The infrastructure propping up Bitcoin might become easier for anyone to spin up and run.

Lightning creator Tadge Dryja has been working on a new design for a lighter weight Bitcoin full node, about which he first wrote a paper in 2019. Last week, he and a team of coders released a first version of the Utreexo software as a part of MIT Digital Currency Initiative (DCI), putting the idea of lighter nodes into working code.

Full Bitcoin nodes act like financial security systems, validating Bitcoin blockchain transactions and protecting users from being tricked into thinking they received money that they didnt. But they take up a lot of computing space and are quickly growing in size.

Since these nodes are the most trustless way of using Bitcoin, developers have long been trying to make them easier to use. Its one of Bitcoins nerdy holy grails.

Utreexo specifically tackles the size of the state of a full node, which shows up-to-date information about who owns how much bitcoin. Utreexo slashes this state size from roughly four gigabytes to less than a kilobyte. In that regard, it could be a big breakthrough.

Utreexo is a new scalability technology for Bitcoin, which can make Bitcoin nodes smaller and faster while keeping the same security and privacy as full nodes, Dryja wrote in the blog post announcing the release.

But it hasnt been implemented fully yet, which is why it is a big deal to see Dryja releasing a first version of it. The project still has a long journey to go before users can begin using the nodes to plant a flag of financial self-sovereignty. But its a crucial first step.

A 'super-pruned node'

Bitcoin full nodes hold every transaction ever made, clocking in at about 200 GB today.

Pruned full nodes are able to reduce the size of the transaction history to as low as a half a gigabyte, about the size required to store an episode of a TV show.

But this doesnt tackle the storage of Bitcoins Unspent Transaction Outputs (UTXOs), which tallies up how much bitcoin is linked to each bitcoin address. This batch of data takes up a little less than 4 GB of data.

This UTXO state has grown rapidly over time and it is likely to continue growing, making it harder to run full nodes.

Thats where Utreexo comes in. With the help of fancy, new cryptography, its possible to replace this bulk of state with one tiny cryptographic proof that takes up much less storage.

Utreexo is a novel hash based dynamic accumulator, which allows the millions of unspent outputs to be represented in under a kilobyte small enough to be written on a sheet of paper, Dryja explains on the MIT DCI website.

Because it does what a pruned node does, plus more, one bitcoiner called it a super-pruned node, Dryja told CoinDesk.

Challenging SPV

Trying to shave down these hefty Bitcoin full nodes is far from a new pursuit. Simplified Payment Verification (SPV) is probably the most popular version of a lightweight node, used by Electrum and other wallets.

Utreexo is similar to SPV in that it doesnt require nearly as much computer storage space as a full node. But SPV nodes dont preserve user privacy as well and are more susceptible to attacks than Utreexo nodes are.

Since Utreexo offers these security benefits, Dryja hopes it might chip away at SPVs dominance in the space (as long as writing the Utreexo software goes as well as planned). I think it would be great if it replaced SPV to some extent, allowing an Electrum-like user experience but with Bitcoin Core security, he told CoinDesk.

But in the end, he doesnt think itll replace SPV completely, as SPV is still easier to run.

I think it will be a bit in between. [Utreexo nodes are] heavier than SPV but lighter than current full nodes, so some SPV users may switch to Utreexo, and some current full node users will switch as well, he said.

He also imagines that since Utreexo nodes are so much easier to run, theyll be much more common than normal full nodes.

Longer term, I can definitely see almost all full nodes using a Utreexo-like design, and nodes which store the entire state and history would be more like current blockchain explorer websites or Electrum servers there will still be some, but no normal users will run their own, Dryja said.

Careful next steps

Utreexo developers now put forward a proof of concept, showing that the idea can be turned into a real working product. But they still have a lot of work to do, including ironing out bugs to make the mini node suitable for real money.

The software also operates on testnet, the Bitcoin testing network, and is not recommended for use with real money. There are still plenty of known bugs and inefficiencies in the code, but were improving it at a rapid pace, Dryja writes.

Theyll eventually have to make the Utreexo node compatible with the nodes already running on the Bitcoin network. To do this, developers will eventually need to modify Bitcoin Core, the most popular Bitcoin node software.

But this could be dangerous. Utreexo is a significant re-thinking of how Bitcoin works, changing consensus-critical code, Dryja writes.

It is thus likely to be difficult to get Utreexo code into Bitcoin Core, and with good reason. We want to be very sure to not introduce problems into a system handling so many peoples money, Dryja said.

