2 years ago
RoboSats is simply a task that allows users to make amusive pseudonymous avatars that tin facilitate KYC-free bitcoin trades.
This is an sentiment editorial by Okada, mechanical technologist and contributor to Bitcoin Magazine.
Generate a robot avatar contiguous and speech Bitcoin implicit the Lightning Network (LN) with elemental and KYC-free RoboSats. When utilizing RoboSats — abbreviated for Robotic Satoshis — nary trade-offs are indispensable betwixt convenience, information and implicit privacy.
Note: Users should ever verify for themselves the integrity of a task anterior to utilizing it. RoboSats is afloat functional but is inactive considered an experimental Lightning application, meaning users should lone transact successful tiny amounts. Users tin de-anonymize themselves utilizing methods of outgo that necessitate AML/KYC checks similar recognition cards which are not recommended.
The project’s concept, inspired by P2PLNBot, emphasizes providing end-users an easy, snappy interface without impairing privateness and security. The afloat open-source assemblage task uses Lightning clasp invoices arsenic fidelity bonds and commercialized escrows to maximize information and minimize penetration of privateness with a adjacent to custody-less commercialized pipeline. If users brushwood conflict, past RoboSats unit volition assistance resoluteness the dispute.
On the frontend, the peer-to-peer speech functions likewise to eBay oregon Craigslist successful presumption of seamlessly facilitating consumer-to-consumer income betwixt implicit strangers online. Unlike RoboSats, the prevalent occupation with modern e-commerce and centralized exchanges alike is the postulation of delicate idiosyncratic information successful the archetypal spot which is prone to exploitation by hackers and cybercriminals. Removing the request to registry real-world recognition provides users a “privacy by default” acquisition and yet a higher grade of security.
This nonfiction discusses the risks of KYC-only exchanges, however RoboSats works and a airy usher to utilizing RoboSats yourself! For readers wanting to get to the point, click the Onion Link with Tor oregon link utilizing I2P beneath to commencement buying and selling KYC-free bitcoin (connecting with different browsers is not recommended):
Onion Link: http://robosats6tkf3eva7x2voqso3a5wcorsnw34jveyxfqi2fu7oyheasid.onion/
I2P: http://robosats.i2p/?i2paddresshelper=r7r4sckft6ptmk4r2jajiuqbowqyxiwsle4iyg4fijtoordc6z7a.b32.i2p
KYC Bitcoin Hurts Users And The Network
The quality to bargain and merchantability bitcoin privately is simply a fundamental necessity for a genuinely escaped Bitcoin ecosystem. Bitcoiners indispensable leverage immoderate privateness solutions disposable to fortify some their idiosyncratic sovereignty and the fungible properties of bitcoin. Exchanging fiat for bitcoin and vice versa is easy streamlined for the mean purchaser oregon seller’s convenience with centralized, custodial exchanges. However, this convenient on/off-ramp to the Bitcoin web comes astatine a important sacrifice to one’s idiosyncratic privateness and ultimately diminishes the fungible, permissionless quality of the Bitcoin network.
These exchanges enforce Anti-Money Laundering and Know-Your-Customer (AML/KYC) laws, wherever users indispensable archetypal taxable identifying documents to the speech arsenic a prerequisite for utilizing their services — efficaciously negating immoderate meaningful privateness the Bitcoin web has to offer. Bitcoin sent to and from one’s relationship connected an AML/KYC speech becomes linked to that user’s real-world individuality and enables vectors for perchance nefarious entities to way spending habits, blacklist circumstantial bitcoin addresses and find one’s nett bitcoin wealth. As a consequence, specified vectors tin harm quality rights activists and interests worldwide.
Increasingly invasive AML/KYC measures implemented by exchanges accent the value of regularly utilizing non-KYC alternatives without needing to forego accessibility, idiosyncratic friendliness and inexpensive fees; indeed, RoboSats aims to execute conscionable that. While determination beryllium respective non-KYC alternatives, these are comparatively technical, dilatory and costly to mean users seeking convenience and simplicity. For ample amounts, it is inactive recommended to usage on-chain escrow services specified arsenic Bisq whereas RoboSats is perfect for smaller amounts implicit the Lightning Network.
