As much as the coldcard vulnerability was clearly & openly devastating, loss of funds due to an overly complicated setup is equally devastating but less visible. Be careful when considering multisig, passphrases, miniscripts etc

Good morning 🌅 I wanted to share something I stumbled across that is **peak geek** as it relates to the design choice of Bitcoin where Satoshi himself used satoshis rather than Bitcoin itself. Let me explain. We all know that 1 Bitcoin is 100000000 Satoshis. That means that if I want to send you 0.001BTC, what I’m actually sending you is 100000 Satoshi’s. But if you’re actually designing a wallet, you’re faced with a conundrum. Your user is displayed Bitcoin, not Satoshis. So if a user wants to send 0.23 Bitcoin to their friend, and they have two UTXO’s on their wallet, one 0.1 BTC and another 0.2 BTC , you’re faced with the option to do some decimal maths. **Input: 0.1 BTC + 0.2 BTC** These are the two coins (UTXO’s) used to make the transaction. **Output: 0.23 + 0.05 (change) + 0.02 (fee)** It all looks good and straight forward and both sides of the equation balances out. If you did this in Python, it would work perfectly fine in most cases. When you’re leaning about Bitcoin and you start making a wallet in Python, you’d be fine doing this simple arithmetic, which is what I did making a basic wallet earlier this year as part of the boss challenge. But I wanted to challenge myself and remake that wallet in C++ so I could learn C++ in the process lol. It was this choice that revealed to me why Bitcoin at the code level is not representing in decimals, but in whole integers (ie whole numbers). The above example must be converted into Satoshis before any addition and subtraction is done. In languages like C++, decimal arithmetic isn’t that accurate, which would totally wreck you if you’re unaware. So 0.1 + 0.2 ≠ 0.3, but is 0.3000000004 lol. This is a total nightmare if you have designed a wallet in the back end to add up say 20 UTXO’s, all in decimal. No matter how hard you try, the sum of Satoshis will always be off, either giving you more Satoshis or less. Something I learnt the hard way. This is why the value we see on the screen, it the BTC value, is always a conversion of the value as held in the backend of the wallet, which is in sats. So a review of the above, **Input: 0.1 + 0.2** **Output 0.23 + 0.05 (+ 0.02 as unsaid fee)** In the backend we must convert the 0.23 the user wants to send to Satoshis and then do the following arithmetic **Input: 10,000,000 + 20,000,000** **Output: 23,000,000 + 5,000,000 (+ 2,000,000 as unstated fee)** And then that is displayed back to the user in decimals. You must design your wallet to constantly convert backwards and forwards, converting from Bitcoin with its decimals, to Satoshi without decimal, do the arithmetic and then back to decimal when displaying the result back to the user. This is why, when satoshi first designed Bitcoin, at no point in the code is Bitcoin ever represented as Bitcoin, but in Satoshi. The below video totally geeks out in explaining why computers struggle with decimal arithmetic, also formally known as ‘floating point’ arithmetic. Hopefully this level of geek would be great for you this morning with a cup of coffee.

This is @Excellion’s response to my, rather long thread. Again, I appreciate the time you’ve given to reply, and IMV, it was very reasonable response. I’d say probably 90% of my concerns had responsible response. Highly recommend reading it, albeit long.

Verifying your browser…

Some of the highlight he raised were: 1) He’s not opposed to consensus level changes to combat spam, but is more concerned about the process. He feels more dev support is required, & that makes perfect sense. I guess my only issue is what happens when one is ignored? 2) I agree it shouldn’t be this ‘rushed’, but as @Excellion himself said in WBD, Luke has been effectively pushed out core, & this discussion has been suppressed. So even though it does seem rushed, this would be the expected response. So where is the middle ground? 3) The idea that ‘mob rule’ is a bad idea, & if successful, where does it lead to? This is a genuine concern, & as both Samson & I mentioned, this is a result of a breakdown between devs & users. I think we need to heal & mend that breakdown, from both sides. Not sure how though. 4) I think the most significant point raised is “what next?” I don’t think anyone knows the answer, & I’m sure we’ll find out eventually, but for something as important as Bitcoin, the viable alternative fiat, what are the next steps if BIP110 succeeds or even fails? My personal conclusion is that there are definitely a lot of negative unknowns if BIP110 succeeds, & also some positives, & I honestly don’t know which will have the NET positive outcome. Nobody can say for sure they know either, on both sides of the fence. But as long as the governance issue remains unresolved, I don’t see this type of conflict ever ending. I don’t feel spam, big blocks or whatever were really the cause, but rather not knowing how to manage a decentralised network of ppl who all have different ideas & interests Again, thank you again @Excellion for taking the time to share your insights on this, I found it genuine, refreshing and honest. It would be nice if @mattkratter were to consider this dialogue, & Samson’s views, & to make an attempt to extend an olive branch of reconciliation. We literally all need to chill out, & make a serious attempt to mend our differences. That starts by having honest conversations, understanding of ppls perspectives & most importantly, an end to all the ad hominem attacks & name calling. At the end of all of this, once this is all over (as it WILL end at some point) we’re going to have to look each other in the eye & cooperate for the greater goal. That’s not going to happen if we all hate each other. We don’t need to love each other, but just all behave. View article →

Just finished @SimonDixon ‘s blog on bip110, and I have to say, it’s worth the time to read it. Well done Simon. 👏 Very balanced and honest.

The Battle for Bitcoin: Where I Stand on BIP-110 | Simon Dixon

Where do I stand on BIP-110 and the "spam war"? Discover why I believe this is a strategy of tension, the game theory behind this consensus battle,...