Thats why theyve decided to see if they can try to add Utreexos magical powers to alternative Bitcoin node software Btcd first, because its not used by nearly as many people to secure their money, and in the process learn more about how it affects full node operation, Dryja said. The next step will be eventually applying what they learned to Bitcoin Core.

The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.

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MIT Lightning Creator Unveils First 'Demonstration' of Bitcoin Scaling Tech - CoinDesk - CoinDesk

Understanding Bitcoin as something static as some thing with a solidified identity is not understanding Bitcoin at all.

Bitcoin is not being. Bitcoin is becoming. The perpetuation of its identity is not terminal but rather instrumental to something else. Bitcoin maintains identity so that it can serve its meaning. And, like identity, meaning is malleable and exists only in the hivemind that projects it.

A more revealing way to think about Bitcoin then is not to understand it as a physical construct as a decentralized payment network operating on a cryptographic protocol but as narrative. And dont just think of it as narrative in the most straightforward meaning of the word, as a representation or imitation of reality or a cultural artifact, but also take into account its deeper aspects i.e. narrative as being constitutive of consciousness itself.

Narrative is not just as our minds way of describing being, but also as its way of expressing and creating the possibilities of becoming. In other words, narratives arent merely representations or imitations of reality they are reality. Creator and author of Epsilon Theory Ben Hunt, whose ideas we shall visit again later, defines the concept of narrative as a thoroughly postmodern idea. What I mean by this is that Narrative is a social construction, a malleable public representation of malleable public statements that lacks any inherent Truth with a capital T[]

While the epistemology of Truth with a capital T is beyond the scope of this piece, and while indeed the brilliant thinkers at Epsilon Theory are never too far from the truth (whatever it may mean) when they opine about narratives, theres an implied false dichotomy between narrative and reality in the above definition that mustnt remain unaddressed. If we choose to understand narratives as mere cultural artifacts as nothing but products of our idle minds then yes, narratives can definitely be deemed untrue or disconnected from observable facts.

But if we take the other, more unorthodox approach, and consider narratives as being constitutive of consciousness itself, then the true power of narratives as creators and destroyers of worlds becomes evident.

And, to be perfectly clear, this isnt just semantic hair-splitting. The point is to convince you that, for all that matters, the narrative is all there is. It is narratives that make the world go round. There isnt some occult deeper layer beyond the narrative where Truth with a capital T resides. Even if there is, we have no access to it. To borrow a quote from cognitive scientist Joscha Bach: Our experience of the world that were embedded on is not a secret direct wire to the physical reality. Physical reality is a weird quantum graph that we can never experience and get access to.

All we get to experience as Paul Ricur, the philosopher whos given us the most comprehensive characterization of narrative to date argues are phenomena emploted with narrative. If we cant, by definition, experience the noumenon, and we never get to escape our brains simulacrum of reality, then all were really left with is narrative.

All mainstream discourse around Bitcoin narratives is laden with the false underlying assumption that the Bitcoin protocol is somehow categorically different from the Bitcoin narrative.

Narratives change, Bitcoin doesnt, people think.

But in reality, this isnt the case. Its the same blunder in thinking that presupposes the false dichotomy between narrative and reality we mentioned earlier. Its not the code or the protocol that constitutes what we conceive to be Bitcoin, its the narrative thats attached to it. Bitcoins code can be, and has been, changed many times before, all without triggering any shifts in narrative. In fact, out of the few radical shifts in Bitcoins identity that have occurred over the past eleven years none were caused by changes to the code or the rules of the protocol.

Indeed, it was always the other way around: when the narratives change the entire nature and identity of the asset changes. Its almost as if the asset is nothing but the underlying derivative of the narrative.

Narratives dictate how we perceive Bitcoin, and when they shift, our behavior changes, which then, in turn, changes the whole game: the way the entire industry operates, the businesses, the consumers, the legislation, the enforcement everything.

Perfect evidence of this phenomenon can be found when we take a closer look at Bitcoins switch from digital cash to digital gold. From 2013 to early 2017 the vast majority of bitcoiners viewed and wanted to use Bitcoin primarily as a means of exchange and secondarily as a speculative asset. Despite the fact that Bitcoin was just as scarce then as it is now, rarely did anybody hodl it with conviction or think of it as a savings technology or a superior store of value in any meaningful way. Bitcoiners were obsessed with being able to buy cups of coffee with it, and the majority of the discourse at the time revolved around how cheap the transactions were and how to convince as many merchants to accept Bitcoin as payment.

