The Mule Tools code collection on Github is set to develop new ways to transact Bitcoin including via Fax, Morse Code, and chat applications. Developed tools stand to be incorporated into the Samourai wallet.
Inspired by the blockstream satellite and Nick Szabo’s thoughts on the physical transportation of data, Mule Tools is aiming to be a clearinghouse of code enabling alternative methods of broadcasting Bitcoin transactions. What all this means is that using a fax to transact need not just be the sole preserve of Hipsters but rather a way of circumventing possible censorship driven restrictions, enabling transactions outside of internet outages and as a way of combating possible hijackings of your data.
Alternative Bitcoin Transaction Broadcast Methods
Internet down? Satellites, too? Send a BTC transaction by fax! https://t.co/jKNbuJGuil
— Yuri Yerofeyev (@bitcoinyuri) October 26, 2017
The team provides a list of possible areas that they would be interested in assisting the development of:
- SMS relay
- satellite hook-up
- fax or any form of hard copy to character recognition
- save to external support (USB)
- Portable Document Format (PDF)
- telex
- HF audio
- Morse code
- meshNets
- NFC
- BLE
- chat apps (especially encrypted)
The list is not definitive with the team saying they are open to other possible suggestions, but they do say that all submitted projects will be considered for support and potential inclusion in the Samourai Wallet (a popular mobile Bitcoin wallet solution).
Blockstream Satellites
The blockstream satellite is an ambitious project streaming radio broadcasts from space to help those without internet access to benefit and use the Bitcoin blockchain. The company Blockstream have so far leased out bandwidth on 3 satellites in a move which may sound far-fetched but it simply means blockchain data is being broadcasted in the same way as GPS currently is.
Dr. Adam Back, Blockstream CEO, clarifies:
A user or a local business can run a full node, receive all the data and then when they go to send a transaction, they can pay the bandwidth cost for that. A Bitcoin transaction is pretty small, like 250 bytes.
These exciting developments look set to continue as Bitcoin matures, enabling the use of the technology in even the most troubling of locales, benefiting the worlds poor and unbanked who are set to potentially benefit the most from the global Bitcoin monetary revolution.
Do you code? Own a Samourai Wallet? What kind of timeframe do you think it will be before we see some of these solutions actively implemented? Tell us what you think in the comments below.
Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg