#bitcoinj

La block chain di Bitcoin è un database decentralizzato che contiene tutte le transazioni effettuate sin dalla creazione della criptovaluta. Il concetto fondamentale è che chiunque debba essere in grado di verificare indipendentemente, ovvero senza doversi fidare di terze parti, la validità della block chain. Per poter verificare che la block chain sia valida dobbiamo scaricare tutto il suo contenuto che può essere ottenuto collegandosi ai vari peer nel network. Il problema è la block chain ha raggiunto una grandezza di oltre 20 GB. Anche se parte della popolazione riesce a scaricare tutti questi dati e dunque partecipare alla verifica collaborativa della block chain, una gran parte non ha le capacità di banda o di spazio per poter scaricare la block chain completa. Basti pensare a chi ha una connessione internet molto lenta, oppure ai cellulari che hanno poco spazio disponibile per salvare tutte queste informazioni.

Bitcoin Software to Utilize Tor Anonymity

By Alyssa Hertig, reason.com

Bitcoin isn’t anonymous, but the idea of an anonymous digital currency has wide appeal. Core Bitcoin developer Mike Hearn says he’s working on an interesting project to deal with remaining privacy holes. Essentially, a piece of Bitcoin and the Tor anonymity network will be “stitched together” in updates expected next month.

Bitcoin is pseudonymous, a step below anonymity. The public ledger, or the blockchain, lists the details—the who, when, what—of every transaction ever made. The Bitcoin ecosystem is a jumble of apps built on top of the original network protocol. Some of these are powered by bitcoinj, a Java implementation of the protocol that Hearn plans to tie to Tor.

Upcoming Version of Bitcoinj Software Will Use Tor Network

By Nermin Hajdarbegovic, Coindesk.com

Bitcoin developer Mike Hearn says that an upcoming version of bitcoinj will route all connections via the Tor anonymity network.

Bitcoinj is the software behind some of the most popular bitcoin apps and wallets, while Tor is the biggest and most popular anonymity network on the planet.

A pseudo-anonymous digital currency and an anonymous network which routes data through several servers sound like a match made in heaven, at least for some users.

Hearn claims transactions made using the new version of bitcoinj will be sent through Tor’s system of three encrypted hops, bouncing encrypted communication through a network of relays around the world. The end result is clear – a completely anonymous transaction.

Bitcoin Core Development Falling Behind, Warns BitcoinJ’s Mike Hearn

By Danny Bradbury, Coindesk.com

Say what you like about Google, but it isn’t an easy place to get hired at. The entrance interviews are notoriously tough, and it is a highly desired employer – which makes Mike Hearn’s departure all the more notable.

Hearn is an expert in low-level software development, who worked as a site reliability engineer at Google, and focused on account security and antispam. He has also been one of the leading lights in the bitcoin community, heading up the open source development team for bitcoinj, which is the Java implementation of the bitcoin protocol.

He is leaving in part because of his growing interest in and commitment to bitcoin. Hearn sees a challenge ahead for the virtual currency: the core development team is shrinking.