Then, sometime around late 2017, early 2018, when the legendary bull rally came and the transaction fees skyrocketed, what could be sensed brewing under the surface finally burst onto the scene. First gradually, then suddenly, and without any changes to the protocol, Bitcoin became digital gold.

Okay, okay. It didnt really become digital gold overnight; the digital gold narrative was, as a matter of fact, gaining traction even as far back as 2015, but for all it matters, it wasnt until the digital cash proselytes migrated to Bitcoin Cash in mid-2017 that it truly became mainstream.

The point is, todays Bitcoin is in no way shape or form a currency simply because nobody looks at it in those terms any longer. Despite everything being the same on the protocol layer, nobody in their right mind would spend Bitcoin as currency today. And why is that?

Its because the narrative inalterably transmuted Bitcoin from lead to gold. Bitcoin went from being one type of asset to another from a digital currency or a medium of exchange to commodity money and a store of value. And this process, which can hardly be interpreted as anything other than narrative alchemy, resulted in actual transmutation of the asset, and not just in some superficial shift in community sentiment.

In 2018, an independent Bitcoin researcher going by the pseudonym Hasu wrote a brilliant piece on a similar topic titled Unpacking Bitcoins Social Contract which cuts right to the core of this matter:

Bitcoins rules are made on the social layer, and the software only automates it. Where the social contract and the protocol layer diverge, the protocol layer is wrong always. A failure of the protocol layer to temporarily enforce the rules of the contract has no permanent bearing on the validity of the contract itself.

(Emphasis added.)

Bingo. Bitcoins identity is forged on the social layer and then is but transcribed onto the protocol layer. The social realm is where Bitcoin lives and where Truth with capital T is decided. But, this now begs the question: who makes the rules? Who controls the narrative?

Narratives, after all, have to come from somewhere they do not arise spontaneously, from the void. They either develop organically, by the unnoted dissemination of the underlying composite memes, or theyre created by fiat. So, where did Bitcoins store of value narrative come from? Did we arrive at it by virtue of inertia, or was it perhaps a product of manufactured consent?

If we turn to the Bitcoin community, today the majority of it seems to believe that the currently prevailing store of value narrative emerged organically, as a direct result of Bitcoins protocol design. Even Satoshi himself used analogies of gold and gold mining to explain Bitcoin, and what is gold really if not a store of value?

And while many pundits consider this vision of Bitcoin self-evident, it bears reminding that, in terms of narrative, it wasnt always this way. Bitcoin was for long envisaged as a monetary weapon a weapon poised to undermine Caesar, take what is his, and render it back to the people.

Bitcoin was a revolutionary, disruptive, and seriously dangerous idea. It is only recently that the overarching mythos changed from overcoming the monster to rags to riches, or in crypto terms when Lambo?

In a 2019 podcast interview, Ben Hunt, mentioned earlier, made some very compelling contrarian points about Bitcoins changing narrative that perhaps the Bitcoin community should consider more seriously. To be more specific, Ben thinks that Bitcoins newfound digital gold story is a purposefully construed narrative trap.

Bitcoiners are taking on the role that gold owners had for the last 50 years. Its a role where you find yourself now essentially hoping for economic collapse [] Youre being balkanized; it is the true original meaning of the ghetto where youre having this neighborhood constructed for you, and youre like Ow look how nice this is! and then you move in and realize Ow ow ow, now Im here Im the grumpy old man that yells at clouds now.

Its a miserable way to live, says Ben. And in many ways, hes right. Were like frogs in boiling water; we were lured into the pot by the promise of riches and now were trapped in a reductionist narrative that fails to tell the world the whole story of Bitcoin. Its a huge step down in ambition. From a positive change movement, the community transformed into a bunch of cynics waiting for bad things to happen only to be proven right.

Perhaps Ben is correct. Maybe the powers that be have a bigger say in Bitcoins story than wed like to think. Perhaps the community believes what it believes today because its consent has been manufactured. After all, the digital gold narrative is preserving the status quo not challenging it. The governments of the world are unfazed by it. What couldve been the biggest threat to their monetary sovereignty has been neutralized by a mere change in narrative. Coincidence? Who knows. But its certainly something to think about.