Given the abundance of exchange hacks, heists, outright scams and adjacent thievery by the traditional fiscal institutions themselves, the reliance connected centralized custodians arsenic a guardian of one’s assets whitethorn cause much damage to the end-user’s privateness and wealthiness alternatively than really securing it.
Furthermore, per the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the usage of bitcoin and different cryptocurrencies for illicit enactment remains “far beneath that of fiat currency and much accepted methods,” wherever illicit enactment accounted for 0.15% of each cryptocurrency transaction measurement successful 2021. In different words, mandatory AML/KYC checks connected the remaining 99.85% honorable bulk present the hazard of your backstage information being leaked and consequently costing you perchance thousands of dollars successful fiscal harm to resoluteness theft of compromised idiosyncratic information.
An speech that doesn’t cod your accusation can’t suffer that accusation to hackers oregon malicious employees connected the inside. At a basal level, RoboSats works to wholly empower the end-user and marque idiosyncratic sovereignty much accessible for each by leveraging the velocity and information of the Lightning Network. Moreover, RoboSats is highly elemental for anyone to usage arsenic shown successful the pursuing illustration of our fictitious users Alice and Bob.
How RoboSats Works
Below is simply a method travel diagram of the robot avatar procreation process that ensures privateness and information portion utilizing RoboSats:
(Graphic/RoboSats)Upon loading the RoboSats homepage (accessed via Onion oregon I2P), a amusive robot avatar is generated with a random pseudonym (nym) for Alice. The random nym (e.g., ImportedNoise683) corresponds to a backstage token for recovering that unsocial nym successful the future. Safely storing the backstage token is captious successful lawsuit Alice needs to retrieve her nym and entree orders associated with that nym. RoboSats volition automatically make a new, unsocial avatar each clip the homepage is freshly accessed to maximize idiosyncratic privateness — truthful backmost up your token!
Once Alice has her unsocial avatar and has besides safely stored the corresponding backstage token, she is prepared to marque an bid connected RoboSats oregon fulfill an bid already made by different robot nym. Alice decides connected making a caller bid to bargain 100,000 satoshis (0.001 BTC) with euros astatine a desired premium and provides immoderate method(s) of outgo that she wants to accept, but indispensable archetypal fastener a tiny clasp invoice earlier publishing the order, known arsenic the shaper bond. Alice should see accepting payment methods that are accelerated and are apt to lucifer with a adjacent who besides accepts the aforesaid outgo methods.
Bob, aft besides generating his unsocial nym, wants to merchantability his satoshis for fiat and finds Alice’s robot nym successful the bid book. Bob decides that the outgo method(s) successful euros and the premium chosen by Alice are suitable for him and volition instrumentality Alice’s bargain order. Bob indispensable besides fastener a tiny clasp invoice earlier transacting with Alice, known arsenic the taker bond. Now some purchaser and seller person posted a tiny enslaved utilizing LN to beryllium they are existent users. The declaration is finalized and Bob posts the 100,000 satoshis helium is selling with a clasp invoice portion Alice submits her payout invoice.
After Bob takes the order, Alice and Bob stock a private, encrypted chat country to coordinate and corroborate the exchanged amount. Alice and Bob should support their chat abbreviated and concise to debar providing non-essential and perchance identifying accusation different than what is strictly indispensable for the fiat outgo method. Of course, similar immoderate different online chat room, being polite and pursuing wide societal etiquette volition marque for a simpler and much pleasant peer-to-peer interaction.
RoboSats locks the invoice until Bob confirms helium received Alice’s fiat outgo successful afloat and past Bob’s commercialized clasp invoice is charged the 100,000 satoshis, which get released to Alice. Because Alice and Bob played by the rules, the shaper and taker bonds primitively posted are automatically returned. The bonds are lone charged (lost) successful the lawsuit of a adjacent unilaterally canceling an bid aft the declaration is finalized oregon a adjacent trying to cheat different adjacent (lost dispute).
