This issue’s cover is based on @Lau’s artwork for @NostReport

Hey bitcoiner!

Hot Off the Press:

🏦 Prime Trust’s Wallet Woes

📈 ETFs Everywhere

🇦🇷 Bitfinex Samba

👀 No More Secrets: Kraken Told to Spill the User Info Beans

🐦 Twitter Has Fallen

🎥 Streaming Without Borders

🔐 nsecBunker Subscriptions

👛 Nostr Wallet Connect

👨‍💻 Fresh Releases

🌱 #grownostr

Mempool:

Lightning:

Mining:

🏦 Prime Trust’s Wallet Woes

Prime Trust lost access to its bitcoin wallets back in 2021, and has been secretly buying bitcoins back using clients’ funds to cover the loss.

It was revealed just this week that Prime Trust had locked themselves out of their Bitcoin wallets in 2021. Instead of promptly reporting the mishap, they tried to sweep it under the rug. But now, the cat’s out of the bag. The company owes a whopping $85 million to its clients but only has a paltry $2.9 million in its kitty. Even FTX managed to do better percentage-wise.

Here’s the quick rundown:

• Back in January 2021, Prime Trust started using legacy addresses again due to restrictions on creating new wallets on the Fireblocks platform.

• At that point, they thought those wallets were on the Fireblocks platform or that they would transfer the funds to the corresponding wallets.

• However, by December 2021, they realized their blunder - they couldn’t access their wallets, and thus, the bitcoins stored inside were out of reach.

• From December 2021 to March 2022, Prime Trust tried to meet withdrawal requests from these inaccessible wallets by purchasing more Bitcoins using the funds of customers from their pooled accounts.

In a nutshell, it’s another unfortunate tale where a mistake was made, and the unsuspecting users are left to bear the brunt. But by 2023, this has unfortunately become somewhat of a norm. Remember, the size or name of the company doesn’t guarantee your funds’ safety. So instead of trusting a custodian with your precious Bitcoins, it’s worth spending a bit of time understanding the ins and outs of self-storage. After all, if they aren’t your keys, they aren’t your Bitcoins!

📈 ETFs Everywhere

The buzz around companies rushing to apply for a Bitcoin ETF continues.

Just a couple of weeks ago, BlackRock surprised us all by applying for a spot Bitcoin ETF. You may wonder why this caused such a stir among other companies. Well, it’s because BlackRock has a stellar record of 575 approved SEC applications, with only one ever getting rejected (and even that one eventually got the green light). So when a heavyweight like BlackRock shows interest in the Bitcoin ETF market, others can’t help but take notice.

So, is it time to jump in with both feet and anticipate a major pump? Hold your horses: even though the demand has been strong for three weeks now - with big names like Fidelity and ARK Invest joining the Bitcoin ETF queue this week - the SEC hasn’t been too impressed. They’ve found all the applications so far to be lacking, mainly because they don’t mention a partner exchange for acquiring the coins.

However, it seems most of the companies have gotten the message and adjusted their applications to meet the SEC’s criteria. Most of them have now listed Coinbase as their partner exchange.

The Bitcoin ETF frenzy has certainly drawn a lot of eyeballs and sparked discussions far and wide, beyond just the Bitcoin community. ETFs are bound to make it easier for institutional and retail investors to dip their toes into Bitcoin. But remember, the keyword here is ‘investors’. No matter how big the fund, all the bitcoins they hold will essentially be paper money, since it’s unlikely you can withdraw ETF bitcoin to your own address. But hey, most of us have no such limitations when it comes to buying bitcoin. So why wait? You can get your hands on some peer-to-peer bitcoins at HODL HODL right now!

🇦🇷 Bitfinex Samba

Bitfinex has just launched a peer-to-peer trading platform in Argentina, Colombia, and Venezuela.

Illustration of a p2p exchange taken from Giacomo Zucco’s Discovering Bitcoin.

On Tuesday, Bitfinex announced that their peer-to-peer trading platform is up and running in Argentina, Colombia, and Venezuela. According to Bitfinex, users can now trade Bitcoin, various shitcoins, and their national currency in a peer-2-peer manner.

This isn’t Bitfinex’s first rodeo in Latin America. Back in May, Bitfinex quietly invested in the Chilean exchange, OrionX, aiming to expand its footprint in Latin America.

As we’ve discussed many times, countries under sanctions or those with strict currency controls often lead the way in Bitcoin adoption. And in Argentina’s case, it’s hard to even label their currency as a shitcoin. It’s going to be interesting to watch how Bitfinex’s platform develops. Here’s hoping that regulations won’t stifle its potential!

👀 No More Secrets: Kraken Told to Spill the User Info Beans

Kraken has been ordered to hand over user information to the taxman. Yup, you heard that right!

The IRS wants details on accounts that carried out cryptocurrency transactions amounting to at least $20,000 per year from 2016 to 2020. Kraken tried to push back, arguing that the tax service had overstepped boundaries set in a previous case involving Coinbase. However, the regulators responded that this new demand is a result of increased government scrutiny over cryptocurrencies in the US.

So, what kind of info does Kraken have to spill? User names, birth dates, taxpayer identification numbers, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and some transaction details. Quite a bit, huh?

The tax service asserts it’s a legitimate interest to determine tax obligations for the stated period. The judge cited substantial trading activity on Kraken as a justification for the tax service’s demands.

Now, if you’re thinking this can only happen in the US, take a peek at what’s going on in Europe. Avoid the creeping creature - avoid exchanges with KYC!

Byte-size Buzz:

• Swiss government seizes $26M in BTC and shitcoins, suspecting links to Terraform Labs.

• Riot Mining splurges $162M for 33,000 new ASICs.

• MicroStrategy scoops up another 12,333 BTC for roughly $347M, pushing their total to a whopping 152,333 BTC.

• Glitch at Commonwealth Bank blocks customers from accessing their cash and using CommBank’s online services.

• Bitcoin miner Hut 8 strikes gold with a potential $50M loan from Coinbase.

• Germany slams the door on Binance, denies license.

🐦 Twitter Has Fallen

Twitter is becoming unbearable to use, paving the way to alternatives. Nostr has seen a large influx of new users.

So here’s the scoop. Twitter kicked off this week by putting up a a fence around its platform - you’ve got to be registered to get in. This means folks from countries like Russia and Iran, which are currently facing sanctions, can’t get access, as registration requires an SMS verification. But even if you’re registered, things haven’t been so smooth sailing - a whole bunch of users found their feeds had become virtual ghost towns, or just wouldn’t work at all.

At first, it seemed like Elon Musk might be tightening his grip on Twitter, but he later came out to say that this new “registered users only” rule was just a temporary measure. He said it’s about battling a whole heap of organizations that were scraping data from Twitter. Not long after that, he dropped another bombshell: there’s now a daily limit on how many tweets each user can read.

All this has really stirred up the Twitter users, and they’ve been flocking to alternatives like Nostr:

So let’s face it, the problems with centralized platforms like Twitter are becoming more and more evident. They’re just so vulnerable - whether it’s an internal issue or something from the outside. This is exactly why we talk so much about open and decentralized protocols, like Bitcoin and Nostr. With Nostr, the apps are just bridges to the protocol - you can’t be kicked out. If an app can’t take the heat or decides to limit you, you can simply hop over to another one, taking all your data and interactions with you. Your pals won’t even realize anything’s changed.

🎥 Streaming Without Borders

A borderless streaming platform is gaining momentum.

Harmonique.live vinyl-only radio live stream on Nostr.

You see, platforms like YouTube and Twitch put limitations on content creators. This is due to various reasons, ranging from government directives to the platforms’ own rules and regulations. But it looks like those days could be numbered, thanks to the magic of Nostr. Now, live streams can morph into Nostr events, empowering streamers to be unstoppable!

Right now, the platform that’s actively pushing this forward is https://live.snort.social/. Despite being the only one, it’s an open-source application, and we believe more similar platforms will start popping up soon. Just imagine if the U.S. government were to pressure the developers into pulling a specific stream. In response, a new version of the app could pop up, hosted in China, and continue to broadcast the stream without skipping a beat. It’s like a relentless game of “whack-a-mole,” where governmental agencies and their restrictions just can’t keep up.

Why all this fuss, you might ask? Well, the reasons are pretty simple. It’s about preserving freedom of speech, sharing information freely, and giving you the ability to earn from your work without relying on third parties. In contrast to YouTube’s policy of cutting off monetization for content creators from countries facing U.S. sanctions, or the inability of unbanked individuals to monetize their work, Nostr promotes lightning payments. These transactions are more efficient than traditional methods, require no permissions, and go directly from sender to recipient, ensuring that 100% of the funds land in the creators’ pockets.

And guess what? It’s not just about video streams! Nostr also supports audio streaming platforms, much like the traditional ClubHouse and Twitter Spaces. The only one currently active is Nostr Nests, but we believe this will change in no time.

