A research paper from the University of Qatar serves as a reminder that Bitcoin is not private and that it can negate the privacy of Tor users.
This week, open-source Bitcoin and Lightning Network node developer Umbrel released a significant update to its operating system, bringing a list of notable improvements to its wallet and UX, plus several additions to its celebrated Umbrel App Store.
The Umbrel App Store was released December 2020 and has brought single-click installation of some of the most popular Bitcoin apps since then. This latest update brings the addition of Samourai Server, a mempool.space explorer and LNBits.
The Umbrel v0.3.3 operating system update also allows users to easily connect to an external wallet to monitor and send transactions. This update also integrates the latest versions of Bitcoin Core (v0.21.0) and LND (v0.12.0).
About The Apps
Samourai Server is an exclusive, Umbrel-only app that runs both Samourai Dojo and Whirlpool out of the box, and provides easy, step-by-step instructions to the user so they can effortlessly connect their Samourai wallet. This represents the highest-level of privacy that you can achieve as a Samourai Wallet user, because you no longer have to trust its servers with any of your data. Also, with Whirlpool, your Umbrel can now mix your bitcoin at any time.
Mempool is the self-hosted version of the mempool.space Bitcoin blockchain explorer. It brings all of the features of mempool.space to your Umbrel app, allowing you to use your Bitcoin node as a full-fledged explorer, visualize the mempool and get on-chain fee estimates.
With LNbits, users can onboard their friends and family members to the Lightning Network relatively easily by hosting their wallets directly through Umbrel, without them having to worry about running a Lightning node or managing channel liquidity.
Most Bitcoin and Lightning wallets have their own unique procedures for connecting to a personal Bitcoin node, and there isn’t a standard protocol. Some require additional steps, such as installing Tor, and some don’t, but the process isn’t obvious to most non-technically inclined people. The new wallet connector in Umbrel v0.3.3 provides easy to follow, step-by-step instructions for connecting most of the popular Bitcoin and Lightning wallets, like Electrum, Wasabi, Zap and BlueWallet.
Combined with the seven apps that launched with the Umbrel App Store a few weeks ago (BTCPay Server, Specter Desktop, Sphinx Relay, RTL, Lightning Terminal, ThunderHub and BTC RPC Explorer), this latest update further solidifies that one-click install financial self-sovereignty is no longer a far-fetched dream with Umbrel.