TxtZ Wallet (BitcoinZ SMS based Wallet)

Wallets
#1

Greetings Community,

So after more than 2 days to bring my “BitcoinZ TxtZ SMS server” up and working :sweat_smile::star_struck:, I give you the easy way to do it in less than 2-4 hours (depending on your internet speed and IT knowledge) with the following draft guideline: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TSKXgZ5QhVjq8XR6-w1u1j2l2X-BUw3z/view?usp=sharing. Feel free to update and share it (any feedback welcome).

@renuzit: It’s a great work that you done here ! It will be a pleasure for me to work with you on this project. Let it’s born again :muscle: !

(More info about Txtz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeGX36c24i0 and https://github.com/bitcoinz-wallets/TxtZ)

I also need this project because in 3 weeks (between 18 sept. and 7 oct.) I have to travel in Congo Brazzaville and I plan to present this easy way to transfer “money” with a “old” phone like a Nokia 3210. This topic as also serval proposes:

  • Technical discussion
  • Future TxtZ server (in production) usage and update
  • Marketing material for Txtz & BTCZ
  • Financial cost support

MY ACTUAL TEST & DEMO SERVER

You can use this Txtz service until (minimum) end of October. I installed the wohle staff on one of my miner and the uptime should by 95%. I will support the cost of the Twilio account for this periode, so please don’t spam this number. But I will be happy if some of you try it and give me a feedback :slight_smile:

The usable (configured) TxtZ numbers are:

  • +41 79 807 38 10 …WORKING (from Switzerland)…
  • Update: Removed US number.

Mini usage guide:

To create a new wallet & configure your phone, send a SMS with “START” at one of the number. You will receive back a confirmation. In the data base, your phone number will be linked to a new generated BTCZ address so that other person will be able to use the phone number instead of the address.

Send a message with “RECEIVE” to get your public founding address of your SMS wallet.

To send found, use the command “SEND”. Exemple: SEND 10 BTCZ-address | SEND 10 Phone-number . If you use the phone number instead of the BTCZ address, the phone number need to be registred (with the START command) before.

To get the address balance, send “BALANCE”.

CAUTION:
The created wallet are stored on one of my miner machine, so I give no garanties of security. IT’S A TEST & DEMO SERVER ONLY, also use small amount. I support the project, so if you have to lose some coin by misusing or related bug, say to you self: it’s for the technology go ahead. Sending a SMS can have a cost for you depending on your operator.

A LOT OF QUESTION ?

I also too :slight_smile:

This POC (and this topic) is to accelerate the development around features like the TxtZ project. And also because we have Everyone to prospect any possibilities in other country’s to (at minimum) have more visibility around BTCZ. So wich me good look in a couple of weeks! I’m pretty sure that some people in Congo will begin to adopte this coin and also hope that I can give you a good feedback in october at my return. :crossed_fingers:

And here are my questions and awaitings:

  1. Crazy but necessary: As / if we plan to store locally, in a couple of servers, the person’s wallet and phone number informations in a data base, is that not lowering DECENTRALIZATION and security of the stored coin ? … all SMS are loged by every service, and a database/server can be hacked …

  2. Could it possible to begin to thing about a possibility to store the sensible infos in the blockchain (something like smart contract in the Ethereum Virtual Machine) instead into a DB? I mention also the “Game Development” in yellow on the website should begin… It will be very nice to store the infos decentralized and securely.

  3. I’m open for any proposition about a cost support for a project like this. So if we mount some secure TxtZ servers, how can we, or the final customer (SMS wallet users), support the cost of the SMS service (in this case Twilio) and the servers location ?

  4. Any ideas how the users could on easy way exchange (or buy/sold) BTCZ without internet ? … telephony credit kiosk, working with a existing local “money trensfer service”, telephony operators,…

  5. Someone else, excepted renuzit :slight_smile: , as already build up this project ? Is any others TxtZ servers actually running ?

  6. I search some quality BitcoinZ Presentation. I will do some translation in french… I open for any proposition if it can help others.

And for the end of my post, again THANKS to @renuzit for this project !!! :+1::ok_hand::wave: I really Like playing with it, and I hope that’s only de beginning ! Is there any opposition to I writing a post on Linkedin about Txtz?

… writing tips and corrections are welcome…

11 Likes
Btcz accepted gothic redesign
#2

Unfortunately SMS is a centralized solution that requires a trusted party for sending messages and notifications, so the only way to interface with a centralized system is with another centralized system. We can probably reduce the logging in the app to the point where numbers are not logged as well as encrypt the phone numbers so at least they aren’t plain text. There are many things that can be done, however, because anyone can download the software a run it, the solution isn’t as centralized in this aspect.

Unfortunately, this really doesn’t make too much sense if you value privacy over blockchain. Also, any solution you put in place will probably use the phone number as the lookup key, which would be easily reversed. Storage in a DB provides the same amount of security as a blockchain solution would.

