Satoshi Scoop Weekly, 28 Feb 2025

Standardizing Bitcoin Layer 2 Withdrawals: Output Script Descriptor (BOSD)

Jose Storopoli and Trey Del Bonis from Alpen Labs introduced Output Script Descriptor (BOSD), a standardized withdrawal output format aimed at improving the on-chain withdrawal process for Bitcoin Layer 2s while eliminating reliance on ad-hoc rules.

One key issue BOSD addresses is the risk L2 operators face when users request non-standard transactions, such as those with oversized OP_RETURN outputs. By abstracting complex validation logic into a more manageable format, BOSD helps mitigate these risks and serves as a crucial tool for maintaining the integrity and reliability of Bitcoin’s Layer 2 infrastructure.

• Rust implementation of BOSD

• Specification

Allowing Mobile Wallets to Settle Lightning Channels Without Extra UTXOs

Bastien Teinturier introduced an opt-in variant of Lightning Network’s V3 commitments, enabling mobile wallets to settle channels using funds within the channel even in cases of theft attempts. This removes the need for users to maintain an on-chain UTXO to cover closing fees.

Custodial Solutions Are Not Solutions

Matt Corallo, one of Bitcoin’s most prolific developers, has been vocal about the challenges of non-custodial Bitcoin payment solutions, particularly in the Lightning Network. His article, Custodial Solutions Are Not Solutions, critiques the Bitcoin community’s fixation on new custodial models.

He argues that too many engineering resources have gone into custodial solutions like Blockstream’s Liquid (a multisig-controlled private blockchain), ecash (blind-signed custodial systems), Spark (Lightspark’s Statechains extension requiring near-total operator trust), and modern Ark variants (which rely heavily on trusted Statechain operators for scalability). While many of these systems offer excellent UX and privacy, they compromise Bitcoin’s core censorship resistance.

For now, Corallo believes Lightning remains the only non-custodial solution capable of supporting most Bitcoin users.

Three Approaches to Solo Mining

There is significant debate over what qualifies as solo mining. Some define it as a miner earning block rewards alone, while others focus on miners generating their own block templates.

To clarify this, the open-source mining advocacy group 256 Foundation explored the topic in their recent report, Swim at Your Own Risk, outlining three types of solo mining:

• Self-Hosted Solo Mining: The miner runs their own Bitcoin node and Stratum server, generates block templates, broadcasts blocks, and keeps all rewards. This is the most "pure" form of solo mining.

• OCEAN Mining: The miner runs their own Bitcoin node and DATUM gateway, generates block templates, but relies on a pool to broadcast blocks. Miners can choose whether to share rewards with others, and the pool charges a 1% fee.

• Joining a Solo Mining Pool

  • The miner operates mining hardware, while the pool provides block templates and broadcasts blocks. Pools supporting this include CK Pool, Braiins Solo Pool (2% fee), and Public Pool (no fees).

  • While this method involves pools, individual miners still receive direct rewards, making it a hybrid form of solo mining.

Lightning Network Growth Report

Lightning Network service provider Voltage Cloud released a report titled The Lightning Network: Expanding Bitcoin Use Cases, highlighting key trends:

• More businesses are integrating Lightning, a trend expected to continue through 2025.

• Older, inefficient channels deployed between 2018 and 2020 are closing in favor of larger, more efficient ones.

• The average total capacity of public Lightning channels is increasing, improving the success rate for larger payments.

• If nodes are well-optimized, transaction fees can be near zero, with settlement times under half a second.

• The Lightning Network is evolving toward fewer but better-connected nodes rather than many weakly connected ones.

• Lightning is proving itself as one of the most efficient transaction methods in the digital asset ecosystem.

• Lightning can be seen as a yield-bearing network, allowing users to earn without sacrificing Bitcoin custody.

Download the full report.

Mempool Block Art Created Through Anomalous Transactions

According to 256 Foundation’s monthly report, researcher boerst discovered anomalies involving empty block templates from mining pools like Binance, SECpool, Sigmapool, and EMCD. Earlier, SEC Pool mined empty block 880496, which later returned to a normal transaction-included state.

These anomalies were linked to SEC Pool engineers configuring block templates to create block art. As a result, block 880512 was shaped into a Satoshi pattern.

Additionally, some of the first transactions contained OP_RETURN messages with the text:

Declaration of Genesis: Awakening on the Bitcoin Network. Bitcoin’s promise of freedom will become an untamperable habitat for AI.

Podcast | SNI: Fractional Reserve Banking is Obsolete

The latest episode of The Reorg, a podcast by the Satoshi Nakamoto Institute, discusses Pierre Rochard’s article Fractional Reserve Banking is Obsolete.

The article argues that the fractional reserve banking system leads to capital misallocation and price distortions, inevitably causing economic crises. Bitcoin, on the other hand, provides a safer, more transparent, and more efficient way to store and transfer funds, rendering traditional banking obsolete. Moreover, the increasing adoption of Bitcoin serves as a validation of Austrian economic theory: a 100% reserve banking system can prevent financial crises and economic downturns. A healthy economy expands based on capital goods rather than monetary or credit inflation.

Listen here

Central Banks Postpone CBDC Plans

A survey conducted by the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF) on 34 central banks, titled Why central banks should take the next step on CBDCs, reveals that 31% of central banks have delayed their retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) plans. The percentage of central banks inclined to issue a CBDC has dropped from 38% in 2022 to 18%. While this slowdown is a welcome shift, the survey concludes that most central banks are still likely to issue a CBDC in the future.

Governments Worldwide Seek to Break Encryption for Data Access

Will Jager reveals the global trend of governments attempting to bypass encryption protections to access private data. He highlights the growing risks associated with government access to encrypted data, citing examples such as the UK government’s order to Apple to create a backdoor for encrypted iCloud data, the EU’s Chat Control proposal, and the U.S. EARN IT Act, which expands government surveillance over encrypted communications.