Vlad on Nostr: A few words about wasabiwallet's final day in the centralized CoinJoin coordination ...
A few words about wasabiwallet (npub167h…schc)'s final day in the centralized CoinJoin coordination business:
I’ve always loved the product, been a fan of Wasabi since early 2019. When I interviewed David Chaum in April 2019, I told him about my new Chaumian mixing hobby (it’s on video, look it up).
I’ve held nopara73 (npub1qqv…0c3j) in high regard since I first interviewed him and I was the one doing the praising while he was trying to explain what he improve. He struck me as a relentless geek who took on a challenging mission – a true cypherpunk who continued the tradition of creating privacy tools in an Orwellian environment.
I also have a lot of respect for Max Hillebrand (npub1klk…x3vt) , whose drive and passion are contagious. He was definitely the right choice for holding the CEO position, as he led the project through its hardest moments and established valuable partnerships.
For the rest of the devs, from lontivero (npub1ncc…z7mj) & Marnix (npub1799…qt3d), all the way to David Molnar & WabiSabi architect Nothingmuch (who blocked me), I have nothing but great respect. You took a rough rock and turned it into a shiny diamond. I hope that you will keep on working on Bitcoin privacy projects.
Sure, there’s a lot to say about the non-dev team members who pushed the project to the next level in a philosophical and design-centric way. BTCparadigm (npub1g8h…gh4l) was instrumental in making the company work smoothly, while Roland created a beautiful UX that’s still unmatched among Bitcoin wallets. btcdragonlord (npub1t2j…hgkn) also helped with communication for a while, and I enjoyed the funny & adversarial edge he brought to the table.
There’s also Trellz, Alexa, Norbo, Daniel, and a few others who created beautiful graphic designs & engaging social media posts. Their work is noteworthy because they stuck around the company for 3+ years and brought the project to new heights.
When I asked Wasabi if they’d be interested in sponsoring my work, it was a match made in heaven: I told them that I promote Wasabi to everyone anyway, and I will continue to do so even if they don’t accept to support my pod.
Subsequently, Wasabi covered my travel costs at various events, printed my BTCTKVR magazines, and helped me and my project even in ways that don’t involve any money.
I am happy to have promoted Wasabi’s CoinJoins over the years and I am proud to have stuck around with the company until the end 🫡
However, the end of ZK Snacks does not also spell the end of Wasabi. On the contrary, things will only get more interesting. The devs are committed to keep up with their research, and the community seems interested in spinning up independent coordinators.
It’s gonna be really interesting to see how a more decentralized Wasabi wallet is going to work.
As the guys liked to say, privacy is not a human right but a human fight – and I believe that the Bitcoin project is not complete until it acquires a reasonable way to achieve base layer privacy.
ZK Snacks is dead, long live Wasabi!
I’ve always loved the product, been a fan of Wasabi since early 2019. When I interviewed David Chaum in April 2019, I told him about my new Chaumian mixing hobby (it’s on video, look it up).
I’ve held nopara73 (npub1qqv…0c3j) in high regard since I first interviewed him and I was the one doing the praising while he was trying to explain what he improve. He struck me as a relentless geek who took on a challenging mission – a true cypherpunk who continued the tradition of creating privacy tools in an Orwellian environment.
I also have a lot of respect for Max Hillebrand (npub1klk…x3vt) , whose drive and passion are contagious. He was definitely the right choice for holding the CEO position, as he led the project through its hardest moments and established valuable partnerships.
For the rest of the devs, from lontivero (npub1ncc…z7mj) & Marnix (npub1799…qt3d), all the way to David Molnar & WabiSabi architect Nothingmuch (who blocked me), I have nothing but great respect. You took a rough rock and turned it into a shiny diamond. I hope that you will keep on working on Bitcoin privacy projects.
Sure, there’s a lot to say about the non-dev team members who pushed the project to the next level in a philosophical and design-centric way. BTCparadigm (npub1g8h…gh4l) was instrumental in making the company work smoothly, while Roland created a beautiful UX that’s still unmatched among Bitcoin wallets. btcdragonlord (npub1t2j…hgkn) also helped with communication for a while, and I enjoyed the funny & adversarial edge he brought to the table.
There’s also Trellz, Alexa, Norbo, Daniel, and a few others who created beautiful graphic designs & engaging social media posts. Their work is noteworthy because they stuck around the company for 3+ years and brought the project to new heights.
When I asked Wasabi if they’d be interested in sponsoring my work, it was a match made in heaven: I told them that I promote Wasabi to everyone anyway, and I will continue to do so even if they don’t accept to support my pod.
Subsequently, Wasabi covered my travel costs at various events, printed my BTCTKVR magazines, and helped me and my project even in ways that don’t involve any money.
I am happy to have promoted Wasabi’s CoinJoins over the years and I am proud to have stuck around with the company until the end 🫡
However, the end of ZK Snacks does not also spell the end of Wasabi. On the contrary, things will only get more interesting. The devs are committed to keep up with their research, and the community seems interested in spinning up independent coordinators.
It’s gonna be really interesting to see how a more decentralized Wasabi wallet is going to work.
As the guys liked to say, privacy is not a human right but a human fight – and I believe that the Bitcoin project is not complete until it acquires a reasonable way to achieve base layer privacy.
ZK Snacks is dead, long live Wasabi!