During the second day of the forum, this Saturday, December 3, the educational objectives on bitcoin (BTC) continued. With a more technical program attended by recognized experts in the sector. Here are some excerpts from the discussion that took place.
The first conference of the day set the tone: Is Bitcoin really safe? To this question, Vladimir Fomene, a Bitcoin developer, has provided some interesting answers. Because of it, decentralization also happens at the developer level. For example, the debate that took place in 2017 regarding increasing block sizes (and which led to the Bitcoin Cash fork): one of the consequences for users was greater synchronization difficulties in regions with limited connectivity. It is therefore important that there are many opinions that reflect the different realities on the planet in order to direct developments in the right way.
On the other hand, if the majority of developers involved in Bitcoin development are from the same company or organization, this can influence developments in its favor. It is therefore important to be vigilant in this regard. In the Lightning Network project, the issue was solved in a different way: We first define a general specification, called BOLT (Basis Of Lightning Technology). It is then implemented in various distributions (LND, CoreLightning, Eclair, and Lightning Dev Kit). In this way, we get nodes that are perfectly compatible, but from different developments, which increases resilience.
The Open Source model guarantees security and decentralization, as anyone can verify the code. A concrete example: the famous limit of 21 million bitcoins. This is not just a promise, because anyone can check how this limit is written in the Bitcoin code. Therefore, making public code verifiable by all encourages developers to make it very secure. With the example of the famous wallet of Satoshi Nakamoto and his million bitcoins always attacked every day, but always inviolate.
For her part, Seydina Sall, a cybersecurity engineer, recalled best practices for securing bitcoins. For example, by using a wallet on mobile phones that then remains disconnected and placed in a safe place. The problem of blocked bitcoins in case of loss of the private key or death can be solved by accepting multi-sig.
It was an opportunity to present the Fedi application from Obi Nwosu (partner of the event) and based on Fedimint protocol. Based on the Lightning Network, it is a new BTC custodial solution between depositing on a centralized exchange and keeping your own private keys. The principle is a multi-sig wallet whose keys are held by trusted relatives. The holding of Bitcoins therefore becomes community-based.
In the conference Design a bitcoin product, Cheikh Seye, Product Designer at Yité Technologies, was able to present the Banxaas solution that allows bitcoins (BTC) to be exchanged between peers. Inspired by BISQ by its functionality, it is much simpler for users and adapted to Senegal and the mobile payment methods found there.
Other interventions include Bitcoin is not a Ponzi, where Makhtar Diop was able to provide an update on anti-bitcoin clichés and warn participants against the temptation of shitcoins. There were also sessions on Linux, the Lightning Network and mining opportunities.
The sessions were very rich and full of lessons for the audience. A special mention to the organizers who had the ability to organize this event to improve the penetration of Bitcoin in Senegal. Mission accomplished! During the event, participants were able to learn how to install a Bitcoin wallet and get their first satoshis immediately! The Dakar Bitcoins Days are now over, now heading to Accra with the African Bitcoin Conference.
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Computer entrepreneur and resident in African lands for fifteen years. In this uncertain world, I see bitcoin and cryptos as one of the best opportunities to face the challenges ahead.
