Hi Lemmy,

I'm Martin and have been working on a free and open-source, fully DIY crypto hardware wallet for a couple of months now. I' ve just published the first functional preview of the firmware, which can be built by anyone easily using Arduino IDE, and flashed to a variety of $5-off-the-shelve ESP32 boards from Aliexpress.

The first release will allow for storing up to 30 encrypted seed phrases, and Ethereum signing via Bluetooth Low Energy. Under the hood, it's powered by the cryptographic libraries written and used by Trezor.io.

Support for more interfaces and chains can be added fairly easily due to a modular structure, and there is a whole roadmap planned to extend functionality (starting with support for displays).

If you're interested to learn more, check out the README in the Colibri repository.

Please let me know what you think, and leave a 🌟 on Github if you like the project.

Also if there's anything that you've always missed in or been annoyed by a hardware wallet, your input would be greatly appreciated!

Legislation was introduced in the Texas House of Representatives on Thursday to establish a strategic bitcoin reserve, which could serve as a proving ground for the U.S. Treasury. The proposed bill would enable the state to start building a strategic bitcoin reserve by accepting taxes, fees and donations in bitcoin that would be held for a minimum of five years, Republican state Rep. Giovanni Capriglione announced on an X Spaces event Thursday.

The Texas bill aims to provide a way to strengthen the state's fiscal stability and establish it as a leader in bitcoin innovation, according to the Satoshi Action Fund, a nonprofit bitcoin advocacy group that worked with Capriglione on the bill. "Probably the biggest enemy of our investments is inflation," Capriglione said. "A strategic bitcoin reserve, investing in bitcoin, would be a win-win for the state." "I just filed the bill ... entitled 'An act relating to the establishment of a bitcoin reserve within the state treasury of Texas and the management of cryptocurrencies by governmental entities,'" he said later.

"My goal is to make this bill as big and as broad as possible," Capriglione said. "This initial step is to allow some optionality and flexibility on it, but if I am able to get support from other legislators, we will make it even stronger."

It's "unlikely" a U.S. strategic bitcoin reserve will be established, "but it helps get animal spirits back into the market," Needham's John Todaro told CNBC. He said it's also "unlikely to drive material price gains, as we do not expect the U.S. government will purchase bitcoin in any meaningful capacity, but it's an item that drives excitement and optimism."

Abstract credit: https://slashdot.org/story/436405

cross-posted from: https://programming.dev/post/22002771

Apple has become aware of a security flaw that could let hackers take control of a user’s iPhone or iPad if they visit a harmful website.

Maybe i'm reading this wrong but it doesn't seem to be cryptocurrency-specific:

Jeremiah O’Connor, CTO and co-founder of crypto cybersecurity firm Trugard, told Decrypt that “attackers could access sensitive data like private keys or passwords” stored in their browser, enabling crypto theft if the user’s device remained unpatched.

I tried this last time and it didn't work and I went to support and got scammed on telegram. Lesson learned, but I still have like $50 worth of render I'd like to switch over to the Sol render so I can actually sell it and get out of this shit coin. Please, what do I do? Will any solana wallet work to receive it? Wtf is a wormhole? I hate projects like this that can't just keep things the way they are and instead fuck everyone with their shit "upgrades"

I want to invest in some crypto, I know that this requieres ID verification usually. Is https://www.kraken.com/ a good website for investing? Because I don't really want to send my ID to some dudes on the internet. Thank you

I know crypto.com charges it as a cash advance and so does Kraken. Are their any options that don't? I called the CC company and they said its up to the exchange how they "label the charge"

I think the gold standard of account creation is the mullvad experience, you create an account id, and your good to go. I haven't found such frictionless service in the game hosting domain.

I've found two services that do accept crypto, with some friction, but nothing perfect. I'd like to hear of any alternatives that work well, (specifically for factorio hosting).

I realize there are plenty of VPS and cloud hosting services already, but that's alot of config and admin to get a commodity game server up for a month or two.

Vice President Kamala Harris is now calling for a regulatory framework that would “protect” American crypto holders.

Vice President Kamala Harris is now calling for a regulatory framework that would “protect” American crypto holders.

The FBI created a cryptocurrency as part of an investigation into price manipulation in crypto markets, the government revealed on Wednesday. From a report:

The FBI's Ethereum-based token, NexFundAI, was created with the help of "cooperating witnesses." As a result of the investigation, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged three "market makers" and nine people for allegedly engaging in schemes to boost the prices of certain crypto assets. The Department of Justice charged 18 people and entities for "widespread fraud and manipulation" in crypto markets.

The defendants allegedly made false claims about their tokens and executed so-called "wash trades" to create the impression of an active trading market, prosecutors claim. The three market makers -- ZMQuant, CLS Global, and MyTrade -- allegedly wash traded or conspired to wash trade on behalf of NexFundAI, an Ethereum-based token they didn't realize was created by the FBI.

"What the FBI uncovered in this case is essentially a new twist to old-school financial crime," Jodi Cohen, the special agent in charge of the FBI's Boston division, said in a statement. "What we uncovered has resulted in charges against the leadership of four cryptocurrency companies, and four crypto 'market makers' and their employees who are accused of spearheading a sophisticated trading scheme that allegedly bilked honest investors out of millions of dollars."

Abstract credit: https://slashdot.org/story/434115

The U.S. government now appears free to sell 69,370 Bitcoin that it seized from a Silk Road-affiliated wallet.

"Unlike most governments, Bhutan's BTC does not come from law enforcement asset seizures, but from bitcoin mining operations, which have ramped up dramatically since early 2023," the crypto intelligence firm explained. Crypto intelligence firm Arkham highlighted the Kingdom of Bhutan's bitcoin holdings on social media platform X last week. Bhutan is a small, landlocked kingdom located in the eastern Himalayas, bordered by China to the north and India to the south. The country currently has a population of less than 800,000 people.

We learned last year that Bhutan had been secretly mining bitcoin using its abundant hydroelectric resources since around 2019. The operation, which began when bitcoin was priced at approximately $5,000, aims to harness the country's vast renewable energy reserves to power mining rigs.

Hydroelectricity already accounts for 30% of Bhutan's GDP and powers nearly all of its 800,000 residents. The government claimed last year that mining profits are used to subsidize power and hardware costs. This revelation makes Bhutan one of the few countries globally to run a state-owned bitcoin mine, alongside El Salvador.

At over $800 million in Bitcoin holdings, the reserve accounts for nearly a third of Bhutan's 2022-calculated GDP.

Abstract credit: https://slashdot.org/story/433433

I wonder if there can be made a cryptocurrency that locksdown mining during winter and summer months in order to put less stress on grids around the world as well as be more climate friendly?