Regardless of what anyone thinks of Bens narrative inquiry into Bitcoin and the origins of the store of value narrative, the most important point to consider here is that Bitcoins still an uncrystallized idea. Bitcoin is still becoming still searching for its final narrative form.

The presently dominant narrative is but one of many narratives competing for the soul of Bitcoin. Bitcoin was born out of the 2008 financial crisis, and its present identity is heavily influenced if not entirely molded by it. But this may not necessarily be the final form Bitcoin appropriates in the future. Sound money, global currency, global base settlement layer, anonymous and fungible digital cash these are all visions of Bitcoin that may one day resurface if the right conditions emerge.

Now that were facing the worst economic crisis in the last one hundred years, Bitcoins store of value narrative is increasingly being called into question, which means that its day may come sooner rather than later. Central banks are printing an order of magnitude more fiat currency now than they ever did, and Bitcoin, by all accounts and measures, is supposed to thrive and prosper in such macroeconomic conditions.

This is the narrative make-or-break point.

If Bitcoin doesnt perform well as an uncorrelated financial asset and it doesnt ascend (or at least maintain) its value in fiat-denominated terms, then the store of value narrative will shatter and Bitcoin will have to either reappropriate some of the other, already existing competing narratives, or reinvent itself into something else entirely. If, on the other hand, Bitcoin succeeds as a store of value, then this narrative will cement and assume a relatively stable form.

Whatever narrative Bitcoin assumes after it crosses the event horizon, it will be one that defines it for years (if not decades) to come.

Read the original here:
The Becoming of Bitcoin: A Narrative Untainted by Illusions of Truth - Cointelegraph

This is a promoted article provided by CoinFlip.

There are now many ways to obtain bitcoin and join the growing revolution in sovereign digital wealth. Among them, you can mine bitcoin, you can earn bitcoin in exchange for goods or services and you can buy bitcoin for fiat currency through a credit card or bank account on an online exchange.

But perhaps no other vehicle for gaining bitcoin is as frictionless for the underbanked and unbanked around the world than Bitcoin ATMs.

As their name implies, Bitcoin ATMs are automatic teller machines that are quite similar to traditional ATMs, except that they allow users to buy and sell bitcoin, rather than withdraw fiat currency from their bank accounts. They serve those around the world who want to onboard to Bitcoin a system designed to remove the financial gatekeepers that create inequality in the traditional economic system by providing all of the interfacing needed to convert cash in hand into the worlds preeminent digital currency.

CoinFlip, which operates 750 Bitcoin ATMs across the United States as the highest-volume provider in the space, maintains some of the lowest barriers to buying bitcoin for those who could use it most.

In addition to a bitcoin wallet and any fiat cash they are hoping to convert, users can begin buying bitcoin at a CoinFlip ATM with as little as a mobile phone number and a name.

Bitcoin ATMs are general tools for banking the unbanked because unlike other cryptocurrency onramps, people are able to get access to bitcoin with cash and do not require a bank account, Dustin Wei, CoinFlips head of business development, said. While many other cryptocurrency onramps claim they want to foster the idea of banking the unbanked, an unbanked customer would not actually be able to use their services.

CoinFlip has found that a significant portion of its Bitcoin ATM user base is comprised of underbanked and low-income individuals who want to transact primarily in cash. By accessing bitcoin, they have a brand new avenue for paying bills, transferring money seamlessly around the world, investing in a new asset, and more.

There is no other way to buy cryptocurrency thats nearly as inclusive and straightforward as a Bitcoin ATM, Wei explained. CoinFlip provides financial access to those who have been failed by traditional banks and also features 24/7 customer service to make the process less daunting. Satoshi would be proud.

Ultimately, its this type of grassroots effort making bitcoin accessible where its needed the most with as little barrier to entry as possible that will help CoinFlip push bitcoin adoption far and wide. More so than with any other portal to bitcoin, this propulsion is the real narrative of Bitcoin ATMs.

CoinFlip recognizes bitcoin as a tool thats increasingly helping people around the world send funds to their relatives overseas, which can be accomplished in minutes through its machines. To build on this, CoinFlip operates a trading desk (called CoinFlip Preferred) that can process wire transfers for cryptocurrency and handle credit card transfers on its website.

CoinFlip hopes to create a global ecosystem of kiosks in order to push adoption, said Wei. CoinFlip also hopes to continue its mission to get crypto into as many peoples hands as possible. We are fast becoming a crypto conglomerate.