It could be possible to charge a transaction fee, but you would have to have transactions running through it for it to be viable.

This can be interfaced into a bank pretty easily as long as the interface is kept to text messages. Unfortunately, I personally have no interest in running one of these services, however, if someone is interested in starting a text based exchange, I could definitely help with integration and product design. This is not technically hard, what’s hard here is the exchange licenses, exchange liabilities, providing liquidity, and the KYC laws.

There is one other in Turkey I believe.

I don’t think there are many, but you’re always welcome to create one!

I don’t oppose, feel free to post away!

5 Likes
#3

I announced it! Much appriciate for your work!
Lets see how much supporters will this get!

3 Likes
#4

A TxTZ lover:

1 Like
#5

@Marcelus don’t forget to make photos of your trip and the introduction itself!
It would help a lot our project and could help involve others!
I will make some promo about your trip of course if you don’t mind it.

1 Like
#6

Yes for sure!

I plan also to do some video (amateur) during the TxtZ presentation, it would be on french but it could help ! It don’t mind me, I will share the files.

I have already some contacts that will support this project in Congo, but the sames questions surfaces each time: financial viability of the project (and of BtcZ) and as mentioned by @renuzit, the laws around cash out/cash in the coin. But from the point of view of my experience (as technician’s), the answers arrive in due time …

Anyway for now, I will finalize my TxtZ presentation (in french) and I will share it with you (maybe next week) to have a feedback before I go…

I’m happy to see usages of the Demo server that I mount :smiley:. I did not think I already had tests on 5 different countries! it’s huge ! Vietnam (+84), France (+33), Congo (+242), Ivory Coast (+225) and Switzerland (+41).

4 Likes
#7

bash: sudo: command not found
root@ubuntu2:/BitcoinZ/TxtZ# docker-compose up
ERROR: Couldn’t connect to Docker daemon at http+docker://localunixsocket - is it running?

If it’s at a non-standard location, specify the URL with the DOCKER_HOST environment variable.
root@ubuntu2:/BitcoinZ/TxtZ# which docker-compose /usr/bin/docker-compose

I am running ubuntu on the docker. On synology…. maybe that’s the reason?

1 Like
#8

It seems to be a linux distribution related problem on your synology (base packages installed). And you will probably run into other errors. I’m also not sure that a Synology NAS is the best place to install this apps :thinking:. But why not, let’s try…

The sudo command is not installed, try first to install it (I see you are connected as root already? the package installer apt should also work). Type in console: apt install sudo

Note: In some commercial linux distribution (like Synology), the root privilege is not given… You will also not be able to install sudo and others needed packages. If it’s the cas for you, I can help you to workaround the problem, but we should also do it in private message to not overload this topic.

1 Like
#9

I wich you all a good week start !

Between 3 coffee cups (it’s my dose to start the day), I do some search about “Crypto SMS Wallet”. I discover that at the begin (in 2011), the BTC community was already working on a same project. I also discover too that BCH is working on that since feb-2018, that BTCP trying to steal us the idea (little war about who that started first) and that BCH (and the Dash) community already have a working gateway in place.

So for info, here some links based on what is existing around similar projects:
BTC in sept-2011: https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/343/how-can-i-send-bitcoins-via-sms/352
BCH in feb-2018: https://www.reddit.com/r/btc/comments/7vmtfl/sms_wallet_to_transact_bitcoin_cash_with_any/
BTCZ in apr-2018 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeGX36c24i0
BTCP in may-2018: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffIDdGzaOUY
Dash in aug-2018: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hPSDo2MTWU

BCH SMS gateway/info site: https://cointext.io/en/ (nice description). TxtZ is exactly the same and we should open a site too about our service. So what is better, something like https://btcz.tel (like telephone), or integer it in the actual domaine like the paper wallet with https://txtz.btcz.rocks ? It’s only a question, but could we do an official proposal ?

** Update: I forgot to mention that I will support our TxtZ wallet (and no one others), I have no interest in a similar others project. **

4 Likes
#10

Hi,

After taking a quick look at Twilio pricing, it seems that small demos (i.e. a minimal number of messages handled per month) might be done at fairly low cost bearable by a volunteer, but that the costs could mount very rapidly with “real” adoption and increasing message numbers.

Also, if someone does begin to host a TxtZ server with some specific idea of what their monthly costs will be, it is possible that either subsequent high real usage or SPAM could result in that person being liable for a huge and unbudgeted-for Twilio bill. Is that right?

#11

You are right @sj1, high real usage or spam could result in a relatively huge amount for one person, in this case for me… But for this DEMO, I use a Prepaid account and the balance was 50 USD that allow approximately 1000 SMS (so 0.05$ per texto, received and send).

I plan to get a maximum of 20-50 users (registered with START) for this demo. And also if this numbers get spammed, I will mount the same server with a other number that I will send manually to the registred user to give them the possibility to “withdraws” the BTCZ. Additionally I removed the US numbers to avoid spammer (Outside of switzerland, a spammer will also be charged by the operator for the SMS’s).

