Satoshi Scoop Weekly, 27 Dec 2024

Crypto Insights

Post-Quantum Cryptography enhanced Bitcoin Fork

Quantum computing poses a potential threat to encryption methods like Bitcoin’s elliptic curve cryptography (ECC). The project, pqcBitcoin (GitHub repo), integrates post-quantum cryptography (PQC) into Bitcoin Core to mitigate such risks. Features include:

• PQC Algorithms Integration: Integration of quantum-safe encryption alongside the existing Bitcoin protocols.

• Quantum-Resistant Wallet: Modified Bitcoin Core’s wallet functionality for enhanced security with PQC keys.

• Backward Compatibility: Ensures compatibility with Bitcoin’s existing cryptographic algorithms for users not ready to switch to PQC.

Publications on Bitcoin: SilentBerry’s Decentralized Publishing Platform Launches New Book

• SilentBerry (SilentBerry.co) is a decentralized publishing platform built on the RGB++ protocol. Purchases can be made using CKB, BTC, or ETH. The books’ content will be embedded in Bitcoin’s Witness field, and digital assets representing ownership and profit rights will be issued via the RGB++ protocol. Buyers of the digital asset also receive the right to print the book at supported printing facilities.

• SilentBerry uses a four-tier NFT issuance system, introducing an innovative shared-benefit model for authors, publishers, and readers. Watch the video below to learn more:

Fastest Proof-of-Work Consensus with Simple DAG

Developer Zawy, in studying the Braidpool difficulty algorithm, has proposed a new approach that doesn’t rely on traditional metrics like timestamps, hash-rates, or latency. By focusing on DAG width, the algorithm achieves faster consensus.

How Big is Bitcoin’s Network Compared to Other Large Networks

Here compares the node count of Bitcoin with other major networks:

• Electricity Grid: ~210,000 substations powering global infrastructure.

• Internet: ~66,000 ISPs linking households, businesses, and devices.

• Bitcoin: ~66,000 active nodes.

• Lightning Network: ~12,000 public nodes supporting Bitcoin’s second layer payment system.

• Ethereum: ~5,000 nodes maintaining its ecosystem.

Bitcoin Mining: A Lottery, Not Complex Math

The author argues that Bitcoin mining resembles a lottery more than solving complex equations. Each hash is equivalent to a dice roll, with higher hash rates equating to more dice rolls per second, increasing a greater probability of success.

Bitcoin Optech’s 2024 Year-in-Review

This annual report summarizes significant advancements in Bitcoin and its ecosystem month by month throughout 2024, with deep dives into topics like: vulnerability disclosures, cluster mempool, P2P transaction relay, covenants and script upgrades, and major releases of popular infrastructure projects.

A Programmable Layer With 1:1 Bitcoin Parity Based on BitVM2

Alpen Labs is developing Strata Bridge, a programmable layer that ensures a 1:1 parity with Bitcoin. It uses the design approaches from BitVM2, and requires minimal trust assumptions for withdrawals and offers seamless integration with Bitcoin.

Core Lightning v24.11: Default Support for BOLT 12

The latest release of Core Lightning improves privacy and functionality by enabling BOLT 12 by default, bringing higher receiver privacy and censorship resistance, and enabling re-usable payment requests. It also introduces the experimental plugin xpay plugin for advanced payment routing.

Nostr E-commerce Made Simpler with Nostr Commerce Coordinator

Without a system capable of automating the process between a Customer's intent to purchase and a Merchant's acceptance, Nostr e-commerce will not grow beyond small sales plagued with high-friction manual checkout steps. This proposal contains the groundwork for a server-based bot, Nostr Commerce Coordinator, with core function of handling NIP-15 checkout events automatically on behalf of a Merchant.

Michael Saylor’s Digital Assets Proposal for the US Administration

His proposal, Digital Assets Framework, Principles, and Opportunity for the United States, outlines a vision to bolster the US dollar using Bitcoin and other digital assets. At the heart of this plan is a “strategic bitcoin reserve” for the US Treasury. It also provides a taxonomy to categorize digital assets, for instance:

• Digital Commodities: Decentralized assets not tied to an issuer, like Bitcoin.

• Digital Securities: Tokenized equity or debt.

• Digital Currencies: Stablecoins pegged to fiat.

• Digital Tokens: Fungible tokens within an ecosystem.

• Digital ABTs: Tokens tied to physical commodities like gold or oil.

Debating the U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve

• Nic Carter’s View: “I don’t support a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, and neither should you”, where he opposes a Bitcoin reserve, emphasizing that U.S. dominance stems from factors like GDP growth, monetary policy, and network effects in global markets.

• Counterpoint: Argues that a Bitcoin reserve demonstrates strength, framing Bitcoin as a financial hedge rather than a competitor to the dollar.

Top Reads on Blockchain and Beyond

UTXO Lifespan Revealed: Older Coins Are Less Likely to Be Spent

This analysis reveals a power-law dynamic between Bitcoin’s coin age and its spending likelihood, showing a smooth decline in spending probability as coin age increases.

Cryptocurrency Taxation Across Asia

This report analyzes cryptocurrency taxation policies across Asian countries and their impact on market development and capital flow. It reveals five distinct policy types:

1. Tax-Free: Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia

2. Progressive Tax Rates: Japan, Thailand

3. Fixed Tax Rates: India

4. Transaction-Based Taxes: Indonesia

5. Postponed/Unclear: South Korea