technical or not, everyone should run their own bitcoin & lightning node and gain access to a payments system with zero third-party fees. businesses & individuals should promote themselves to bitcoin's network of loyal customers. ripsline.com makes it easy. I encourage technical folks to install from github and provide feedback :

GitHub

GitHub - ripsline/virtual-private-node: Bitcoin Lightning Node in minutes. One command installs Bitcoin Core, LND, and Tor on Debian. GPG-verified. Tor-routed. No wrappers. No abstractions. Your keys, your node.

Bitcoin Lightning Node in minutes. One command installs Bitcoin Core, LND, and Tor on Debian. GPG-verified. Tor-routed. No wrappers. No abstraction...

Better Bitcoin Beginnings When I first discovered bitcoin, I heard "get your bitcoin off the exchange" and "get a hardware wallet", so that is what I did. I ordered a coldcard with my credit card and shipped it to my home. Shortly after my coldcard arrived, I learned I need something called sparrow wallet to interact with my coldcard. All a coldcard does is generate a seed phrase offline and sign transactions through my sparrow wallet. So I went down the sparrow wallet rabbit hole. I learned that when I use a software wallet, it is important to use a device that is mostly dedicated to the wallet. I needed to be very careful about what I do on this device. I learned that linux is ideal for sparrow wallet because linux operating systems limit malicious software by design. I also learned that linux does not spy on users the way that MacOS and Windows does. Next, I learned how important it is to download & verify any software I put on my dedicated device. This ensures I do not download malicious software that can steal my bitcoin. After a few days of figuring this stuff out, I had my linux laptop with sparrow wallet. I downloaded & verified sparrow wallet using Craig Raw's amazing documentation on sparrowwallet.com. I was ready to use my coldcard. I opened sparrow wallet for the first time and was met with the introduction, where Craig Raw educates the wallet user on bitcoin privacy as it pertains to bitcoin nodes. I learned that I cannot use any bitcoin wallet without first connecting to a bitcoin node. I learned that it is not ideal to connect my wallet to someone else's node because they will see too much information about my bitcoin. After a few hours of research, I found a decent plug n' play node implementation. I ordered it with my credit card and shipped it to my home. Okay, now I have my own node, my dedicated device running linux with sparrow wallet, and my coldcard. I was ready to be self-sovereign. Wait, what was the point of the coldcard again? I paid $250 for this fancy piece of hardware that screams, "I own bitcoin and the keys are right here." What if I lose it? What if someone sees it and threatens to kill me unless I give them access? This is not private, this is not sovereign personal finance. To be self-sovereign is to have knowledge. There is no need for a fancy hardware device attached to my home address. I can download & verify sparrow wallet on a dedicated linux device and use sparrow itself to create my first wallet. There is no need for a plug 'n play node attached to my home address. I can rent a Virtual Private Server and use BTCPayServer as my node backend. I can access my bitcoin from anywhere in the world and never need some fancy piece of hardware. All I need is the knowledge to do three things: flash linux on a computer, download & verify software, and deploy BTCPay on a Virtual Private Server. I never opened my coldcard.

how to download & verify #Briar on #grapheneos.

how to download & verify #Brave on #grapheneos.

test personal relay.

new blog — About Us : https://ripsline.com/blog/about-us/

Choose 1 or 2? Country1: this country uses three gigantic computers controlled by three gigantic companies. These three computers act as backend servers to frontend applications. Consider any application: banking, messenger, uber, netflix, instagram, email. As we know, all applications communicate with backend servers in order to function. Use of technological applications is subject to approval by one of three companies. Country2: This country uses thousands of small computers controlled by individuals and businesses alike. Any application, be it for buying food or talking to friends online, needs to communicate with one of these small servers. Which country flourishes?

new guide — Enable Nostr Zaps w/ @BTCPay Server : https://ripsline.com/docs/zaps/ stop using trusted third-party services to receive zaps! be self-sovereign and run BTCPay. if you need help, ripsline.com will get you up and running your own node in less than a day.