A estimation is that the 50 (max.) users could be able to do approximativ 5-10 transactions (20 SMS’s per persons).

I prepare a proposal, with some files that I will share to the community before. This proposal will be high level with some applicable fees proposes to support the plateforme (and maybe some restrictions) and others functionality. But let me time until the end of the week…

4 Likes
#12

The essence of the TxtZ technology is that someone can supply a phone number via SMS and get in return a BTCZ address.

Currently that address starts with a zero balance.

It doesn’t necessarily have to be that way.

What if (just to make up a percentage) 50% of all newly-created BTCZ went to a community fund. That fund could then be tapped as the source to provide a starting balance (say, 50 - 100 BTCZ) to every phone that connects to a community TxtZ server.

This seems like it would be a fairly straightforward way to get BTCZ into circulation, technically.

Hosting and cost issues could become serious if millions of people decided to avail themselves of such an offer.

However, isn’t that the kind of problem the coin wants to have?

2 Likes
#13

If demand started exceeding supply, a lottery module could be added. Then people all around the world could choose to enter monthly (or weekly, or daily) into the BTCZ award lottery.

“If you want it, here it is, come and get it - you’d better hurry 'cause it’s going fast*.”

“*” - all gone in 10 years!

Can there be any better way to create a buzz than to engage the human interest in “money for nothing”?!

2 Likes
#14

Definitively I would like see something like that ! No matter if at first it’s for everyone, and latter then a selection or a lottery … I think It will depend on the donations and Financial viability.

Yes I think that ! My firsts estimations would be that for 10’000 actives “TxtZ SMS Wallet” users, it could give a 2-3% supplementary exchanges volume (actually).

A minimal transfer amount as to be fixed. Fees will be applied at least on for every SEND command. Some command restrictions (in time laps) will also be needed. A million of users will only apply if thy can cash out the transfer or exchange it for something. But could be very nice ONE MILLION USERS !

2 Likes
#16

guys, hello! it’s simplistic to give a scheme for transferring coins alternating sms. I can do a project all over Africa at the level of the government. tediously understandable use of the transmission. we can put the node in support of the African people and development. write friends about cooperation. we will do the exchange in Africa. this is 100,000,000 people.

1 Like
#17

I create a repository for a “bunch of drafts documents” about how (I think) this project could be: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/folders/1pT2WPzJyACQSsSdlb-7yWobIfWe4xNne

Some informations are conflicting from one document to the other (and maybe repetitive), I know. It’s a base of work. But, I’m also close to have something that is presentable.

I wait now to receive comments, imputs, critics,… from every person that will help to bring this TxtZ project into a new Big BitcoinZ Service!

@VITCO, I’m not sur that I understand everything correctly, but I give you my opinion:

Yes, a lot of telephony operators already doing money trensfer. But it’s mostly only local, not international.

All over Africa and more, it’s the plan! But I’m also not sure that we will get help from any government…

It’s a huge challenge to make the blockchain (and the related crypto) easy understandable to everyone. And in addition to people who use it with a Nokia 3210… :thinking:

That is what I already do, and any other person that can, should do it. Support people that not have the chance to be connected 24/7 and give them a chance to still use the technology (by this project, use or hold crypto).

I think it’s much more (you forgot a 0). Anyway, if we get just a fraction of % to use the TxtZ project, it will be many hundreds of thousands of exchanges…

3 Likes
#18

@Marcelus
Shared: ’
https://mobilesms.io is a privacy focused SMS Verification service - Much like the cryptoworld we care about privacy. We’ve noticed BitcoinZ is privacy-focused and we feel that in sharing the same vision we should also accept cryptocurrency. We are not necessarily a crypto project (yet) but we currently accept BTC and ETH.

But, today we’ve integrated BitcoinZ using the btcz.in gateway! Please stop buy and if you need these services - we accept BitcoinZ!
’

4 Likes
#19

So, here we are again :blush:

After a heavy loaded week, I found the time this night to migrate my TxtZ application (from one of my miner machine) to a professional cloud server. It was a huge task to migrate the database and the full node wallet, and I also decided to separate all element in different environment to better optimize the backup…

image
image1551×921 110 KB

For more info: https://www.infomaniak.com/en/jelastic

As you can see on the image, I plan to put a payment gateway on the same infrastructure, It is still in dev for now.

A little stat about the TxtZ project: 16 users (over 8 country) / more that 320 SMS received & sent !

Next step is to build a web server with basic informations of TxtZ usage (maybe in the next week). I bought the “btcz.app” domain name, so I will first put in place the https://txtz.btcz.app and in the next month (if I’m done with other tasks), I plan to put in place the payment gateway: https://pay.btcz.app

7 Likes
#20

Very nice from mobilesms.io ! I would like pay Twilio and Infomaniak with BTCZ’s !

4 Likes
#21

Marcelus, you are our hero! :hearts:

6 Likes