Continued here:
With Bitcoin ATMs, CoinFlip Is Banking The Unbanked - Bitcoin Magazine

Coinfloor, the U.K.s longest-running bitcoin exchange, is working to convert a decidedly non-digital audience into the latest batch of hardcore HODLers: Boomers.

The exchange is capitalizing on what it sees as a growing trend among this generation, which may be just as disheartened by the rampant stimulus action from the worlds ingrained economies as younger people.

Baby Boomers now make up more than a fifth of all people who hold bitcoin, the exchange noted in a release shared with Bitcoin Magazine. Many have turned to bitcoin in frustration over record low interest rates, stock market volatility and the fear of inflation that must follow the massive quantitative easing programs of recent times all of which threaten to erode their hard-earned savings.

In addition to this growing bullish trend in Boomers, Coinfloor noted that those over 65 years old hold more than a third of household wealth in the U.K., making them a particularly attractive consumer base for the exchange. To draw in some of this disposable income, Coinfloor has doubled down on features that it believes will appeal to Baby Boomers, including an autobuy service, educational content and a customer support team reflecting Baby Boomers preference for human interaction over self-service/chat support.

Coinfloor also shared a customer testimonial from a 60-something retired teacher, Angela Ilievski of Bournemouth, England, who highlighted the appeals of bitcoin investing for someone of her generation.

This April, [I] began to feel that now was the time to save in crypto rather than invest in cash a reversal of perspective brought about by a combination of factors, including zero percent interest rates/negative interest rates imminent; the examples of Cyprus, Greece, India and the Lebanon bail-in seizure of bank deposits/limits on cash withdrawals and transfers; [and] the (equally scary) prospects of either staglflation or deflation on the horizon, Ilievski said, per the testimonial. The coincidence of the latest Bitcoin halving at the same time as the Fed was accelerating money printing to address liquidity issues in the market (triggered, not caused, by Covid) was a powerful metaphor for me. This was a kind of lightbulb moment: the realization that bitcoin was becoming hard money whereas fiat currency was being softened by incessant money printing.

Of course, there is a significant difference between convincing Boomers to autobuy bitcoin on an exchange and seeing them manage their own private keys, run their own nodes or engage in the otherwise technologically-intimidating best practices for Bitcoin custody and sovereignty.

But, as the old saying goes, youve got to start somewhere.

Peter Chawaga is a senior editor at Bitcoin Magazine. He HODLs BTC.

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Coinfloor Is Onboarding Baby Boomers To Bitcoin - Bitcoin Magazine

Russian human rights campaigner and chess supremo Gary Kasparov has said that the current economic crisis, which has led to unconventional monetary policy, will drive people towards bitcoin.

Bitcoins finite supply compares favorably to agenda-driven printing of money by governments, noted the Avast security ambassador, who also chairs the Human Rights Foundation and the Renew Democracy Initiative.

Speaking to Forbes on the intersection of human rights and new technologies, Kasparov said cryptocurrencies enable the public to regain control of personal finances at a time when unilateral moves by government and institutions are on the rise.

The good thing about bitcoin is that you know exactly the number the magic number of 21 million. And we understand the formula behind that. But when you look at the other side, the Fed for instance, you never know how many trillions of dollars will appear on the market tomorrow that will damage your savings, he observed.

Kasparov said cryptocurrencies potential for abuse gets overstated but it is the upside which must be harnessed to empower individuals. Crypto offers means to protect personal finances against inflation and state interference and anything that can offer us the opportunity to take back control or some control of our privacy is always welcome, the chess grandmaster said.

Thats why I think the steady rise in popularity of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology as a concept is inevitable, because its a response to the shift of power from individuals to states or other institutions that may act on our privacy without our consent, he added.

As chairperson of the Human Rights Foundation, Kasparov has promoted blockchain and cryptocurrency as a means to empower dissidents around the world.

For us, it was important for us to address every violation of human rights, and we were trying to help these people, most of them under severe attacks by their governments even if they left their countries, their financial accounts were hacked, their information was stolen so we have been providing special training courses.

He continued: Weve invited famous hackers to help them and to work with them we have been using every opportunity to offer them extra protection, and of course blockchain and bitcoin were very natural choices to incorporate into this strategy.

Kasparov also criticised the discriminatory treatment of customers from one territory to the other by tech giants and encouraged internet users to practice digital hygiene to stay safe from governments and other third parties.

What do you think about Kasparovs views toward crypto? Let us know in the comments section below.

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