Working through the unilateral exit in Arké. I think it can be pretty simple in the end, but there's a lot of complexity under the hood to work through. It's an essential part, as this is what lets you recover your bitcoin even if the server that facilitates your payments goes away (or turns into a diamond-covered skull, I heard that could happen).

Wrote something about the goals for Arké. Feedback appreciated.

Arké

Ark, eh?

Nice to get an update from our electric utility provider that electricity prices will be 8.8% lower next year. More of that, please.

And one more Arké update, all about the mobile UI. Take a peek. Would you use this?

Sharing some super half-baked screenshots of the Arké iOS app. I am porting the desktop screens to work across both MacOS and iOS, with almost all logic and components being shared. Just piecing things together roughly with lots of visual and interactive tweaks and polish to come. That's going to be fun and it's where the real UX finessing is.

AI sucks at time estimation, maybe in an opposite way that people do. Says 11-14 hours, and is done in 10 minutes 🤷.

Arké now has a (very rough) mobile app that is best friends forever with its desktop companion. Thanks to new @Second Bark FFI Swift bindings. Here's a shaky setup-and-link demo: What do you think?

Another Arké update? How will we pick servers during wallet setup? That, and fees, is what I am investigating here. Curious to hear any thoughts, as always.

Second Community

Arké MacOS prototype

Neil, I am so appreciative that you approach things that way. This week I realized that Bark supports BOLT-12 offers and Lightning Addresses out of...

This is an example with a rich BIP-21 URI (like what you might get from clicking a link at a checkout)). Instantly parsed and evaluated. Payment meta data is easy to see. Payment options (addresses) are matched against existing contacts, networks verified, balances checked, fees evaluated, and the best option highlighted. Just hit send and done. What do you make of that?

Latest Arké update about building a rich send experience that is simple and convenient no matter what you throw at it (known contacts, ark/bitcoin addresses, lightning invoices/offer/addresses, BIP-21, BIP-353, whatever...). A work-in-progress. What do you make of the direction?

Second Community

Arké MacOS prototype

Ideally Bark is so easy to work with that you can spend a lot more time working on changes unrelated to Ark/Bark! Looking great!

I recorded a hands-on 30-minute demo on how I use AI for coding for Arké (MacOS app, XCode). Curious to learn from others, if you have any tips.

Arké update 4, about native contacts, contact auto-assignment, a new console, and lots of little layout and convenience things. Still a major construction site, still progress.

Second Community

Arké MacOS prototype

Thanks for the update. All good, I’m sure you’re all super busy. Here’s another update with the latest refinements: What’s...

I saw some people comment on the BIP-177 by default thing. Something I plan to get around to at some point and add options to choose from. Just not priority right now.

Arké now also has a consolé. Very handy for doing some manual operations during development. Took 3 chats to build this with Claude in Xcode, mostly because I knew exactly what parts needed to be touched and also set up just a little bit of the skeleton to give Claude a more narrow scope. Such a breeze to build with.

Another update on Arké. Started to add tags, contacts and lightning functionality. It's a mess, but it's progress.

Second Community

Arké MacOS prototype

Hello again with another update. I spent the last few days with the basic integration of tags and contacts and better address handling all around, ...

As I've been working on the Ark prototype, I tried to feel out the economic viability of the system, which can be a make or break. One part of is that every ASP is its own separate microcosm. That seems manageable for bitcoin payments, but adds exponential complexity for the advanced stuff in Arkade (lending, swaps, etc). And it seems like a centralizing force that will put intense pressure on ASPs and also invite regulatory scrutiny. - Stablecoins are locked into individual ASPs - how many of those will Tether/etc support? - Will ASPs need to provide liquidity for non-bitcoin assets also? - What if a liquidation cascade depletes ASP liquidity? What if rounds are too slow? - Is there unilateral exit for non-bitcoin assets? - If your app only implements the payments part, are you still exposed to the other dynamics? Do I have an answer, or understand the complexities of all this? Certainly not. If you do, congrats, please share. Intuitively, I prefer simpler systems. How do you think about these things?

A bit more work on Arké, adding wallet creation/import/deletion/backup.

In my Ark prototype, I added this super handy X-Ray screen. Let's you inspect all the underlying data that drives the wallet. Looks like I need to refresh my VTXOs...

I tinkered with an Ark wallet prototype (second.tech implementation) to get a feel for the squishy parts of the protocol. Here's a demo video and some questions that came up. Maybe some of you have answers?

Second Community

Arké MacOS prototype

Hi all. Big shout-out to the second.tech team for the great work on Ark. I put together a MacOS prototype wallet app because I wanted to feel out h...

Big thing I appreciate about AI assisted coding is that you can keep your brain focused on the architectural level. It really takes care of the small stuff.

So cool to see the Saving Satoshi workshops happen.

Past Workshops | Saving Satoshi In-Person Workshop Guide