Block 893376: Important News of the Week

News

• Bitcoin mining centralization in 2025. According to a blog post by b10c, Bitcoin mining was at its most decentralized in May 2017, with another favorable period from 2019 to 2022. However, starting in 2023, mining has become increasingly centralized, particularly due to the influence of large pools like Foundry and the use of proxy pooling by entities such as AntPool.

• OpenSats announces the eleventh wave of Nostr grants. The five projects in this wave are the mobile live-streaming app Swae, the Nostr-over-ham-radio project HAMSTR, Vertex—a Web-of-Trust (WOT) service for Nostr developers, Nostr Double Ratchet for end-to-end encrypted messaging, and the Nostr Game Engine for building games and applications integrated with the Nostr ecosystem.
• New Spiral grantee: l0rinc. In February 2024, l0rinc transitioned to full-time work on Bitcoin Core. His efforts focus on performance benchmarking and optimizations, enhancing code quality, conducting code reviews, reducing block download times, optimizing memory usage, and refactoring code.
• Project Eleven offers 1 BTC to break Bitcoin's cryptography with a quantum computer. The quantum computing research organization has introduced the Q-Day Prize, a global challenge that offers 1 BTC to the first team capable of breaking an elliptic curve cryptographic (ECC) key using Shor’s algorithm on a quantum computer. The prize will be awarded to the first team to successfully accomplish this breakthrough by April 5, 2026.
• Unchained has launched the Bitcoin Legacy Project. The initiative seeks to advance the Bitcoin ecosystem through a bitcoin-native donor-advised fund platform (DAF), investments in community hubs, support for education and open-source development, and a commitment to long-term sustainability with transparent annual reporting.
  • In its first year, the program will provide support to Bitcoin hubs in Nashville, Austin, and Denver.
  • Support also includes $50,000 to the Bitcoin Policy Institute, a $150,000 commitment at the University of Austin, and up to $250,000 in research grants through the Bitcoin Scholars program.

"Unchained will match grants 1:1 made to partner organizations who support Bitcoin Core development when made through the Unchained-powered bitcoin DAF, up to 1 BTC," was stated in a blog post.

• Block launched open-source tools for Bitcoin treasury management. These include a dashboard for managing corporate bitcoin holdings and provides a real-time BTC-to-USD price quote API, released as part of the Block Open Source initiative. The company’s own instance of the bitcoin holdings dashboard is available here.

• Bull Bitcoin expands to Mexico, enabling anyone in the country to receive pesos from anywhere in the world straight from a Bitcoin wallet. Additionally, users can now buy Bitcoin with a Mexican bank account.

"Bull Bitcoin strongly believes in Bitcoin’s economic potential in Mexico, not only for international remittances and tourism, but also for Mexican individuals and companies to reclaim their financial sovereignty and protect their wealth from inflation and the fragility of traditional financial markets," said Francis Pouliot, Founder and CEO of Bull Bitcoin.

• Corporate bitcoin holdings hit a record high in Q1 2025. According to Bitwise, public companies' adoption of Bitcoin has hit an all-time high. In Q1 2025, these firms collectively hold over 688,000 BTC, marking a 16.11% increase from the previous quarter. This amount represents 3.28% of Bitcoin's fixed 21 million supply.

• The Bitcoin Bond Company for institutions has launched with the aim of acquiring $1 trillion in Bitcoin over 21 years. It utilizes secure, transparent, and compliant bond-like products backed by Bitcoin.
• The U.S. Senate confirmed Paul Atkins as Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). At his confirmation hearing, Atkins emphasized the need for a clear framework for digital assets. He aims to collaborate with the CFTC and Congress to address jurisdiction and rulemaking gaps, aligning with the Trump administration's goal to position the U.S. as a leader in Bitcoin and blockchain finance.
• Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith has been released from custody. Griffith, whose sentence was reduced to 56 months, is now seeking a pardon. He was initially sentenced to 63 months for allegedly violating international sanctions laws by providing technical advice on using cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology to evade sanctions during a presentation titled 'Blockchains for Peace' in North Korea.
• No-KYC exchange eXch to close down under money laundering scrutiny. The privacy-focused cryptocurrency trading platform said it will cease operations on May 1. This decision follows allegations that the platform was used by North Korea's Lazarus Group for money laundering. eXch revealed it is the subject of an active "transatlantic operation" aimed at shutting down the platform and prosecuting its team for "money laundering and terrorism."
• Blockstream combats ESP32 FUD concerning Jade signers. The company stated that after reviewing the vulnerability disclosed in early March, Jade was found to be secure. Espressif Systems, the designer of the ESP32, has since clarified that the "undocumented commands" do not constitute a "backdoor."

