eNLigths

Learning about bitcoin. PayNym: +oddresonance884

[Eric Voskuil @evoskuil]

This ended up here. Libbitcoin is 5x faster at full validation. This increases to ~10x at twice the bandwidth.

[k3tan @_k3tan]

🚨🚨🚨 WHIRLPOOL IS BACK!

Whirlpool is now live! I've written up a short summary, including a video tutorial on how to use the new interface as well as some user tips.
https://t.co/ngT32AWMTx

[noosphere888 🏴🎃 #FREESAMOURAI @noosphere888x2]

Privacy is not a crime!

Maybe do your job as law enforcement and go after the actual criminals, not the tools used by normal every day citizens.

[Zack Shapiro @zackbshapiro]

Bill wants to call Keone as a witness in his jury trial to talk about the discussions that the two of them had while running the company (and presumably with their counsel) as to why SW was not a money transmitter. This is relevant to whether he had fair notice that what they did was allegedly a crime, and as to whether he had "mens rea" for the conspiracy charges.

However, if they are on trial together, then Keone's testimony could waive Keone's own Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination in front of the same jury that would be judging his guilt or innocence. So in order to properly get this evidence before the jury, you'd need to split the two of them up.

[Zack Shapiro @zackbshapiro]

Further Update: Defense counsel responded to @SDNYnews's letter, absolutely eviscerating the Government's characterization of the Brady disclosure as an "informal" conversation that is not relevant to the prosecution's case:

"The information the Government suppressed for almost a year is classic Brady: During its investigation of Samourai Wallet, prosecutors called FinCEN to determine whether it would qualify as a “money services business” that was required to have a license and to implement anti-money laundering controls. Two FinCEN employees, including the Chief of FinCEN’s Virtual Assets and Emerging Technology Section in the Enforcement and Compliance Division, responded that, under FinCEN’s guidance, the answer was “no” because Samourai did not take custody of a user’s cryptocurrency. Because this response precisely echoes the public statements Samourai Wallet made about why its business did not run afoul of the licensing and money laundering requirements for money transmitters, FinCEN’s statements provide powerful corroboration of Mr. Hill and Mr. Rodriguez’s good faith belief that they were not violating any laws."

"Notwithstanding the negative response it received from FinCEN—the actual regulator responsible for enforcing the anti-money laundering rules that financial services providers must follow—prosecutors brought charges for operating an unlicensed money transmitting business anyway. Over the next year, prosecutors produced many terabytes of discovery, carefully avoiding disclosure of what they had to know would be a bombshell—proof of the very “regulation by prosecution” that two U.S. Senators protested at the time of the charges, that the cryptocurrency industry has decried in letters to Congress and the President, and that is now the subject of the Blanche Memo."

"[T]he Government argues that its “informal” call with FinCEN does not fall within the 'strict requirements' of Brady because FinCEN’s representatives were merely expressing an “individual opinion.” It then argues that the Supreme Court’s decision overturning the Chevron doctrine, means that FinCEN’s interpretation of the law lacks any 'authoritative effect.' This is sophistry. The reason why the August 23, 2023, call is favorable to the defense has nothing to do with whether the FinCEN employees were right or wrong about the law. Rather, it is the fact that they expressed the identical interpretation of the FinCEN guidance as the Defendants did in their public statements while they were supposedly knowingly engaged in a criminal conspiracy. That FinCEN employees—including the one responsible for enforcing FinCEN rules against companies like Samourai Wallet—had the same 'opinion' as Mr. Hill and Mr. Rodriguez is evidence that they reasonably believed that they did not require a FinCEN license or anti-money laundering controls."

"Moreover, by citing to a Supreme Court case about the level of deference owed to an agency’s interpretation of 'an ambiguous statute,' the Government unintentionally reveals the ugly truth that has made this prosecution so controversial from the start. The Government may not criminally prosecute Mr. Hill and Mr. Rodriguez for violations of 'an ambiguous statute.' For this reason, the Government’s continued failure to dismiss this prosecution under the Blanche Memo only delays what should be inevitable—the dismissal of the charges as a matter of law."