In a nutshell, Nostr is all about wiping away those government-imposed boundaries and ensuring that anyone who contributes value gets rewarded. With Nostr, you won’t have to fret over the day when some restrictive rule comes along or the app creator decides to pull the plug. Your content truly belongs to you now!

🔐 nsecBunker Subscriptions

A service aimed at increasing the security of storing your private Nostr keys is now available for “non-techies.”

Remember the tool we discussed in earlier Herald editions? Tony even penned a comprehensive guide about it. Well, it’s now accessible to all types of users. You can now manage your very own Bunker for only 22,000 sats a year and soon, you won’t have to worry about sharing it with any app, be it web-based or native. nsecBunker is an open-source project, so you can run it on your own server too. What’s more, we expect to see its integration with popular operating systems like UmbrelOS and Start9 before long. This will enable you to host open source applications by yourself. And guess what? Bunker is already supported by several apps like the web client Coracle, the efficiency-centric app Highlighter, and the Nostur client for iOS and macOS. Many developers have mentioned they’re actively working to support this tool.

But let’s step back a bit. You see, the security of Nostr keys has been a hot topic since the protocol first appeared. nsecBunker isn’t the first project to tackle this issue, but it’s been the only successful one so far. After all, your private key is like the magical shield protecting all your past and future interactions from any would-be intruders. So you might want to think twice the next time an app asks for your private key to log in. Before nsecBunker, the best solution was browser extensions, but they had their own drawbacks, like not being able to interact with mobile progressive web applications (PWAs). So it seems nsecBunker is a real game-changer here!

Byte-size buzz:

• Damus experienced 20k downloads in the past 2 days and received a total of 97k views/impressions on the App Store.

• Fiatjaf shared the https://nostrview.com/ website that features search and allows you to find popular and trending notes and accounts on Nostr.

• Everyone had the opportunity to join in on [Alby](@Alby community call this past Thursday, where we chatted about loads of exciting developments and future plans. Interested in catching the next one? Be sure to follow their Nostr account so you won’t miss out!

Bitcoin:

• Blixt Wallet is now enhanced with Speedloader and several other improvements.

• BTCPayServer v1.10.3 has been successfully launched.

• Oak Node‘s recurring payments tool for self-hosting now supports NWC. Available as Docker or Podman containers. It’s also accessible for Umbrel and MyNode users.

• Cashu Nutshell, a wallet that embodies David Chaum’s ECash philosophy, has rolled out several improvements. Keep in mind it’s still under development!

• Bitcoin Keeper, a privacy-focused wallet and the only iOS wallet with Whirlpool, has introduced mixing capabilities for Android users, along with a handful of improvements. It’s available on the App Store and Play Store.

Nostr:

• @JeffG is busy adding private lists to listr.lol.

• Plebstr has unveiled a total makeover of the New post and Notifications window.

• @Blockstream shared new alpha UX for Jade, and it’s stunning:

• Zapddit, a Nostr client similar to Reddit, now includes curated communities.

• Nostur, an app for iOS and macOS, now offers login via nsecBunker and supports Nostr Wallet Connect. Check out more details in the “Handy Selections” section.

• Nostr Nests have now been open-sourced.

• Amethyst v0.64.0 comes with several UI improvements.

Nostr Talks by @DK with @JeffG on Listr.lol and Nostr education:

11th chapter of 24TheBook by nostr:npub1hqaz3dlyuhfqhktqchawke39l92jj9nt30dsgh2zvd9z7dv3j3gqpkt56 : https://www.casanostra.ink/24-chapter-11/

• Plebchain Radio: PCR16 with the Harlem Bitcoin team. Listen on Fountain.

• Plebchain Radio: PCR17 with Matt Odell. Nostr, Lightning Summit, Nostrville, Blue Checks and Privacy. Listen on Fountain.

New to Fountain? Support Bitcoin Herald by downloading the app by following this link.

Pseudonymity FAQ by Gigi:

👛 Nostr Wallet Connect

Nostr Wallet Connect (NWC) allows you to attach your Lightning Wallet (or node) to the Nostr application you use (or are developing) and send zaps in one click.

The note above describes the process for activating the feature in the Nostur app. This feature is also implemented in Amethyst. The description is aimed at less technically oriented users and implies the use of the tool developed by the Alby team. Tech-savvy users can not only connect Alby to their own node, but also run NWC from scratch on their own. For developers: NIP-47, JavaScript SDK.