Scanless Silent Payments tl:dr: We built a complete silent payment notification system into Sparrow Wallet using Nostr encrypted DMs. When you send a silent payment to a Nostr identity, the recipient is automatically notified via NIP-17 with everything they need to claim the UTXO — no blockchain scanning required. This is a proof of concept and almost certainly has security issues.

I just beat Unicorn vs Snakes on normal difficulty in 1:48.5! #UvS

I quite like Fevela - the grouping is useful since I follow a bunch of Japanese folk and they love to rapid fire post - more like a chat room. It also kind of cures doom scrolling as I actually have to click on a person to see more.

I have many thoughts about the Seoul conference, and a lot to contrast with the Tokyo Bitcoin conference and Nostrasia last weekend. They were all enjoyable conferences but the difference in grass roots communities are apparent. The Seoul scene is full of energy and ready to build on Bitcoin. In Japan I see a similar energy in Nostr, and Bitcoin is more of an afterthought- kind of fascinating. We need more Devs both in Bitcoin and Nostr and I'm grateful for both groups! Specter and Calvin did an amazing job with the mini conference (of 400 people)! As did all the support staff. Well done.

Off to Seoul tomorrow for the mini conference. I'm sure I'll some more insights when I return!

*AI translation - original English at the bottom 九州に戻ってきましたので、週末のNostrasiaとBitcoin Tokyo BUIDL Dayの経験について書きたいと思います。たくさんの素晴らしい会話や学びがあり、今後数日かけて少しずつシェアしていきます。まずはNostrasiaから始めましょう。 Nostrasiaにはとても驚きました。当初は50人くらいの規模を予想していましたが、実際にはその3倍ほどでした。会場探しもちょっとした宝探しのようでした。エレベーターの横にある小さな看板が唯一の手がかりでした。参加者の割合は、日本人が約80％、外国人が約20％で、Bitcoin BUIDL Dayとは逆の比率でした。 会場の大きさは参加者数にちょうどよく、発表スペースも使いやすかったです。また、人々が会話したりくつろいだりできるサイドエリアもありました。水タバコルームもとても良いアイデアで、会話が弾む場所でした。夜を通していくつかのプレゼンテーションがあり、ヒーローが登場するライブアクションイベントもありました。 私のプレゼンテーションで使ったスライドのうち、特に興味深いものをいくつか紹介します。これらは数週間前に日本語で行ったアンケートに基づいています。日本語の開発者に「助成金申請の際に感じる課題」を尋ねたものです 多くの開発者と話せて、OpenSatsに日本語圏からの応募が少ない理由について議論できたのはとても良かったです。私にとっても目から鱗の経験でしたし、もっと支援できることがあると思います。たとえば、OpenSatsではパートタイムの助成も可能ですが、ほとんどの人がそれを知りませんでした。 主な課題は知識のギャップで、どの種類のプロジェクトが対象になるのか理解していない人が多いのです（詳しくは基準ページをご覧ください：

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日本語コミュニティとつながりたいという思いから、プレゼンテーションの半分を日本語で行えたのは嬉しかったです。日本語で全部をやるにはまだ自信がありませんでしたが、来年はできるかな。。。 だいぶ長くなってしまいましたので、この辺で終わりにします。Nostrasiaを運営してくださったチームに感謝します。とても良いイベントでしたし、また参加したいと思います！ Now that I’m back in Kyushu, I wanted to write about my experience over the weekend at Nostrasia and Bitcoin Tokyo BUIDL Day. I had so many great conversations and takeaways that I’ll be sharing over the coming days. Let’s start with Nostrasia. I was pleasantly surprised by Nostrasia—I expected around 50 people, but it was closer to three times that. It was also a bit of a treasure hunt to find the venue; my only clue was a small sign by the elevator. The crowd was roughly 80% Japanese and 20% foreign attendees, whereas Bitcoin BUIDL Day was the opposite ratio. The venue was a good size for the crowd. The presentation space worked well, and there were a few side areas where people could chat and relax. The hookah room was a nice touch and a great place for conversation. Presentations were scattered throughout the night, along with a live action event featuring a superhero. I’ve included a few of the more interesting slides from my presentation. These are based on a survey I ran a few weeks ago, asking Japanese developers about their biggest pain points when applying for grants. The first slide roughly translates as: - I’m not confident my work qualifies as something that can be “supported” - Communicating in English is difficult - I don’t know what kinds of projects are eligible - I’m worried about handling taxes and accounting - I’m used to working as a full-time employee, so short-term support feels unstable - I’m unsure if I can continue the work, so I feel guilty accepting funding I was happy to speak with so many developers and discuss why OpenSats doesn’t see many applications from Japanese developers. It was enlightening for me, and I think there’s more we can do to help. For example, most people didn’t know that OpenSats allows part-time grants. The main issue is a knowledge gap—many don’t understand what kinds of projects are eligible (see our criteria for more info:

OpenSats

Apply to One of Opensats' Grant Programs

Global. Nym-friendly. Flexible.

I’d wager that more outreach in Japanese would help. I was glad I could deliver half of my presentation in Japanese, as I really wanted to connect with the Japanese community. I felt my Japanese wasn’t good enough to do the whole thing in Japanese, but maybe next year! This is already getting a bit lengthy, so I’ll wrap it up for now. Many thanks to the team that ran Nostrasia—it was a great event and I look forward to attending in the future!

Today marks my two year anniversary @OpenSats - it's been an insanely fast two years. I am grateful that I've been able to help contribute to the bitcoin and nostr ecosystems all while living in the mountains of Japan. The OpenSats Ops team are an amazing group to work with - we're a small team but we've done so much together in the last couple of years. And I can't thank @Gigi enough for bringing me on and for leading us - his belief and passion are at the heart of OpenSats. The time that the Board volunteers to make this all a reality can't be overlooked - without them none of this works. Though sometimes I think my title should be Professional Cat Herder 😅 330+ grants & $30 million in bitcoin sent. It's crazy to think about. The fact that we help support so many families in this space is extremely satisfying. It's a blessing. Thank you to our donors that believe in our mission, as well as our volunteers that help us in the background. I'm bullish on what we can all accomplish together - onward.

Bitcoin や Nostr の オープンソース に関わる開発者向けの助成金制度、日本にも必要だと思いますか？ 海外では OpenSats のような団体が開発者を支援していますが、日本で同様の仕組みが機能するか、開発者のみなさんの声を聞かせてください。 匿名＆数分で完了 🔗

Tally Forms

オープンソース × 助成金に関するアンケート(日本の開発者向け)

Tallyで作成 - フォーム作成の最もシンプルな方法

Only three weeks until Bush Bash Japan! bushbashjapan.fyi

I met a couple in my neighbourhood in the countryside of Japan. In their 70s. As I was walking by they were working in a large garden. We had a chat and they said they moved from the city four years ago to start farming. In their 70s. The husband said each day is hard and I asked what he had did before - he said he worked in semiconductors. The guy retired from what was likely a lucrative career and he and his wife decided to take up farming. In their 70s. I can't stop thinking about it. No one decides to take up farming when they retire. Most people probably just watch some TV, read a few books and travel. These two decided to try their hand at farming & they seemed happy to be out working the land. In their 70s. Incredible.

@npub126nt...e9ll OS update - Bitcoin Core installed and synced. The first 24 hours I made it to 66% so thought I'd be done in a day and a half, but the last third took another 36 hours for a total of about 60 hours. Not bad. I now have ever one of your transactions on my SSD! Electrum installed and syncing. After that I'll connect and test Sparrow.

I'm falling behind - there's so much going on that it's impossible to keep up with everything. I just started playing with @Minibits and watched @BTC Sessions tutorial. ecash looks cool - I can see why it improves custodial payments. And now @calle is talking about sending ecash over Signal and https connections over nostr and it sounds like it's pretty big. Where does this go? Do we end up with a completely decentalized internet that's similar to Bitcoin infrastructure where each node can join as they please? Run whatever rules they want? Censor (or not) as they see fit? What infrastructure is being made obsolete right now?

Looking forward to Bitcoin 2024 - come say hi at the OpenSats booth!

At #Nostrasia there was an app doing on the fly translation from English for the Japanese audience. Does anyone remember what it's called? I am starting a Bitcoin Meetup in Kyushu and would like to use it for presentations. My conversational Japanese is reasonably good but I'm not confident I can explain Bitcoin!

Eat here #Nostrasia - あか牛 means red cow - it was the emperors breed.

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