• Bank of America is lobbying for regulations that favor banks over tech firms in stablecoin issuance. The bank's CEO Brian Moynihan is working with groups such as the American Bankers Association to advance the issuance of a fully reserved, 1:1 backed "Bank of America coin." If successful, this could limit stablecoin efforts by non-banks like Tether, Circle, and others, reports The Block.
• Tether to back OCEAN Pool with its hashrate. "As a company committed to financial freedom and open access, we see supporting decentralization in Bitcoin mining as essential to the network’s long-term integrity," said Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino.
• Bitdeer to expand its self-mining operations to navigate tariffs. The Singapore-based mining company is advancing plans to produce machines in the U.S. while reducing its mining hardware sales. This response is in light of increasing uncertainties related to U.S. trade policy, as reported by Bloomberg.
• Tether acquires $32M in Bitdeer shares. The firm has boosted its investment in Bitdeer during a wider market sell-off, with purchases in early to mid-April amounting to about $32 million, regulatory filings reveal.
• US Bitcoin miner manufacturer Auradine has raised $153 million in a Series C funding round as it expands into AI infrastructure. The round was led by StepStone Group and included participation from Maverick Silicon, Premji Invest, Samsung Catalyst Fund, Qualcomm Ventures, Mayfield, MARA Holdings, GSBackers, and other existing investors. The firm raised to over $300 million since its inception in 2022.
• Voltage has partnered with BitGo to enable instant, low-cost bitcoin and, soon, stablecoin payments globally via the Lightning Network.
• Voltage has introduced Voltage Payments platform for enterprises. It will offer a single API that integrates both bitcoin and stablecoin payments with minimal technical overhead, providing the option of either Voltage or user-controlled custody. The platform features a comprehensive dashboard, along with built-in compliance and accounting tools. Currently in beta testing, it is set to launch in 46 U.S. states. Join the waitlist to be notified when it becomes available on mainnet.

• Firefish has raised $1.8 million to expand the Bitcoin lending market. This bitcoin-collateralized lending marketplace, backed by Braiins and Miton C, raised $1.8M in seed funding to expand globally.
• Strategy acquired 3,459 BTC, bringing its total holdings to 531,644 coins. The purchase took place between April 7 and 13, 2025, at an average price of $82,618 per bitcoin, funded through its at-the-market offering program.
• Metaplanet is now the tenth largest public Bitcoin holder after acquiring 319 BTC and increasing its total holdings to 4,525 coins.
• Panama City votes to accept bitcoin for municipal services. The Panama City Council has voted to accept Bitcoin and other digital currencies for municipal services, becoming the first public institution in the country to do so. They will partner with an authorized bank responsible for converting the digital currency proceeds into dollars, reports Bitcoin Magazine.
• Local governments in China use private firms to sell seized bitcoin for cash. According to Reuters, the lack of clear regulations for handling seized bitcoin and other tokens—whose trading is banned on the mainland—has led to inconsistent and opaque practices. The situation has sparked debate among attorneys about the need for new regulations.
• Designathon 2025: The Bitcoin Design Community is organizing a Bitcoin design hackathon, scheduled to take place from May 4 to 18, 2025. Sign up and learn more about the event, prizes, and ideas.

• The Mayan Bitcoin Conference is scheduled to take place in Merida, Mexico, from December 4 to 7, 2025. Book your tickets and learn more about the event here.

Updates and releases

• Bitcoin Core v29.0 is now available. This release eliminates UPnP support in favor of NAT-PMP/PCP, enhances transaction orphan handling for improved reliability, and introduces ephemeral dust to defer fee commitment. Various RPCs now feature enhanced error reporting and new data fields, the block size handling bug related to reserved weight has been fixed, and the removal of the mempoolfullrbf option standardizes full replace-by-fee behavior. See the full release notes here.
• Bitcoin Core Config Generator by Jameson Lopp is now compatible with Bitcoin Core v29.0.
• Mempool v3.2.1 has been released, including a hotfix to prevent a potential crash loop if the list of mining pools fails to update.
• ColdCard Mk4 v5.4.2 and Q firmware v1.3.2 devices introduce two major features: COLDCARD Co-sign (CCC) and Key Teleport between two COLDCARD Q devices using QR codes and/or NFC with a website.
• Bitcoin Safe v1.2.2 has added address poisoning detection and warnings, Nostr Sync and Chat improvements, enhanced error handling for interrupted USB connections, and more.