After the peer-to-peer, KYC-free transaction is completed, Alice and Bob tin freely make different unsocial robot nym to privately bargain oregon merchantability much bitcoin! At nary constituent did Alice oregon Bob person to entrust the bitcoin to each other. If Bob tried to cheat Alice by ne'er sending his satoshis, past Alice tin unfastened a dispute; however, astatine the expiration of the bid contract, if Bob ne'er confirmed helium received Alice’s fiat payment, past a quality is automatically opened and Alice tin gain the archetypal payout positive the fidelity enslaved by submitting due grounds of fraud to RoboSats staff.
The technically inclined tin reappraisal the GitHub leafage for adjacent greater accusation astatine the codebase level of RoboSats. With a basal knowing of however RoboSats works to lucifer peers, stacking sats is conscionable a fewer clicks away.
Getting Started Robostacking
The little usher beneath is simply a airy instauration to utilizing RoboSats wherever we spot however to bargain bitcoin with fiat measurement by step. In-depth video tutorials are disposable by BTC Sessions, Ian Majors and Einundzwanzig (German). RoboSats besides has a adjuvant visual and written usher arsenic well.
First things first, you request a Lightning wallet compatible with RoboSats that is ideally non-custodial. If utilizing your ain LN node similar a Raspiblitz, you volition request transmission peers connected to the greater Lightning Network arsenic good arsenic capable inbound oregon outbound transmission liquidity for buying oregon selling satoshis, respectively.
Outbound transmission liquidity tin beryllium obtained by opening a transmission to a well-connected peer. Inbound transmission liquidity tin beryllium acquired via buying inbound liquidity, swaps oregon uncovering a well-connected adjacent who volition unfastened a transmission to you. Once your node has the means to nonstop oregon person a Lightning outgo of astatine slightest the magnitude you’re trying to speech positive the magnitude for the maker/taker bonds, you tin statesman creating oregon fulfilling orders connected RoboSats.
Navigate to the aforementioned RoboSats Onion Link oregon I2P tract to get started. The webpage volition show a freshly generated robot avatar with a unsocial nym. For this session, I americium your affable vicinity robot WoundingFreeman911:
The idiosyncratic is greeted with their nym (1), associated robot avatar (2) and the unsocial token (3) to retrieve that robot nym. Users tin generate/recover a robot nym (4) oregon proceed with the already-generated robot nym to marque an bid (5), work further info (6) connected however to usage RoboSats efficaciously oregon presumption the unrecorded bid publication (7).
The unsocial token utilized to deterministically make a corresponding robot nym should beryllium safely stored to let aboriginal betterment of that circumstantial robot nym. If you adjacent retired of the browser, suffer transportation oregon refresh the leafage during your session, past you tin input your safely stored token to retrieve and make immoderate antecedently created robot nym.
You tin presumption your nym’s illustration (8) and the quantity of disposable nationalist bargain orders (9) oregon merchantability orders (10). The fig of progressive robots (11) is displayed arsenic good arsenic the expected premium (12) a idiosyncratic tin astir apt expect to wage oregon cod for non-KYC bitcoin, presently 4.62% astatine clip of screenshot. The expected premium is simply a weighted median by measurement of transactions, not a weighted mean, making it resistant to outlier orders and besides discourages large players coming and scooping ample orders with utmost premiums that are not typical of the retail marketplace sentiment.
There is simply a enactment of disposable languages (13), robots tin find nationalist assistance by reaching retired to a RoboSats assemblage (14) and users tin presumption immoderate statistic of RoboSats (15). A neat bid of insightful infographics of the speech implicit its beingness tin beryllium recovered here.
