Exploring a New Bitcoin Toolkit

Bitcoin is supposed to mean freedom, right? But honestly, 99% of users rely on wallets that are basically third-party software to store and send their coins. That's kinda lame... we should have the ability to manage our private keys and create our own transactions locally, only needing a third-party to broadcast them.

Sounds cool! But it would be awesome if you could upload the source code to GitHub. Also, I noticed you're showing some incorrect address formats for BIP39 paths.

Yeah, the saying goes 'don't trust, verify'. If a wallet is open-source and compiled by the user, it’s more trustless, right? But honestly, not many users actually go through that.

Wait, hold on. You criticize third-party software but then come up with a new tool that still relies on third-party software? Sounds kinda hypocritical to me.

I get that but building transactions offline on a secure device is seriously the safest way to manage your coins. For me, that means using air-gapped hardware wallets. It’s a balance of security and convenience.

Electrum is a classic, solid open-source wallet option. You can check its code if you want! As for Trust Wallet, it's more multi-coin than Bitcoin-focused. Choosing the right wallet really depends on what you need, so research is key.

To see different address formats, just click on 'show all formats > addresses'. I’ll fix the bugs, thanks for pointing them out. It’s not on GitHub yet, but anyone can download the zip and modify it however they want.

But your tool is still a third party too! If a user doesn’t verify your code, how are they any better off than with a regular wallet? It’s all about how you define ‘third-party’. Is it just custodial wallets or does it include self-custodial ones?

I can compile Bitcoin Core or Electrum’s source code, but that doesn’t mean it’s not third-party software. Most users don’t have the time or skills to check all the code they run. And trust me, I hold my private keys, no one else does.

This definition is really strange though. So, if I compile Bitcoin Core myself, suddenly it’s not a third-party anymore? That’s not how this works. You can’t just ignore the risks of malware if someone clones your software.

There’s a difference between established wallets and my toolkit. Those wallets broadcast transactions through their nodes, while mine uses third-party services for broadcasting. It’s not connected to any Bitcoin node.

Sure, we can create and sign transactions and then broadcast them elsewhere. But having a full node is the best option since it’s open-source and verifies the blockchain locally, not through a third party.

Using Bitcoin Core or Electrum works with or without a wallet. You seem to be searching for a problem that doesn’t exist. My node broadcasts transactions through many others. It’s how Bitcoin operates.

I see your point, but I’m not trying to compete with wallets like Electrum or Bitcoin Core. This transaction feature is just one aspect of my tool. If anyone finds the code useful, feel free to use it for whatever project.

Alright, some positives: your tool consolidates several functions that usually require multiple browser tabs. That’s a plus! But some tools could use more features compared to their standalone versions.

Definitely, if you could add functions for EC math, hash functions, encoders, decoders, and basic arithmetic, that would be awesome.

You guys are right! Those features would definitely improve the toolkit. I’ll work on them when I get a chance. Also thinking about adding a transaction browser.

Looking forward to the updates! Keep improving it!