[FEEDBACK REQUEST] Bitcoin cloud services

[johba]

I also think that's a great idea!

One requirement I would add is scalability. I would like to spin up a new "cluster member", provision it with a deterministic wallet and have it do work. I still can't wrap my head around horizontally scaling a wallet completely. But I would imagine it with those cluster workers, plus some split-key/multi-sig functionality to get around the security issue everyone is mentioning.

Are you still working on this?

Have a look at Mike Hearn's opinion on wallet scalability: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=301101.0
Maybe having this done with BitcoinJ or Bits Of Proof would be better.

[1715131473]

1715131473

[virtualmaster]

Trying to figure out if developers would make use of bitcoin cloud services:

• pre-configured bitcoind VM
  
  • up-to-date blockchain
  • txindex=1 for full querying
  • optionally enable an authenticated REST interface to interact with bitcoind, including "spend from address" functionality
  • optionally enable Abe for blockchain viewing
• block/transaction notifications delivered via Webhooks
• high-availability, low-latency, geo-distributed REST-queryable blockchain cache

The idea being to make it easier for developer to code something new without having to deal with the pain of setting up the client. The services would be designed to complement the model being done by other cloud providers, so you can string together services with some REST calls and Webhooks.

Feedback requested, whether positive, negative, or otherwise.

Thanks!

Something similar exists already for Namecoin. A Debian based VM with namecoind and updated blockchain. Good for testing something.
http://dot-bit.org/Bitbox
This can be uploaded to a VM hoster and would be a Namecoin VM cloud. Or can be used locally.

I think your service should be more flexible or more specific.
- You could make a Bitcoin VM like this which can be used comfortable locally or uploaded in a cloud hosting. More flexibility.
- Another possibility would be to host a Bitcoin VM with more specific services like graphic tools which can be built in comfortable on a website.

Of course making transactions on such a VM wouldn't be secure, especially when it is in the cloud.

[tgerring]

Something similar exists already for Namecoin. A Debian based VM with namecoind and updated blockchain. Good for testing something.
http://dot-bit.org/Bitbox
This can be uploaded to a VM hoster and would be a Namecoin VM cloud. Or can be used locally.

I think your service should be more flexible or more specific.
- You could make a Bitcoin VM like this which can be used comfortable locally or uploaded in a cloud hosting. More flexibility.
- Another possibility would be to host a Bitcoin VM with more specific services like graphic tools which can be built in comfortable on a website.

Of course making transactions on such a VM wouldn't be secure, especially when it is in the cloud.

Interesting, I'll look into it more! Maybe a good starting place for the VM core.

[tgerring]

I also think that's a great idea!

One requirement I would add is scalability. I would like to spin up a new "cluster member", provision it with a deterministic wallet and have it do work. I still can't wrap my head around horizontally scaling a wallet completely. But I would imagine it with those cluster workers, plus some split-key/multi-sig functionality to get around the security issue everyone is mentioning.

Are you still working on this?

Have a look at Mike Hearn's opinion on wallet scalability: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=301101.0
Maybe having this done with BitcoinJ or Bits Of Proof would be better.

My plan right now is to create an open-source VM that users can tweak at their own desire. Down the line, I'd love to look into service that could leverage that underlying technology to build better things on top of it.

In terms of scalability, I think you're absolutely on the right track. BIP32 would definitely be functionality I'd like implemented in the VM, which would give some sort of foundation for horizontal scaling.

I haven't begun work, but I did submit a proposal to the Bitcoin Foundation to help fund the development of an open-source VM pre-configured with bitcoind. Aside from developer needs, it would be an easy way to repeatedly run tests against proposed new client code (i.e. Coin Control) and make it easier to shoehorn/deploy other Foundation-funded projects like CoinPunk.

In general, I see implications everywhere for the idea, regardless of where the VM is hosted.

[hivewallet]

Hi everyone,

Hot on the heels of our acquisition of Jan Vornberger's Bridgewalker wallet for Android, we are today pleased to announce today the acquisition of Taylor Gerring's PAYTHRU.to, a service that allows users to easily send Bitcoin via SMS, Twitter, and Facebook. Taylor has also joined the Hive team and will be furthering our social network and services integrations for all platforms. As with all of our products, PAYTHRU.to will be open-sourced and made available for community collaboration.

Taylor:

I'm thrilled to be joining the Hive team and integrating PAYTHRU notifications with the Hive experience. In the near future, the code behind PAYTHRU will be open-sourced, allowing other developers to extend the platform to even more services, reaching more users. Looking forward, I'm exciting to work on making Hive the absolute best Bitcoin wallet in the world.

Wendell:

When we first met Taylor and saw what he was doing with PAYTHRU, we knew it was a match sanctioned by unspeakable entities in heavens both above and below. As such we could not be happier to have him join our team, and we look forward to rabbles being roused in some grand old style.

PAYTHRU.to's public repo will open in early January.

Discussion thread here:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=341787.0