There are many individuals and organizations building tools and services for the [Monero project](https://github.com/monero-project/monero), but their contributions get lost in the noise since the largest social gatherings (Reddit, Twitter) mostly discuss price, trading, marketing, art, and stickers (hype). Additionally, there aren't many good places where tools and services are being aggregated; [getmonero.org](https://getmonero.org) shows mostly merchants. There's not much detail around the general projects and tools being developed in the ecosystem for those with the inclination to tinker.
The Monero Punks workgroup was started as a way to rally the builders in the Monero community and provide an effort to truly showcase their work.
The Monero Punks workgroup was started as a way to rally the builders in the Monero community to showcase and highlight their work efforts and enable more collaboration.
There are many individuals and organizations out there building tools and services but their contributions get lost in the noise since the largest social gatherings (Reddit, Twitter) mostly discuss price, trading, marketing, art, and stickers (hype). Additionally, there aren't many good places where tools and services are being aggregated; [getmonero.org](https://getmonero.org) shows mostly merchants. There's not much detail around the general projects and tools being developed in the ecosystem for those with the inclination to tinker.
For now, we can be found at the following places on the web:
* `#monero-punks` on [Libera Chat](https://libera.chat), IRC network
description = "First update since the launch of the Monero Punks workgroup"
author = "lza_menace"
author_url = "https://lzahq.tech"
+++
The date of this posting is June 29th, 2021. I made the decision to make this workgroup 8 days ago, bought the domain and created the forum 8 days ago, and posted about it on Reddit/Twitter 7 days ago.
@ -23,8 +24,6 @@ Read on to see more of the details.
We don't talk about these enough. This could unlock a whole new world of UX for Monero. I'm not talking about a full local wallet with a remote node, I mean a wallet that talks to a server to retrieve updates about it's history on the chain. Rather than waiting for your local wallet to sync up with the chain when you open the app (or run in the background as a service) the premise is that a backend server maintains the wallet sync status and your wallet client just fetches it when you open it. It's much more lightweight and avoids the syncing involved with local full wallet implementations (Cake Wallet, Monerujo, Feather, Monero GUI, Monero CLI).
> The idea of a remote source being involved may cause concern for single point of failure, privacy, etc, but consider the possibility of a hybrid scenario in which your phone can do both; talk to a server for a periodic update, but also have the ability to switch to full node (no idea if this is possible with the current codebase, but spit-balling here). Also consider the fact that you could own and run your own backend server, no middle-men needed.
@ -46,11 +45,9 @@ If this is something the larger community may find useful we will need a joint c
Not sure what to call this without saying "Patreon". A website for creators to share their content to a privacy conscious audience. We basically need to facilitate a way for people to maintain an account and upload/store text, photos, and videos but gated to only allow other registered users who have confirmed payments to view it. Patrons can support their favorite artists, journalists, bloggers, photographers, etc and pay completely anonymously. On the outset this sounds like a fairly basic CRUD app that has a lot of bells and whistles. However, there are a lot of architecture decisions to make here which can have impacts on the system down the line.
> I've begun working on a prototype of this "Patreon clone" as it's being called, which I'm calling [XMR Backers](https://github.com/lalanza808/xmrbackers). I'm still in the process of thinking through potential workflows and schemas for managing funds, subscriptions, and validating payments, restricting access, etc.
> I've begun working on a prototype of this "Patreon clone" as it's being called, which I'm calling [XMR Backers](https://git.cloud.lzahq.tech/nerodev/xmrbackers). I'm still in the process of thinking through potential workflows and schemas for managing funds, subscriptions, and validating payments, restricting access, etc.
My prototype is essentially just starting out and is still a blueprint for a Python web service utilizing Quart (async Flask). You'll have to stay tuned for updates by starring and watching the Git repo.
@ -60,15 +57,13 @@ Would be interested in seeing other community implementations as well, so let's
The forum topic very nicely packages the benefit of this tool, but the main takeaway here is that programmable wallets are a possibility today. Here is a nice summary:
`XMR Sweeper: An idea for a software program you could run on your home computer, paste in your private keys and receiving payment details, then go about your business, all the while your funds are getting trickled out into various wallets you control. If you're on the go, your hot wallet is able to spend new funds, while cold storage nets some more picos.`
Power users are certainly able to script the process of restoring wallets and making transfers, but the capabilities are not easy for laymen/basic users to do so as well. A simple utility to do some amount of chain scanning/wallet syncing and transferring with some criteria/configuration around it sounds feasible enough to implement a solution for and provide easy onboarding for novices.
> Ideally we can distribute clickable binaries for OS flavors with native desktop UI and forms/clickable/changeable settings and the software can orchestrate wallet processes in the background. However, I think some prototypes should be done for more reference implementations, trial/error iterations, allows more power users to leverage tools that help them. I may begin working on a prototype for this, but depends on my schedule. I want the patronage service to take preference for now.
> Ideally we can distribute clickable binaries for OS flavors with native desktop UI and forms/clickable/changeable settings and the software can orchestrate wallet processes in the background. However, I think some prototypes should be done for more reference implementations, trial/error iterations, allows more power users to leverage tools that help them.
I currently have partial functionality on this with a Python (Flask) and Docker/docker-py web service. It utilizes a simple RESTful backend API to interact with the Docker service and pass context to new containers (running `monero-wallet-cli` and `monero-wallet-rpc`). Right now it's got a seed restoral web form, background wallet orchestration and scanning, and displaying balances/transfers in each restored wallet. With some additional logic, settings, and transfer functions this prototype could become a reality for power users. Source can be provided upon request.
@ -76,9 +71,7 @@ Would love to see any community implementations of this for more samples.
This idea came up in IRC and was pointed out as a common thing seen on other projects such as [Masari Giftcards](https://gc.masari.rocks) and [Lightning Gifts (Bitcoin)](https://lightning.gifts/). This could be a useful way to onboard new users somewhat quickly and easily. The easiest path to implementation would be a custodial solution, so a self-hosted option would be preferred, but I do think a custodial platform is feasible if users were aware of the risks.
This idea came up in IRC and was pointed out as a common thing seen on other projects such as ~~[Masari Giftcards](https://gc.masari.rocks)~~ and [Lightning Gifts (Bitcoin)](https://lightning.gifts/). This could be a useful way to onboard new users somewhat quickly and easily. The easiest path to implementation would be a custodial solution, so a self-hosted option would be preferred, but I do think a custodial platform is feasible if users were aware of the risks.
In short, this idea is about how could we build a web service that we can generate and share a unique URL with a recipient who can then follow instructions to install a wallet and provide the service with a wallet address. It might make it very easy to onboard friends and family without explaining all the specifics of how wallets work every single time.
<imgclass="hero-image"style="width:40%;margin-right:2em;border-radius:12px;"src="{{ get_url(path="moneropunks.jpg")}}"alt="Made by wowzip on SuchWow! https://suchwow.xyz/s/monero-punks-collective-57089149/item">
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by <ahref="https://lzahq.tech"target="_blank">@lza_menace</a> - 2021