• Coinswap v0.1.1 introduces major improvements to the protocol's efficiency, security, and usability, including custom in-memory UTXO indexes, more advanced coin-selection algorithms, fidelity bond management and more. The update also improves user experience with full Mac support, faster Tor connections, enhanced UI/UX, a unified API, and improved protocol documentation.
• Payjoin Dev Kit (rust-payjoin) v0.23.0 introduces a first-class persistence abstraction, wire protocol changes to support RFC 9540, and improved compliance with the BIP78 specification. It also includes an experimental multiparty sender, accessible through the hidden "_multiparty" feature gate. Additionally, it addresses technical debt by enhancing error handling, expanding functionality with new modules and features, and improving test infrastructure. These updates result in breaking API and protocol changes.
  • Payjoin CLI v0.1.0 is now out of alpha, with the wire protocol now presumed to be stable.
  • Payjoin Directory v0.0.2 has been tagged. It implements the Payjoin Directory store-and-forward server required for Payjoin V2's asynchronous operation.
• BTCPay Server v2.1.0 includes a redesigned interface for MultiSig wallets, removes ZCash and Monero from the core codebase by turning them into plugins, and enhances fee-acceleration capabilities. It also introduces three new e-commerce integrations: Shopify V2, Ghost, and ECWID.
• Liana v10 introduces backup functionality for the entire wallet, including descriptors, aliases, and labels, allowing for easy wallet backup, migration, and synchronization with new devices. Additionally, it updates the Rust and iced dependencies for the GUI and lianad.
• LNbits v1.0.0 is officially out of beta and is now available as stable, hardened, and production-ready software. This version of LNbits includes a complete frontend overhaul for enhanced performance and long-term maintainability. It also features backend refactors, improved database handling, type hinting, and extension logic. Additionally, it offers WebSocket payments, support for Nostr Wallet Connect (NWC), the option for Nostr or OAuth login, improved admin and developer tools, and much more.
• Misty Breez v0.1.3-beta, a mobile app built with Flutter as a reference implementation for the Breez SDK (Nodeless), brings a consolidated Lightning and Bitcoin address, lowers the minimal receive threshold to 100 sats, and fixes localization issues with the default Lightning address.
• Breez SDK Nodeless (Liquid) now supports WebAssembly (WASM), enabling app builders to integrate bitcoin payments directly into browsers and node.js environments. Check out the WASM demo app here.

• Core Lightning v25.02.1 and v24.11.2 address several issues, including returned outputs on mutual closes if peer didn't support option_shutdown_anysegwit, properly handling duplicate HTLCs on closing, calculating fees with the correct HTLC timeout, occasional crash on bitcoind_getrawblockbyheight callback, fixes tracepoint crashes in autoclean/chanbackup, and more.
• LND v0.19.0-beta.rc2 is available for testing. New features include support for archiving channel backup, RBF cooperative closes, the Quiescence protocol, the chainio subsystem, lnwire messages for the Gossip 1.75 protocol, testnet4, and much more.
• BDK Wallet v1.2.0 has been released. The TxBuilder's add_recipient now accepts any Into<ScriptBuf>. Coinbase outputs are eligible if maturing in the next block. Wallets using rusqlite::Connection are checked for thread safety. bdk_chain is updated to version 0.21.1, with some internal cleanups.
• Lightning Dev Kit (rust-lightning) v0.1.2 includes the latest API updates, performance improvements, and bug fixes.
• Hydrus v0.2.0, a Lightning liquidity management agent, is now available. This version adjusts routing policies, new CLI commands, built-in task scheduling, and a new open heuristic, channels.block_height.
• Alby Hub v1.16.0 introduces Alby Pro, a paid subscription plan for self-hosted Alby Hub runners that offers real-time backups, unlimited sub-wallets, customizable Lightning addresses, priority support, and more. The sidebar and settings page have received a UI update for a smoother experience, along with various other improvements and bug fixes.
• Alby Go v1.12.0 introduces a wallet switcher for swapping wallets during payments, withdrawals, and connections. It also improves number formatting for locales using decimal commas.
• Blitz Wallet v0.4.3-beta allows users to customize their maximum receive and balance amounts for ecash transactions. Besides, users can now pay for items in supported stores using ecash, and manual swap options have been expanded. The update also includes payment experience enhancements, performance optimizations, and bug fixes.
• Phoenix wallet v2.5.3 is a bug fix release that corrects UI problems on iOS and improves the handling of some Bolt12 failures.
• BitBanana v0.9.4 is a maintenance release that adds a link to new documentation, delivers bug fixes, and updated translations.
  • BitBanana v0.9.3 was a notable release that introduced Nostr Wallet Connect (NWC) support, significantly enhanced the channel rebalancing interface, and added channel and UTXO sorting, among other features.
• Boltz Web App v1.7.3 has improved the UX for copying addresses and invoices, added fixes for hardware wallet integration, and backup files now include the rescue key, enabling backup imports to pick up pending swaps.
• Boltz Client v2.5.1 includes a patch for correctly handling negative service fees from Boltz Pro. Earlier version 2.5.0 introduced a new bumpfee command alongside several other fixes and improvements.

• Dana Wallet v0.4.4, a Bitcoin wallet utilizing silent payments, is now available.
• Stack Wallet v2.1.11, a multicoin wallet with Bitcoin Frost multisig support, has been released with more robust logging and other improvements.
• Fedimint protocol v0.7.0 is now available. Release highlights include lower on-chain fees through better estimation, initial recurring payment support via LNURL, integrated guardian and setup UI for simplified deployment and beta support for running fedimintd behind firewalls and NAT routers without opening ports or registering domains.
• Ark v0.5.9 by Ark Labs is the latest bug fix release that addresses an issue with macaroon permissions.
• Cashu Dev Kit (CDK) v0.9.0 introduces amountless invoices through an update to NUT-05, adds timestamping for mint and melt quotes, reorganizes code by moving wallet modules to cdk-common, and fixes several bugs, including issues with SQLite database creation and mint URL updates.
• Tribe RBG wallet v0.3.1 includes in-app version-wise release notes, support for stablecoin icons, and several bug fixes and improvements.
• Cypher Box v0.4, a modular Bitcoin-Lightning Android app designed for onboarding newbies to advanced self-custody, introduces a strategic coin batching button, hot vault PSBT signing, and a decoy wallet.
  • Check out the project's website here.

• Zeus wallet v0.10.2 is now available. This point release is centered around various bug fixes.
• Bitkit wallet v1.1.0 introduces performance improvements, smarter coin selection with new Autopilot options, a redesigned side menu, and bug fixes.
• Bitcoin Keeper v2.1.1 update includes various UI updates, bug fixes, and performance improvements.
• Flash v0.4.0-beta, a Bitcoin and Lightning wallet built on the Galoy infrastructure and tailored for the Caribbean Community, features a complete UI/UX redesign, encrypted NIP-17 messaging via Nostr, zoom functionality on the scan camera, improved support for NFC-based Flashcards, and much more.
• Elements v23.2.7, an open-source implementation of advanced, sidechain-capable blockchain features extending the Bitcoin protocol, is now available with the latest fixes and improvements.
• AxeOS (ESP-Miner) v2.6.5 increases the power target for Gamma self test. In version 2.6.4, the under limits for the power consumption self-test were removed.
  • AxeOS v2.6.1 was a significant release introducing many new features and improvements. For a comprehensive feature breakdown, check out the details provided by WantClue below.

• Stratum v2 Reference Implementation (SRI) v1.3.0 comes with a new integration test framework and tests, enhanced APIs for role development, and core low-level crates now support no_std.
• ESP-Miner v2.6.6b1 is now available for testing.
• CTV Playground Android is a native Android implementation and demonstration of Bitcoin's proposed OP_CHECKTEMPLATEVERIFY (CTV) soft fork, including a CTV Vault implementation.
• Nstart, an onboarding wizard for new Nostr users, is now multilingual. Available languages include English, Español, Italiano, Français, Deutsch, and 日本語. You can contribute with a new language here.