Users tin filter the bid publication by clicking whether oregon not they privation to bargain oregon merchantability and with which currency. Since we are looking to bargain bitcoin, we find determination are 5 different robots with varying amounts, currencies, outgo methods and premiums. Certainly not your mean speech liquidity astatine the moment, truthful making your ain bid whitethorn beryllium needed if determination are nary existing orders that enactment for you. Conveniently, my outgo and currency preferences align with RoutineDrunkard532 arsenic seen below:
The fastest way to exchanging bitcoin connected RoboSats is taking an existing bid alternatively than creating an bid and subsequently waiting for a adjacent to lucifer up with you. The mean taker spends astir 7 minutes successful RoboSats — from archetypal generating a robot to yet receiving the bitcoin oregon fiat magnitude successful a self-custodial mode — making it importantly faster to transact and self-custody compared to centralized exchanges.
If nary existing bid matches your preferences, make a caller bid to bespeak your preferred amount, currency, fiat outgo methods and premium. For this guide, I instrumentality RoutineDrunkard532’s bid and determine to wage with a cash-bought Amazon acquisition card. Notice the Amazon logo with a United States emblem successful the little near country of the outgo method icon. If I americium to instrumentality an bid utilizing an Amazon acquisition card, past I request to acquisition an Amazon acquisition paper that works for the state indicated — successful this instance, an Amazon USA acquisition card.
We are presented with the bid box, a preview of the maker’s bid earlier confirming I privation to instrumentality it. The seller’s robot avatar has a greenish dot successful the apical close corner, meaning the seller is online and apt to respond successful a timely fashion. In this order, my adjacent is selling $100 worthy of bitcoin astatine an 8% premium. While I could look for a much competitory premium, paying with an Amazon acquisition paper is precise convenient for maine and the supra mean premium is worthy it if I tin usage the acquisition paper arsenic a outgo method. RoboSats volition amusement a Lightning invoice aft taking the bid and past I volition nonstop a Lightning outgo for the taker bond:
The taker enslaved is 12,575 sats successful total, oregon 3% of the dollar magnitude of bitcoin I’m buying. The enslaved volition beryllium returned to maine upon completion of the transaction, assuming I behave similar a bully robot and bash not effort to cheat my adjacent oregon unilaterally backmost retired of the order. Using my Lightning wallet, I nonstop the outgo instantly utilizing the Lightning invoice that was provided. RoboSats has maine corroborate a Lightning oregon on-chain code to guarantee I americium capable to person the funds anterior to sending my adjacent the fiat payment:
And below, I again usage the Lightning wallet to taxable a valid invoice for the 418,460 satoshis ($100 worthy of bitcoin astatine an 8% premium) I volition beryllium receiving successful speech for fiat:
I person acceptable the invoice expiry to lucifer the expiry of the order’s deposit timer astatine 3 hours, giving the seller capable clip to nonstop bitcoin to the submitted Lightning invoice. The adjacent measurement is chatting with the seller to coordinate the speech of bitcoin for fiat:
Keeping the speech concise is perfect and, astir importantly, bash not stock immoderate identifying accusation too what is perfectly indispensable for the chosen fiat outgo method. With a cash-bought Amazon acquisition card, determination is nary identifying accusation associated with it, I lone request to stock the redemption codification connected the backmost of the acquisition paper with the adjacent truthful they tin corroborate the codification is so legitimate.
At immoderate constituent during the chat, I tin “audit PGP” and verify the privateness of this chat utilizing immoderate instrumentality based connected the OpenPGP standard. As well, I tin petition a “collaborative cancel” of the transaction with my adjacent and our bonds are returned. If you adjacent non-collaboratively, past you volition forfeit your enslaved and suffer those satoshis. If thing smells fishy, I could besides look to “open a dispute” for the RoboSats squad to review. My peer, RoutineDrunkard532, was precise polite and made for an casual experience:
After sending the fiat payment, I click the fastener to “confirm USD sent” arsenic seen successful the representation above. The adjacent volition verify they person received my fiat outgo and corroborate connected their extremity by clicking a akin fastener connected their screen. The commercialized is finalized and my Lightning wallet received the bitcoin I bought utilizing an Amazon acquisition card:
It truly is that simple. My taker enslaved was unlocked and I received 418,460 sats wholly KYC-free done a adjacent to custody-less commercialized pipeline. Excluding clip spent withdrawing currency and buying the acquisition paper successful idiosyncratic (about fractional an hour), the speech transaction took little than 10 minutes from commencement to finish. As evidenced by my transaction, the full constituent of RoboSats is to streamline the acquisition to the max portion besides mitigating the chances for immoderate end-user error. After acquiring your (potentially first) KYC-free bitcoin, bask the sovereign idiosyncratic lifestyle!
