Silent Payments land in libsecp256k1, AI and privacy updates
The beat clustered around Bitcoin infrastructure and mobile privacy clients. Bitcoin Core libsecp256k1 0.8.0 shipped with Silent Payments support for sending and scanning on full nodes. Coldcard Firmware 4.2.0 and Nunchuk Desktop 2.6.3 pushed version bumps without detailed changelogs. On the privacy side, both Thunderbird for Android releases patched a Trash-folder bug. The AI beat saw llama.cpp add a DeepSeek V4 Flash template, Hermes Agent hit 0.20.0, and Room Connect Ecr shipped Gaussian Splat camera and HDR improvements. Self-hosting logged an authentik RC and a Nextcloud iOS video-playback fix. Yubico published a post on air-gapped password-manager workflows; EFF critiqued the Youth AI Privacy Act.
Bitcoin
- Coldcard Firmware 4.2.0. Coldcard Firmware v4.2.0
- Bitcoin Core libsecp256k1 0.8.0. Adds Silent Payments module for BIP-352 sending and scanning on full nodes.
- Nunchuk Desktop 2.6.3. Bug fixes and improvements GPG public key Build instructions.
Privacy
- The ‘Air-Gap Conundrum’: When Password Managers Meet the Data Center Floor. Yubico workflow note on managing credentials for air-gapped legacy servers.
- Thunderbird for Android K-9 Mail 21.1. Fixes the Empty Trash action.
- Thunderbird for Android 21.1. Fixes the Empty Trash action.
Self-hosting
- authentik 2026.8.0-rc6. RC6 fixes an intermittent throttling-test failure in the authenticator-validate stage.
- Nextcloud iOS Version 34.1.1. Improves remote video playback and VLC lifecycle handling.
AI
- Hermes Agent 0.20.0. Streaming, conversational TTS with barge-in across all surfaces; clause-by-clause synthesis for CLI voice mode + gateway adapters ( 69511, 73862 - @OutThisLife, @teknium1); Voice chat UX polish - busy-aware silence, s…
- llama.cpp b10254. Adds chat template for DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731, aligned with official encoders.
- Room Connect Ecr 0.4.0. Gaussian Splat now supports OPENCV camera model, HDR EXR output, and persistent camera settings.
Other
- The Youth AI Privacy Act’s Privacy Paradox. While the bill is narrower than some other proposed chatbot bi.
Read on Freedom.Tech: https://freedom.tech/posts/2026-08-04-bitcoin-daily-brief/
Get the weekly recap in your inbox: https://freedom.tech/subscribe/
Freedom.Tech is powered by Foundation.
Catch the weekly discussion on Freedom Tech Friday via Ungovernable Misfits.
Write a comment