🛟 Buoy—Compare Bitcoin-only wallets, exchanges, and tools. Looking for feedback

[QuasarColumba]

I'm building Buoy — a free, independent Bitcoin-only tool to compare wallets, exchanges, merchant tools, and more by country.

Inspired by Jeff Booth’s call to spend more of our time on Bitcoin, I put that advice into action.

Why Buoy?
• See what Bitcoin-only services are available in your country and compare them
• Save time with details at a glance: KYC, fees, custody
• Free, open source, no ads, no paid rankings and V4V

Try it for yourself: buoybitcoin.com/bitcointalk

Do a comparison, run a questionnaire and let me know what you think.

Help improve it: What felt missing, confusing, or wrong. Any service we should add/remove (and why)? And if you think it sucks, tell me why too. Your feedback will help shape what comes next.

Video (90s): Demo

[SFR10]

What felt missing, confusing, or wrong.

- The very first thing that I noticed was the lack of a light/dark mode button.
- If I were you, I'd remove the User Experience field or rather, the ability to rate these services, since anyone can easily alter them ^{[unless you can come up with a bullet-proof way to tackle it]}.

Any service we should add/remove (and why)?

There are plenty of missing HWs that either support only Bitcoin ^{[e.g., Foundation Devices]} or offer Bitcoin-only firmware ^{[e.g., Trezor]}.
^{- You can find more of them on "this" website.}

[QuasarColumba]

Thank you for taking the time to have a look and give some feedback!

- The very first thing that I noticed was the lack of a light/dark mode button.

I've implemented a dark mode through system settings so when you switch your settings, it should switch as well.

- If I were you, I'd remove the User Experience field or rather, the ability to rate these services, since anyone can easily alter them [unless you can come up with a bullet-proof way to tackle it].

How could anyone alter it, you think? I've tried to make sure one vote per IP address. The community aspect is something I think could be of value.

There are plenty of missing HWs that either support only Bitcoin [e.g., Foundation Devices] or offer Bitcoin-only firmware [e.g., Trezor].
- You can find more of them on "this" website.

You're right, it's still missing services. The project is still in it's infancy so I had to make a selection but I will add more of them when users find the website useful. Thanks for the suggestions, it helps me a lot!

[flapduck]

That's a neat project, feels like a "Bitcoin Yellow Pages" but without the sketchy ads. Having it country-specific is smart too, since half the battle is figuring out what even works where you live.

Couple things I'd be curious about:

Will you track whether these wallets/exchanges are actually Bitcoin-only, or if they quietly slip altcoins into the mix? (Some start pure and drift later.)
Any plans to add filters for open-source vs closed-source, or whether a service has been audited? Those little flags could save people a lot of digging.

Also +1 on making it free and open source -- that alone gives it more credibility than most comparison sites floating around.

[SFR10]

How could anyone alter it, you think? I've tried to make sure one vote per IP address. The community aspect is something I think could be of value.

I agree with the latter part, but this is also the tricky part ^{[e.g., various workarounds]}. You already answered your question... A simple IP change is enough to alter the ratings ^{[I can see this becoming an issue when a team member of a certain service tries to use this to their advantage]}. Unfortunately, even something like browser fingerprinting is unlikely to be sufficient for such things, hence the need for the removal of this feature.

[QuasarColumba]

That's a neat project, feels like a "Bitcoin Yellow Pages" but without the sketchy ads. Having it country-specific is smart too, since half the battle is figuring out what even works where you live.

Couple things I'd be curious about:

Will you track whether these wallets/exchanges are actually Bitcoin-only, or if they quietly slip altcoins into the mix? (Some start pure and drift later.)
Any plans to add filters for open-source vs closed-source, or whether a service has been audited? Those little flags could save people a lot of digging.

Also +1 on making it free and open source -- that alone gives it more credibility than most comparison sites floating around.

Thanks for taking a look at the project and the kind words!

I will keep the site Bitcoin-only so whenever a service decides to veer off to alt coins, I will remove it. The goal is inform users about an open, secure, decentralized protocol (Bitcoin) and how you can make use of it through different services. In my view, it is the only thing you can reliably build a product or service on. Everything else will trend downward compared to it.

Then the filter options: it's a good idea and I've made a note on it. Let me get back to you when this is implemented.

[QuasarColumba]

How could anyone alter it, you think? I've tried to make sure one vote per IP address. The community aspect is something I think could be of value.

I agree with the latter part, but this is also the tricky part ^{[e.g., various workarounds]}. You already answered your question... A simple IP change is enough to alter the ratings ^{[I can see this becoming an issue when a team member of a certain service tries to use this to their advantage]}. Unfortunately, even something like browser fingerprinting is unlikely to be sufficient for such things, hence the need for the removal of this feature.

I see what you mean and I'll make a mental note of it. Let me try and see if I can make it work