Another imaginable usage for RoboSats is arsenic a peer-to-peer swap market for Lightning and on-chain BTC. Instead of utilizing fiat to bargain oregon sell, users tin swap on-chain bitcoin for Lightning liquidity and vice versa. Shown below, the projected bid is seeking to bargain 0.022 BTC off-chain successful speech for on-chain BTC. Additionally, swap liquidity providers tin instrumentality a desired premium (i.e., 0.3%) and summation a nett net arsenic the liquidity provider.
The sleek frontend of RoboSats makes the process precise casual and digestible for novice users. Making and taking orders is elemental and volition apt suffice for immoderate casual user. However, advanced options geared toward precocious users and larger liquidity providers are bully for much circumstantial bid requests.
In the supra example, a merchantability bid is customized with precocious options allowing the taker to take an magnitude wrong the selected scope of $100 to $300 and an accrued minimum fidelity enslaved from 3% to 5%, thereby requiring much tegument successful the crippled but higher assurance of information from scammers.
Allowing bondless takers is planned arsenic different enactment for orders of 50,000 satoshis oregon little but besides carries accrued risk. Newcomers to LN without superior oregon constricted fiscal quality to enactment up the funds for a fidelity enslaved could instrumentality orders allowing bondless takers successful speech for a higher premium owed to the added counterparty risk.
The expiry timers specifying the clip of expiry of a nationalist bid are besides modified from the maximum 24-hour nationalist duration and the three-hour escrow deposit time-out, some of which are the default expiry timers for a non-custom order. For my illustration bid above, I’ve chosen a 12-hour nationalist duration expiry since I americium not awake 24/7, and a five-hour model for escrow deposit time-out due to the fact that I whitethorn not beryllium astatine my machine for hours astatine a clip during the day.
Such precocious features tin airs plan challenges for a idiosyncratic interface emphasizing straightforwardness and simplicity. Certain precocious options volition request to beryllium disposable erstwhile navigating the bid publication which whitethorn origin accusation overload and deter unconfident newcomers. Of course, immoderate participants worth specified features and a means to filter the bid publication betwixt elemental and precocious orders could alleviate the imaginable disorder for first-time users.
Limitations Of RoboSats
RoboSats tin supply tremendous benefits for protecting idiosyncratic privateness and proves request exists for a private, peer-to-peer, KYC-free speech implicit LN. Yet RoboSats isn’t a magic elixir for privateness and users should beryllium alert of the platform’s limitations earlier assuming sovereign invincibility.
Your transactions are lone arsenic backstage arsenic you marque them. Payment methods, though wholly up to the bid shaper to define, tin go checkpoints for AML/KYC registration similar Venmo, Cash App and PayPal. It is important to enactment that with PayPal, a wide utilized fiat outgo method, a purchaser tin enactment fraudulently utilizing PayPal’s buyer extortion policy by creating a refund petition successful PayPal aft the trading process successful RoboSats is completed, taking some fiat and bitcoin each for themselves. This signifier of fraud tin beryllium prevented by agreeing with the purchaser to nonstop the wealth utilizing the enactment to “send wealth to a person oregon household member.”
If a idiosyncratic is so cheated by their adjacent and seeks arbitration done filing a dispute, past the idiosyncratic volition beryllium babelike connected the RoboSats reviewers for mediation of immoderate disputes and claims of scamming. This is the plain world of utilizing a still-experimental and afloat open-source speech successful lieu of a company’s centralized exchange. But interestingly enough, RoboSats has presently seen implicit 8,000 orders and lone 30 disputes person been initiated wherever conscionable one(!) bid was identified arsenic fraud.
