Short and late rip today due to the fact that I am packing up my apartment. Here's a cool proposal from Bitcoin Core contributor Antoine Riard that slipped past me last month, AltNet. AltNet aims to help the P2P layer of Bitcoin much more robust. It would do this by enabling full nodes to communicate with alternative data transports across the network. Creating more redundancy and making it easier for full nodes to receive data from alternatives to IP's like the Blockstream satellite, ham radio, Lightning Network, Bluetooth and other data transport methods.

This is the type of stuff your Uncle Marty likes to see as it makes Bitcoin stronger against attacks from governments. We'll be following this proposal here at the Bent and will keep you freaks updated on the developments around it.

I had the pleasure of sitting down with Antoine last night and recording a three-hour conversation about his work on Bitcoin Core and Lighting. A must listen when it comes out next Monday. We talked about AltNet and I assure you Antoine explains it better.

The Venezuelan government is acquiring bitcoins

It seems that the Maduro regime is now openly acquiring bitcoins. They're using BTCPay Server as well, an open source software available to any individual who wishes to use it. You may not like it, but Bitcoin cannot discriminate. If you haven't come to grips with this fact yet, let this instance act as a reminder that anyone who wants to access the Bitcoin network can. Including evil dictators.

Governments have officially joined the mad dash for bitcoins.

Final thought...

Spackel and bubble wrap. Only want to deal with them once a decade, MAX.