• Keychat app v1.31.2, a chat app built on Bitcoin ecash, Nostr, and Signal Protocol, fixes bugs in MLS groups. The release also includes a DMG file for macOS desktop users.
• GM Swap is a proof-of-concept implementation of the Atomic Signature Swaps NIP. It enables users to "swap GM notes, ensuring that both parties' signatures are exchanged simultaneously or not at all."
• Aegis v0.1.0 beta is a simple, cross-platform Nostr signer that supports multiple connection methods. It currently supports iOS URL Scheme login for inter-app authentication flows and is available on iOS via TestFlight.
• Rust-nostr v0.41 introduces NIP-C0 support and NIP-98 helpers, corrects NIP-32 and NIP-47 implementations, and adds the nostr-keyring crate. It extends admission policies for fine control over relay connections, beneficial in gossip mode. POSIX semaphores are enabled for LMDB on iOS and macOS to address App Sandbox issues. It also expands architecture support for C# and JVM bindings, including linux-x86, windows-x86, and windows-arm64, among other things.
• Nostringer is a JavaScript/TypeScript library providing unlinkable ring signatures (SAG) for Nostr public keys. Inspired by Monero's ring signatures using Spontaneous Anonymous Group (SAG) signatures and the beritani/ring-signatures implementation, it enables a signer to prove their membership in a group of Nostr accounts without disclosing which specific account produced the signature. See a live demo here.
• Private Pond by Kukks a Bitcoin Payjoin application built specifically to optimize Bitcoin transaction rails for services such as deposits, withdrawals, and automated wallet re-balancing. The project is unmaintained and should only be used as inspiration.
• Pokey v0.1.6-alpha now includes NIP-05 mentions in its notifications.
• 0xchat v1.0.2-desktop-beta introduces support for NIP-104 MLS secret chats, allows copying images from the clipboard, and fixes an issue where pressing 'enter' in the desktop client would send messages immediately.
• stacker.news introduced changes to horse and gun badges to indicate whether users have wallets attached.
• SimpleX Chat v6.3.2 provides a fix related to backward/forward compatibility of the app in some rare cases.
• Tails v6.14.2 is an emergency patch release that addresses security vulnerabilities in the Linux kernel and the Perl programming language implementation.
• Arti v1.4.2, a next-generation Tor client in Rust, is now available. Arti's RPC interface is now officially stable, and ready for testing.
• Tor Browser v14.5 has been released, introducing Connection Assist to Android, which helps mobile users facing strict censorship to easily unblock Tor with a single button press. Additionally, Belarusian, Bulgarian, and Portuguese languages are now available across all platforms, along with other improvements.
• GrapheneOS v2025041100 is a full April security update release.

Guides and research

• Jonas Nick, Tim Ruffing, and Yannick Seurin announced DahLIAS. It is the first crypto protocol for full cross-input signature aggregation that allows reusing Bitcoin's curve secp256k1.
• 0xtr has shared a guide for setting up a Strfry relay and exposing it as a Tor Onion service.
• Here's a case study on how Greenlight by Blockstream allows developers to seamlessly integrate non-custodial Bitcoin Lightning payments into their apps using Validating Lightning Signer (VLS).

• Bitcoin Optech Newsletter #350 is now available.
• HRF's Financial Freedom Report #70 covers recent stories and updates on the intersection of financial freedom and human rights.
• BitMEX Research has shared its analysis of the Timewarp Attack.
• Mostro has published a blog post on its integrated, end-to-end encrypted chat designed for resolving disputes in P2P trades.
• Ben Arc has made a video overview of LNbits v1 User Area API and Token System for stack developers.

• Here's a tutorial on how to 'vibe-code' Bitcoin games with Roland from Alby.

• Ruben Somsen introduced SwiftSync: a near-stateless, fully parallelizable method for validating the Bitcoin blockchain, providing hints about which outputs remain unspent.
• Bitvocation's Bitcoin Job Market update for March 2025 is available here.
• BTC Sessions has published a new tutorial for using the Sparrow Wallet, catering to users from beginner to advanced levels.

• Btrust Builders wrote a blog post on how Lightning Nodes source onchain data.
• Atomic Signature Swaps over Nostr by Victor is a protocol for atomically exchanging Schnorr signatures using Nostr events for orchestration.
• John Carvalho has published a blog post debunking Operation Choke Point v2.0.
• Mike Abramo has written a Lightning Bounties recap of mentoring the MIT Bitcoin Hackathon 2025.
• Antoine Poinsot has shared a BIP draft for the Consensus Cleanup soft fork.

• Check out the following documentary by Marius Farashi Tasooji on the Bitcoin-fueled transformation of El Salvador.

Mining stats

• Bitcoin mining difficulty climbs to 123.23T. The latest difficulty adjustment has brought an 1.42% increase, marking a new high and a fourth difficulty increase in a row.
• The network's hashrate (7-day simple moving average) is currently at 876 EH/s.

Lightning stats

• There are approximately 4699 BTC on the Lightning Network right now. The capacity has declined by 88 BTC in the last seven days, per amboss.space stats.

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