Hello everyone!
Just wrapped up a project for the Bitcoin 2025 Official Hackathon (hosted by btc++) that I'm super proud of, called darkwire.
The project is about making sure you can still use Bitcoin and send vital messages even if the internet is down or heavily censored. darkwire uses simple, affordable LoRa radio hardware to build a decentralized, off-grid communication layer. Basically a mesh layer
Think of it as a backup system for freedom. No ISP, no central authority, just direct communication between nodes. Because, like I believe, the internet is optional, but freedom isn't.
Links to check it out:
GitHub: https://github.com/cyb3r17/darkwire
Website: https://darkwire.cyb3r17.space
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEsVZjViFdM
This is my first bitcoin based project! Let me know your thoughts or if you have any questions!
@siggy47 thoughts?
This is what spurred my interest. My Lilygo stopped working, so I'm in the process of getting a better device. @kepford is way ahead of me on this. I would like his input.
I'm curious about the technical feasibility. I've not done a deep dive at all, but just from an online search I see that Lora radios transmits data at 0.3 to 11 kbps, whereas Bitcoin produces a 4MB(=32,000 kb) block every 10 minutes.
At 11 kbps (0.001375 MB/s) it would take 2,910 seconds (48 minutes) to transmit one block's worth of data, so these Lora nodes wouldn't be able to keep up with the chain, not to mention initial sync.
Does this comport with your understanding, or am I missing something here?
right so you're not shifting the blockchain completely to radio. You're simply relaying the transaction from node (not a BTC node, a darkwire node) in a mesh network. So you're just sending the transaction hex to be pushed to the blockchain by an exit node (a darkwire node connected to the internet).
This isn't made for the average bitcoiner, but rather for people living in areas where the government simply kills the electricity or the internet (censorship prone areas say like Rafah or Tibet).
The issue with LoRa I have found is density of adoption. The local user base needs to grow. The tech works and I love your idea. I'd LOVE to dive into it but time is always the issue for me.
Cool, I think this is a really noble idea and I'm just trying to wrap my head around the details.
So the idea is the Lora device would still be communicating with an internet-connected node over the airwaves.
yep, just one node (darkwire) needs to be connected to the internet, each darkwire node has a range of 10km with direct LoS. and 3-5kms in realistic conditions (cities or forests).
it's a wip progress but the base project works and you can watch the youtube video to see it working. I plan on adding nostr support to it as well.
That's great. I'll definitely be following this project with interest.
Maybe it uses radio waves? Since you said over the air?
Good questions
In haven't been active with the LoRa stuff for months. Been too busy with life stuff but I plan on diving back into it once this busy season has passed. I have more curiosity than time usually.
This always makes me scratch my head, how's it even work? I don't really grasp LoRa technology, but I assume there's a maximum range and at some point the LoRa network needs to connect to the internet to talk to other nodes. What's the performance of this tech like when it comes to miner communication? Can you actually run Stratum over LoRa?
yep, that is it. it isn't made for the everyday bitcoiner but for people living in censorship prone areas
So, what's the furthest you can stretch a LoRa connection?
10km with direct line of sight in ideal conditions 3-5kms in urban/forest environments.
You can create a mesh network and increase the whole area coverage by adding more darkwire nodes
Can Bitcoin LoRa devices hook up to this network and broadcast transactions?
https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/map
havent looked it up, I'll check it out and lyk
If this LoRa network actually works for transmitting, it could become a massive privacy thing for everyone, even more than fighting censorship.
keeping an eye on it #986579
ah lol, thanks for posting. weird it didn't show up when I made the post
💯🎯
https://decrypt.co/322192/project-send-bitcoin-without-internet-access
The decrypt also wrote an article on this btw incase you wanna read more
very good, very cool
This is a well developed project about the idea of mesh radio network:
https://github.com/markqvist/Reticulum
#990245
According to the article link shared, at least one node requires an internet connection.
Super interesting -- congrats!
It'd be cool to see a demo, but it looks like the infra required isn't exactly stuff I'd find around the house, haha.
This is the kind of ideas that revolutionize the world. Congratulations on work. well done!
"This is the future, build on Bitcoin."
This is awesome. Internet optional, freedom mandatory that’s the right mindset LoRa mesh as a fallback for Bitcoin comms is exactly the kind of resilience we need.
That's absolutely brilliant! Great work
This is VERY cool!
thanks, glad you liked the idea :D
Interesting, good to know that
This is incredible work. Truly the kind of project that embodies the spirit of Bitcoin — resilience, sovereignty, and censorship resistance. The fact that you're enabling off-grid Bitcoin transactions and communication with affordable LoRa hardware is huge. This isn't just a hackathon project; it’s a critical piece of future-proofing for anyone serious about self-sovereignty. Massive respect. Subscribed to the repo and looking forward to experimenting with it! 🔥🛰️