and you get baroque chaos. Lean too far toward cold, and you get vanilla or gray."

An experimental promo video for Arké about how bitcoin is a bit like a public park. Working on the app is fun, but man do I sometimes need creative side quests when Claude rattles on and on.

A new version of Arké is now up on TestFlight. Here are the changes, with the first two being the biggest ones: - Better fee estimation for lightning payments (including send all). - More precise refresh notification scheduling. - Change inline address expansion in receive to a sheet format. - Add option to export debug logs (thank you Duncan). - Make first use experience accessible. - X-Ray view iteration (single reload button, more usable VTXO refresh options…). - Dismiss wallet deletion view once deletion is complete. - Fix tag rendering after import. - Fix initial rendering and empty state of fee summary view. - Fix localization issues in devices screen. It's quite a diverse mix of things, many of them stemming from feedback and conversations. Please keep them coming, no matter how big or small.

A few Arké users have reported a balance that has been stuck in pending for a few days. Here's how you can get it unstuck (the underlying issue is already fixed and this should not happen anymore). In your balance details view, you'll see a timer that reads something like "Next round in 12m". Keep the app active until that point in time, and maybe give it another few minutes extra. That should fix it. If it doesn't reach out. Thanks to everyone for testing and helping make the app more solid.

Pretty sure social media bans wouldn't have come up if social media companies had taken more responsibility in protecting minors. Simple stuff like not letting kids be contacted by random adults, muting push notifications at night or during school hours, private accounts by default, removing engagement-maximizing mechanics, etc. When parents and teachers constantly fight against this stuff at home and in school, of course there's a strong counter-reaction at some point. Let's not let those companies off the hook easily.

Updated some pages on the Arké website:

Roadmap

Where Arké is, and is going.

How Arké works

A bitcoin wallet focused on instant, low-fee payments.

How Arké works, technically

Architecture, trust model, key management, and tradeoffs for the Ark protocol implementation in Arké.

Better, not perfect.

Some notes from the bark and Arké mainnet launches last week, along with first feedback on the app. It's been exciting.

Toot

that hórn.

Would be nice if bitcoin conferences did not put pseudoscience and conspiracy peddlers on the big stages. How about a dedicated BS stage?

Bark and Arké are now on mainnet. I consider Arké still in public beta. Focus now is on stability, reliability and interoperability. If you try it out, let me know what you think.

Second

Introducing Noah and Arké: Two new Bark-based wallets | Second Blog

We

Completely gratuitous and no one will notice it, but QR codes in Arké now have a very small legend that indicates what addresses are in said QR codes. If you know, you know. If you don't know, doesn't bother you. Another experiment, let's feel it out.

In tougher times it’s better to rally together than to argue. Onward and upward.

How do wallets handle payment and payer proofs? Any good UX patterns out there?

GitHub

Payment Proofs and Payer Proofs · Issue #1235 · BitcoinDesign/Guide

We had some conversations at a conference this week about how to prove payments, related to BOLT12. In the real world, we get a receipt and use tha...

“AI is best at the things you’re bad at, because you can’t recognize its mistakes.”

Just pushed a new version of Arké to TestFlight. This one is about refinement: - More precise fee calculation, which is especially useful when trying to send the full savings (onchain) balance - Different intro video segments for signet and mainnet - A new cover video that is less 80's glam - Improved wallet creation performance and error handling - Unilateral exit progress display tweaks - Wallet import with file improvements Still ~150 to-dos on my list, but it is coming together.

Arké

Pay with bitcoin. In stylé.

Second has a new page about apps that implement Bark, their Ark implementation. Super nice to see Arké in there.

Second Docs

Built with Bark - Second Docs

Real apps shipping bitcoin payments on Ark, Lightning, and on-chain. Built by teams using the Bark SDK and Barkd.

And to keep going on and on about unilateral exits, Noah and bark-web support them also. As it should be.

Been seeing several conversations that it is not important for L2 wallets to implement unilateral exits. Good people, who else is going to do it? And who can actually do the unilateral exit for you when only your wallet has the data needed for it? The primary task of a wallet is to ensure your bitcoin are safe. Swapping to the 1000th stablecoin is way lower on the priority list.

OK, it appears that no Spark or Arkade Labs Ark wallet actually implements unilateral exits. Protocol-level capability or separate CLI tool is not usable for most and does not count. Pretty disappointing. So if the server goes away, your funds are gone. The feature to claim them is not implemented. And by the way Arké has a great unilateral exit flow. The Second crew provides a really good toolbox there. Let's maybe hold off with the stablecoins and yield and all that and make sure the basics are solid.