Limitations imposed by the Lightning Network’s average transmission capacity restricts RoboSats’ quality to transact successful larger amounts. At clip of writing, the max azygous commercialized size connected RoboSats is 3,000,000 satoshis (0.03 BTC) to bounds Lightning routing failure. The instant outgo strategy implicit LN excels astatine sending and receiving micropayments whereas ample amounts are amended suited for on-chain payments utilizing non-KYC platforms similar Bisq. On the flip side, utilizing RoboSats is highly speedy and inexpensive for small, incremental stacking implicit LN compared to on-chain.
The vantage of utilizing LN and clasp invoices allows immoderate unsettled Lightning clasp invoice to automatically instrumentality to you adjacent if RoboSats goes down everlastingly oregon abruptly disappears. Granted, funds could beryllium permanently mislaid if RoboSats disappears during a precise tiny model (about 1 second) betwixt the seller confirming the fiat outgo method was received and the infinitesimal the purchaser really receives the satoshis released by the clasp invoice. Having capable inbound liquidity tin assistance debar routing failures and subsequently minimize immoderate specified model for opportunity.
Buyer and seller request not spot each different astatine immoderate constituent during the transaction process due to the fact that of Lightning clasp invoices, but minimal spot connected RoboSats is needed since linking the seller’s clasp invoice and purchaser outgo is not atomic (research ongoing). RoboSats could simply not merchandise the satoshis to the buyer, yet this could besides beryllium argued arsenic a struggle of involvement for the level since this would permanently harm its ain estimation for a comparatively trivial payout.
Until RoboSats matures from an experimental task to a much robust marketplace, for their ain safety, users should commercialized successful tiny quantities that they are comfy with. Although determination are limitations, nary of which lessen the functionality of the platform, RoboSats requires zero trade-offs betwixt the user’s convenience and privateness erstwhile engaging with the free, peer-to-peer market. Added spot tin beryllium built by inspecting the RoboSats root codification and verifying the project’s integrity.
Stack RoboSats And Stay RoboHumble
First publicly announced connected the Bitcoin subreddit connected February 27, 2022, the nascent task has already surpassed 12 BTC worthy of beingness contracted volume. The level exhibits large imaginable and is simply a measurement guardant successful rivaling large centralized exchanges with easiness of use, minimal fees and implicit privacy. While determination is ever country for improvement, users volition find that RoboSats provides a straightforward and intuitive level to anonymously speech bitcoin peer-to-peer.
No different speech allows for a antithetic individuality successful each transaction, determination is nary registration required, chat rooms are backstage with auditable PGP-encrypted connection and RoboSats lone operates with Tor oregon I2P — each successful an effort to maximize end-user privateness without sacrificing easiness of use. Using RoboSats and non-KYC alternatives volition assistance amended the fungibility of the Bitcoin web done normalizing accumulation and circulation of non-KYC bitcoin successful lieu of KYC-only bitcoin.
Curious developers are encouraged to enactment the task by contributing to the GitHub repository. Pull requests for caller features tin beryllium made eligible for earning sats wherever the contributing developer submits an LN invoice associated with their propulsion request. The small gross the level makes helps wage backmost the contributors who are voluntarily investing their clip successful the project. An illustration of compensated publication tin beryllium recovered here and the features that are eligible for earning sats are marked accordingly.
Interested users without programming know-how tin besides assistance by creating tutorials, opening outbound LN channels toward the RoboSats node, telling others to effort RoboSats and guiding newcomers successful the RoboSats telegram groups (EN [main], ES, RU, PT, CN).
Ultimately, the task is small without the idiosyncratic basal who brings the biggest interaction simply by utilizing RoboSats regularly. Check retired the project and get started stacking anonymously with RoboSats!
PS: Many acknowledgment to Reckless_Satoshi and the RoboSats contributors for their clip responding to idiosyncratic questions and their fervent dedication to this promising open-source project.
This is simply a impermanent station by Okada. Opinions expressed are wholly their ain and bash not needfully bespeak those of BTC, Inc. oregon Bitcoin Magazine.
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