Thread by @Stadicus3000

1/ The @LNconf was amazing, two intense days of people building, collaborating and sharing knowledge.

I gave a talk about key design decisions of "Building A Node for Mom & Pop", thoughts from the #BitBoxBase project.

Here's a quick walk-through. 👇👇👇

2/ I'm a Bitcoin Minimalist and Full Node Maximalist. My own #Bitcoin journey focuses on digital sovereignty and got public with my #RaspiBolt guide.

stadicus.github.io/RaspiBolt/

3/ These days I work at Shift Cryptosecurity @ShiftCryptoHQ based in Zurich, maker of the #BitBox hardware wallets. With an amazing team I am building the simplest possible Bitcoin & Lightning Node, the #BitBoxBase.

shiftcrypto.ch

4/ Some context: our mission is to create an ecosystem of hardware and software products that equip you for full financial sovereignty.

5/ The #BitBoxBase project is fully open source. It's a product we will sell, but there always will be a DIY option, building it with standard parts yourself.

github.com/digitalbitbox/…

6/ This presentation is about four design goals and their technical implications.

7/ Building a node that can be used by everyone means that it must be super easy.

* Setting it up must not include any technical steps.
* Resilience is key, but if something goes wrong it must offer assistance to recover.
* So many possibilities... Focus is important.

8/ We use the open-source BitBoxApp instead of an online web user interface to improve security, privacy and user experience.

The App detects the base automatically and the #BitBoxBase can be set up over an encrypted channel with a few clicks.

github.com/digitalbitbox/…

9/ The #BitBoxBase allows you to directly participate in the #Bitcoin p2p network, without using 3rd party services. It independently verifies #Bitcoin funds and transactions on #BitBox02 hardware wallets, and allows to broadcast transactions more privately.

10/ Networked devices can be a pain, especially if they're not networked anymore.

Having a screen and buttons allows to directly show essential information, guide the user and allow for direct interactions.

base.shiftcrypto.ch/hardware

11/ I love tinkering, but hate maintenance. Having a focused product reduces complexity both for the user and maintaining the system.

We don't offer a choice between LND or c-lightning. It's our job to just make it work.

base.shiftcrypto.ch/applications

12/ I want my #Bitcoin wallet to do Bitcoin and LN the best possible way. From any end-device, with full validation and one set of channels. For usage with hardware wallets.

Having the plumbing in one place enables that, running 24/7, over Tor, with adv features like Autopilot.

13/ Privacy for digital financial information is a must. Transmission over cleartext is a no-go. Self-signed certificates for a web UI better, but bad UX with scary browser warnings.

The BitBoxApp opens an encrypted channel as first step, everything after that is encrypted.

14/ We enforce end-to-end encryption using the Noise Protocol Framework, like LN or Wireguard. You need to confirm the pairing hash, which is displayed on the Base/App, to prevent a MitM attack.

github.com/digitalbitbox/…

15/ We want to build an appliance, not a little Linux server. From a user perspective, the main difference is resilience.

You can unplug it anytime. When started, it comes up and just works again. This is why the root filesystem is read-only.

16/ Resilience is important when updating. Main options:

1. Script-based: accumulate issues, game over
2. Modularized services: good, easy upgrading, hard for operating-system level
3. [our choice] full disk image update: best practice for appliances

base.shiftcrypto.ch/os/upgrade.html

16/ We worked with @mender_io for RockPro64 board:

* dual root filesystem partition (active & passive)
* stream signed rootfs image to passive partition
* reboot into update and check
* commit on success
* reboot == fallback to previous state

17/ #BitBoxBase is still under heavy development and not feature complete. We are approaching beta testing.

We got many requests from the community and added the "early bird" program: 5 devices for the price of reusable parts (board, ssd). We throw in anything else for free.

18/ Sign up until 12 November 2019 if you're interested.

Thanks for your interest and reaching the end of my longest Tweet-storm ever! 👨‍🚀👍

https://twitter.com/ShiftCryptoHQ/status/1185913723636146176