New thin SPV client for linux/mac: bitc

[fnsa1]

Folks,

I've been working on & off on a lightweight bitcoin client. It's all command line for now and it supports linux & mac platforms. It doesn't re-use any existing bitcoin library, my original intention was to write a dummy client to better understand the underlying protocol, so I wrote my own.

From the README:

bitc is a thin SPV bitcoin client.

• 100% lean C code,
• support for linux and mac platforms,
• console based: uses ncurses,
• home grown async network i/o stack,
• home grown poll loop,
• home grown bitcoin engine,
• supports encrypted wallets,
• multi-threaded,
• valgrind/AddressSanitizer clean.

There is still a fairly lengthy TODO list but the client is somewhat complete at this point and certainly usable, so I plan to put it on github sometime in the next few weeks.
Before I do so I was wondering: what would you like to see in an SPV bitcoin client for well.. geeks?
Cheers.

-M

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1051359/CloudShot/shot_1232014_31242_pm.png
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https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1051359/CloudShot/shot_1232014_32424_pm.png
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1051359/CloudShot/shot_1232014_32257_pm.png

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[empoweoqwj]

looks great, would adding support for a few other altcoins be major work? I don't think there is a wallet out there that supports multi coins yet.

[fnsa1]

looks great, would adding support for a few other altcoins be major work? I don't think there is a wallet out there that supports multi coins yet.

Thanks for the feedback. Interesting. I don't know much about altcoins, but if they support SPV clients it shouldn't be much work to build say the litecoin peer of this app. Now having a single client be able to support several flavors of digital coins would be quite a bit more work.

-M

[Dabs]

Interesting. Well, I'm not sure I'll use a none-GUI version, but if it's for geeks, it better have Coin Control, some sort of Raw Transactions, Ability to set a fee, and a compiled console version for Windows. ehehehhe.

[fnsa1]

By 'coin control', you mean the ability to select the coins used when initiating a tx? If so, having a generic UI for this is going to be kind of tough, but implementing policies (randomize, oldest first, etc.) is doable. Being able to broadcast a raw transaction is an hour of my time; setting an arbitrary fee is one line change.

Windows? Most of the low-level APIs have already been abstracted away, but the biggy will be the UI/ncurses. Maybe cygwin has a port for it? Not sure, I would have to investigate.

-M

[Dabs]

Yeah, I still use Win XP (32 bit).

[fnsa1]

I see. Note that if I ever do something for this platform (very unlikely at this point), it's likely to be a full blown UI for the newer Windows flavors. Your best bet might well be to use a linux VM =)

[empoweoqwj]

looks great, would adding support for a few other altcoins be major work? I don't think there is a wallet out there that supports multi coins yet.

Thanks for the feedback. Interesting. I don't know much about altcoins, but if they support SPV clients it shouldn't be much work to build say the litecoin peer of this app. Now having a single client be able to support several flavors of digital coins would be quite a bit more work.

Max

Yeah if you could even just support litecoin, that would be amazing. I honestly don't think even a dual-wallet exists yet .... yours could be the first

[empoweoqwj]

Just did some googling and I couldn't find any info about SPV clients for litecoin so we might be out of luck on that one. Every search I tried turned litecoin into bitcoin when asking about SPV

[fnsa1]

Just did some googling and I couldn't find any info about SPV clients for litecoin so we might be out of luck on that one. Every search I tried turned litecoin into bitcoin when asking about SPV

Ah, that's what I figured. If they get their act together and decide to implement some form of SPV support server-side, the client side shouldn't be that much work (but like I said, I don't know much about altcoins, so I may well be missing a big chunk of work).

-M

[empoweoqwj]

Just did some googling and I couldn't find any info about SPV clients for litecoin so we might be out of luck on that one. Every search I tried turned litecoin into bitcoin when asking about SPV

Ah, that's what I figured. If they get their act together and decide to implement some form of SPV support server-side, the client side shouldn't be that much work (but like I said, I don't know much about altcoins, so I may well be missing a big chunk of work).

-M

Yeah, it was a long shot. I suppose if litecoin had SPV support other clients would have integrated it by now. Concentrating solely on bitcoin is fine since you are developing a wallet with a different "flavour". Can't wait to try it out on my Mac. When do you think it be ready for a spin?

[fnsa1]

The code is ready, I for some reasons am not. Send me a PM and I'll ping you once I'm there. Cheers.

[dserrano5]

I would swap the FX stuff for Coin Control.

Besides that, if several bitc's were able to p2p-talk among themselves to do CoinJoin in a decentralized manner, that would be a killer. You could try to raise some money and/or try to use the funds already donated in the CoinJoin thread.

[fnsa1]

I would swap the FX stuff for Coin Control.

Besides that, if several bitc's were able to p2p-talk among themselves to do CoinJoin in a decentralized manner, that would be a killer. You could try to raise some money and/or try to use the funds already donated in the CoinJoin thread.

That's a great suggestion. I'll think about it.

-M

[empoweoqwj]

The code is ready, I for some reasons am not. Send me a PM and I'll ping you once I'm there. Cheers.

Cheers thx. I'll PM you now

[Mr. Gabu]

Can you port it to DOGE, please?

We have funds and can raise more funds, if you think it costs something porting to DOGE. We can pay you.

[empoweoqwj]

Can you port it to DOGE, please?

We have funds and can raise more funds, if you think it costs something porting to DOGE. We can pay you.

Does Doge have SPV client support?

[dewdeded]

When is this ready? Can I get beta invite? (Would test and review/report on Mac and LX.)

[fnsa1]

When is this ready? Can I get beta invite? (Would test and review/report on Mac and LX.)

Thanks for the interest. It should be out sometime in the next 2 weeks if all goes well.

-M

[dewdeded]

- GL bro
- provide tipping address and I send some funds to help