BitChat downloads and global demand

Calle is the creator and lead maintainer of the Cashu open source protocol. Cashu enables users to easily use bitcoin in a private, offline, and programmable way. Calle is also the maintainer of Bitchat android, a cross platform meshnet app that enables users to chat and send bitcoin without an internet connection.

Calle on Nostr: https://primal.net/calle
Calle on X: https://x.com/callebtc
Bitchat: https://bitchat.free/
Cashu: https://cashu.space/
Hackathon: https://nutnovember.org/
AOS: https://andotherstuff.org/

EPISODE: 184
BLOCK: 925030
PRICE: 1126 sats per dollar

(00:04:44) Bitchat: Bluetooth Mesh Without Internet

(00:06:21) Protests and Outages Drive Downloads: Nepal, Indonesia, Madagascar, Côte d’Ivoire, Jamaica

(00:09:51) Predicting Unrest from Download Spikes

(00:14:27) Adding Nostr Transport: Hyperlocal Mesh vs. Geohash Chats

(00:18:03) Geolocated Relay Selection

(00:23:56) Ephemeral Identity, UX, and Censorship Considerations

(00:28:37) Mesh Upgrades: Voice, Images, Files, Source Routing like Tor

(00:30:23) WiFi Aware Mesh and Background Operation to Boost Range and Uptime

(00:34:15) White Noise vs. Bitchat

(00:40:00) Protocols and Transports: Weaving White Noise, Cashu, and Bitchat

(00:43:48) Transport Neutral Design: Cashu and Nostr

(00:45:57) Cashu Progress: Shipping Libraries, Dev Ecosystem Growth

(00:51:18) We Need More Bitcoin Devs

(00:53:08) Integrating Cashu into BitChat: Wallet UX and Local Payments

(00:57:17) Running Mints: Spark, Ark, and Proof of Reserves/Liabilities

(01:03:40) Layered Scaling Without Consensus Changes: Ark, Spark, Cashu

(01:04:18) Bitcoin for Signal: Replacing MobileCoin with Cashu

(01:13:32) Why Cashu for Signal? Privacy and Scaling

(01:22:31) Mint Choice vs. Simplicity: Defaults, Lightning Interoperability, and UX

(01:32:21) Focus on Financial Privacy for the Masses, not Distractions

(01:37:11) Zcash Hype Dismissed; Call to Build on Bitcoin

(01:39:26) Nut November Hackathon and How to Contribute to Bitchat and Cashu

(01:45:06) Happy Thanksgiving