BITCOIN OPTECH #149

- transaction relay reliability workshop
- CVE-2021-31876
- updates to services and client software
- LND 0.13.0-beta.rc2 release

https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2021/05/19/
archive: https://archive.ph/eaw28

FASTER BLOCKCHAIN VALIDATION WITH UTREEXO ACCUMULATORS

- initial download and verification can be up to 62% faster compared to Bitcoin Core
- eventually the plan is to implement Utreexo in C++ and get it merged into Bitcoin Core

https://blog.bitmex.com/faster-blockchain-validation-with-utreexo-accumulators/
archive: https://archive.ph/7SPfH

SPARROW WALLET V1.4.1 RELEASED

- Broadcast transactions over a new Tor circuit to an external service
- Send To Many dialog in the Tools menu to create a transaction with many recipients

https://github.com/sparrowwallet/sparrow/releases/tag/1.4.1

BITCOIN HASH RATE DROPS AS SICHUAN MINERS FACE SHORT-TERM POWER CAP

- Hash rate has fallen by nearly 20% over the past week
- The State Grid in Sichuan's Aba county issued a notice on May 16 requiring local energy-intensive enterprises to limit their power consumption

https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/105464/bitcoin-hash-rate-sichuan-miner-power-limit
archive: https://archive.ph/fZ4NW

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA RECEIVES ANONYMOUS GIFT OF $5M WORTH OF BITCOIN TO SUPPORT INNOVATION IN FINANCE AT THE WHARTON SCHOOL

- donation processed by NYDIG

https://news.wharton.upenn.edu/press-releases/2021/05/university-of-pennsylvania-receives-largest-cryptocurrency-gift-in-the-universitys-history-to-support-innovation-in-finance-at-the-wharton-school/
archive: https://archive.ph/z6FZL

DUTCH CENTRAL BANK REVERSES DECISION ON TIGHTER CHECKS FOR BITCOIN WITHDRAWALS

- reversal on the policy comes almost two months after Bitonic filed an objection over the stringent rules
- policy had required users to prove ownership of all withdrawal addresses

https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/105530/dutch-central-bank-crypto-withdrawals
archive: https://archive.ph/bmPHL

TREASURY CALLS FOR BITCOIN TRANSFERS OVER $10000 TO BE REPORTED TO IRS

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-20/treasury-calls-for-crypto-transfers-over-10-000-reported-to-irs
archive: https://archive.ph/2Kz0X

PHOENIX WALLET V1.4.12 RELEASED

- adds LNURL-pay support
- users can now pay compatible static invoices

https://github.com/ACINQ/phoenix/releases/tag/v1.4.12

BLUE WALLET V6.1.4 RELEASED

- File import icon was not visible
- Check Bech32 uppercase address
- Dont display Tor text in catalyst
- Applied xpub to wrong object

https://github.com/BlueWallet/BlueWallet/releases/tag/v6.1.4

Ross Stevens - MacroMinds | NYDIG - The Beauty of Bitcoin

- Andrew Tsai and Ross Stevens discuss the beauty of Bitcoin. Andrew Tsai is the Managing Director at PDT Partners as well as Co-Founder & Chairman at Chalkstream Capital Group. Ross Stevens is the Founder & CEO at Stone Ridge Asset Management as well as Founder & Executive Chairman at NYDIG.

https://youtu.be/lkZLm_0ynXQ

CHINESE VICE PREMIER MENTIONS BITCOIN MINING AND TRADING WITHIN A MUCH LARGER PRESS RELEASE ON FINANCIAL SYSTEM

- machine translated english translation

english: https://twitter.com/mattysino/status/1395747454666956800
chinese: https://twitter.com/mattysino/status/1395746439616028677

TALES FROM THE CRYPT PODCAST

- Rabbit Hole Recap: Bitcoin Week of 2021.05.17

https://anchor.fm/tales-from-the-crypt/episodes/Rabbit-Hole-Recap-Bitcoin-Week-of-2021-05-17-e119j3u

ELAINE OU: NEVER ARGUE WITH A NOCOINER

https://elaineou.com/2021/05/21/never-argue-with-a-nocoiner/
archive: https://archive.ph/0MBgb

NO BULLSHIT BITCOIN IS A BITCOIN NEWS DESK WITHOUT ADS OR PAYWALLS

Web: https://t.me/s/nobullshitbitcoin
RSS: https://rss.app/feeds/a7pA7KDznTPqIyqR.xml

all sats donated will be held long term to fund our operation: https://tippin.me/@nobsbitcoin

(donated this month: 48046 sats)

COINBASE HIRES FORMER GOLDMAN SACHS EXECUTIVE AS CHIEF POLICY OFFICER

- Faryar Shirzad spent last 15 years at Goldman, leading the bank's government affairs globally
- He also served as National Security Council staff at the White House

https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/105853/coinbase-former-goldman-sachs-faryar-shirzad-chief-policy-officer
archive: https://archive.ph/O0eQm

HEDGE FUND BILLIONAIRE RAY DALIO DISCLOSES BITCOIN POSITION

- disclosure happened during Coindesk's virtual "conference" today

https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/105877/ray-dalio-confirms-btc-holdings-says-bitcoins-greatest-risk-is-its-success
archive: https://archive.ph/ZL536

STEPHAN LIVERA PODCAST

- SLP277 Alejandro De La Torre - Coordinating Bitcoin Upgrades With Mining Pools

https://anchor.fm/stephan-livera/episodes/SLP277-Alejandro-De-La-Torre---Coordinating-Bitcoin-Upgrades-With-Mining-Pools-e11fs6i

MICHAEL SAYLOR ANNOUNCES 'BITCOIN MINING COUNCIL' IN PARTNERSHIP WITH ELON MUSK AND MAJOR AMERICAN MINING COMPANIES.

https://twitter.com/michael_saylor/status/1396915801492439044
archive: https://archive.ph/OR94e

SPECTER DIY V1.5.4 RELEASED

- Add export of all xpubs for n-th account to SD card in json (ColdCard format) and plaintext (Specter format)
- Add back button on PIN code screen

https://github.com/cryptoadvance/specter-diy/releases/tag/v1.5.4

ONCE BITTEN PODCAST

- SeedSigner - Building A DIY Bitcoin Hardware Signing Device! #158

https://anchor.fm/daniel-prince6/episodes/SeedSigner---Building-A-DIY-Bitcoin-Hardware-Signing-Device--158-e118ss7

Citadel Dispatch e0.2.3 - the state of bitcoin with gladstein, dergigi, and croesus_btc

EPISODE: 0.2.3
BLOCK: 684945
PRICE: 2657 sats per dollar
TOPICS: the state of bitcoin

citadeldispatch.com/cd23