I think one of the attacks on Bitcoin is the idea about “economic nodes”. Tbh, if the only nodes that matter are the nodes of exchanges and miners, then bitcoin is centralised, and we’re all just cosplaying involvement by running nodes. Bip110 will inform us just how important our nodes are. Anyone who tells you that your node isn’t important, discourages you from running a node and definitely if they say there’s no point using your Bitcoin in economic activities, then they aren’t really engaging with the Bitcoin ethos. At least how I see it. I’d be happy to be corrected.

I feel your pain.

I’m not sure if you gamed out the scenario properly. Whether the bip110 block signals are low or high, every node can see all txs in the mempool. And part of every channel, both nodes exchange signed versions of a txs. These txs they are looking for to broadcast a penalty tx of anyone tries to be naughty. So they can broadcast that penalty tx while it’s in the mempool. Also, you failed to factor in watch towers. If you have a few watch towers, then your own monitoring isn’t compromised. So maybe the better solution is to simply get at least 3 different watch towers, preferably from a non-bip110 node.

This is a really good video for those looking to take control of their data and digital setup, run a home lab or even just dabble with Linux

This is why it’s important to ground oneself on solid principles and ideals that transcends what the self wants, and gravitates to what is right. This is the meaning of what has been narrated from the prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه و سلم: "لَا يُؤْمِنُ أَحَدُكُمْ حَتَّى يَكُونَ هَوَاهُ تَبَعًا لِمَا جِئْتُ بِهِ" “None of you truly believe (a complete Eemaan) until your desires are in line with what I have brought” Often we lean towards what we like, and cognitive dissonance convinces us of what’s convenient, and we lead ourselves astray. A reflection of the soul is in the saying of Allaah: ‫كُتِبَ عَلَیۡكُمُ ٱلۡقِتَالُ وَهُوَ كُرۡهࣱ لَّكُمۡۖ وَعَسَىٰۤ أَن تَكۡرَهُوا۟ شَیۡـࣰٔا وَهُوَ خَیۡرࣱ لَّكُمۡۖ وَعَسَىٰۤ أَن تُحِبُّوا۟ شَیۡـࣰٔا وَهُوَ شَرࣱّ لَّكُمۡۚ وَٱللَّهُ یَعۡلَمُ وَأَنتُمۡ لَا تَعۡلَمُونَ﴿ ٢١٦ ﴾ Fighting is ordained for you though you dislike it, and it may be that you dislike a thing which is good for you and that you like a thing which is bad for you. Allah knows but you do not know. Al-Baqarah, Ayah 216 There are and will be many aspects of Islam that one may struggle with, but as the name “Muslim” suggests, we “submit to the will and guidance of Allaah, even in opposition to what we want it like”

Shortcuts

This shortcut is if you simply want to strip the tracking without opening it in a web browser. So you can have two buttons. One to open a link with stripped out tracking or one to just strip out the tracking so it’s easier to share with privacy in mind. You can add both of these shortcuts to your Mission Control that you can execute on demand easily. Here is where I put mine View quoted note →

The greatest wealth isn't the Bitcoin you own in your wallet, but it’s the quality of your character and sincerity (Ikhlas). Don’t forget to focus on perfecting your intentions in every small action. Salaah with khushoo, a smile the face of someone who is clearly sad, or honest halal Ribaa free work. These are the deeds that truly weigh heavy on the scales. Use your wealth for righteousness.

For anyone running iOS, I’ve updated my shortcut that allows you to quickly, after copying any link: 1) Remove any tracked data from the URL 2) If the link is to Twitter, it converts it to a non-tracking mirror of Twitter 3) Opens that link in your default browser. This is to save you the hassle of manually doing all the above when you simply want to open a shared link. This is very important now, as many social media platforms are more aggressively linking people who share links to people who consume them.

Shortcuts

This is an important video for anyone thinking about Linux

Watching this, it just dawned on me just how different things are today than how they used to be. Ribaa used to be what happens to the poor by the strong. That is definitely still happening today, but the new thing is how Ribaa is actually now being used by the rich to get more rich, and I don’t mean the lenders, but those taking the loans. It’s become the more efficient cost effective way to be rich and pay the least amount possible to the community through taxes etc. so the poor no longer look at is as a tool by the rich to keep them poor, but it’s been rebranded as the tool used by the rich to stay rich or become rich. Crazy times

Don't let fear of failure paralyze your efforts. A Muslims efforts lies not in perfect execution, but in placing absolute trust (Tawakkul) in Allah after you have done your best. Don’t let perfection be the enemy of the good

This is a big geeky but as I’ve just implemented my own local DNS server with encrypted forwarding, I found this an additional benefit

The US World Cup has really surfaced a lot of the western corruption that’s been highlighted by many in how the west ‘rigs the game of life’ be it economy, politics or even sports to guarantee their win. The Argentinian v Egypt is almost a metaphor for what they do as a whole. Fiat is just another example of this “rigging” where every team in the global south is simply not structured to win. The Fiat system is structured to give them the advantage.

A great read for those who want to geek out View article →

If you see someone (a Bitcoin spokesperson/advocate) who speaks more about Bitcoins price than bitcoins use, then I would be weary of such a person. This is not condemnation, but experience. Price is a distraction from the mission. Freedom from Banks & censorship > Money Go Up.

Those who say we should get rid of Taproot because nobody uses it except for spam, use the same argument of those who say “Ban Bitcoin, because it’s only used for criminal activity”. The problem isn’t Taproot. Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water.