[Galaxy @galaxyhq]

The DOJ’s Case Against Samourai Wallet

What might the DOJ’s charges against Samourai Wallet signal for the future of crypto?

@zackbshapiro (@bitcoinpolicy) joins @intangiblecoins on Galaxy Brains to unpack a complex legal case with potential implications for open-source tools, financial privacy, and non-custodial software 👇

[Eric Voskuil @evoskuil]

@arejula27 There was a previous "library" called libconsensus (or libbitcoinconsensus), spearheaded by Jorje Timon. It was discussed here in 2016 - where I said it wouldn't survive (it didn't): https://t.co/AXg1kH6AiE

[Danny Knowles @_DannyKnowles]

The US Government Vs Bitcoin w/ @zackbshapiro

We discuss:
- The Samourai Wallet Case
- How the DOJ Hid Evidence
- The Threat to Self Custody
- What Could Happen Next

Watch it here: https://t.co/DwinJOoqEW

[XBT | Hardfork cguida | ⚡🪢 @cguida6]

James doesn't understand how insanely out of touch this tweet makes him look.

A merchant node costs *minimum* $350 currently.

That is WAY TOO EXPENSIVE for the VAST MAJORITY of merchants.

And shortcuts like utreexo, assumeutxo, pruning etc do not solve the problem. They just weaken bitcoin's security model. They are not real solutions.

We need to make FULLY VALIDATING NODES *easier* to run, not harder. Full stop.

[LaurentMT @LaurentMT]

Insane.

[Eric Voskuil @evoskuil]

This distinction is a central architectural choice, it is not an optimization to an existing architecture.

We set out to achieve this outcome in order to save Bitcoin. Because otherwise it is inevitable that Bitcoin would continue down this path that eventually leads to nobody validating.

We are already dangerously close to that scenario, as the community has been led to believe that non-validation is somehow acceptable. It is not, it is failure.

Assume valid, assume utxo, utxo commitments, utreexo, SPV - these are not validation. These are dangerous excuses for non-scalable architecture.

Even SPV relies on the assumption that most of the economy is validating. Once that becomes impossible, or even improbable, Bitcoin has failed.

[Eric Voskuil @evoskuil]

In a few years all fully validating nodes on the Bitcoin network will be built on Libbitcoin.

[Frank Corva @frankcorva]

I attended the status conference for the #Samourai case today on behalf of @BitcoinMagazine.

Here’s where things stand:

[eNLigths @eNLigths]

#FREESAMOURAI

[damm kewl | WWR | PINAC | #FreeSamourai @dammkewl]

The most important trial for financial privacy has its first hearing tomorrow.

Freedom to transact; freedom of association; right to own property

The foundation of human rights.

The USA DoJ overruled its own laws when it arrested @samouraiwallet and @SamouraiDev

#FREESAMOURAI

[noosphere888 🏴🎃 #FREESAMOURAI @noosphere888x2]

This will set the precedent for what is consider a money transmitter business in bitcoin.

This will affect all non-custodial wallets, node operators, mining pools, lightning service providers, etc.

They'd be required to get a money transmitter license and enforce KYC/AML.

[eNLigths @eNLigths]

@Loic_Pandul Félicitation pour ce travail accompli!

[Loïc Morel @Loic_Pandul]

Après plus d’un an de travail, j'ai l'immense plaisir de vous annoncer que le dépôt du Dictionnaire de Bitcoin est public !

Dictionnaire de Bitcoin, c'est déjà 764 définitions de termes techniques en lien avec Bitcoin. Découvrez la version en ligne :

https://t.co/jzqyBWkFof

[eNLigths @eNLigths]

Everything to know about the Samourai's case and its importance for the future of Bitcoin.

[damm kewl | WWR | PINAC | #FreeSamourai @dammkewl]

New blogpost up: #FreeSamourai

https://t.co/nLi62QDGsN

[LaurentMT @LaurentMT]

If of any interest, here's an archive of Samourai Wallet's java projects (wallet, whirlpool, etc): https://t.co/I85pquSHMA

And here's an archive of backend projects (dojo, fee estimator, etc): https://t.co/cKzjqkbVpi