blake

As we all know, the tx pool is very full - being flooded with thousands of transactions, peaking at over 100,000 tx in the mempool.

However, not only are transactions slow at this bottleneck, but it looks like wallets are unable to sync well.

I found this when trying out a micro transaction on MyMonero wallet, receiving error 504 - historically this error has occurred when too many users were querying the MyMonero scanning service.

As pic related shows, this is happening to GUI wallet, as well as Cake Wallet, so the biggest 3 wallets are affected - is this a side-effect of mempool congestion or - assuming this is an attack not just a significant uptick in XMR fans - is there a concerted attack to block all major wallets from syncing with the XMR blockchain?

Side Questions:

Does anyone running a full node have an insight, how is your node getting on and are you able to keep up?

How could a flooded mempool affect wallet sync, is there a direct causation?

Inspired by this post : https://monero.town/post/2267484

Piqued my interest, as a sci-fi nerd and Monero enthusiast. How much would it realistically cost to get a Monero node in space? Blockstream already run a Bitcoin Node in Space. So I started to throw some costs together to see if it's viable as a fundraiser. Note that this is partly a thought experiment, but it's totally possible! The latency in Orbit is like 1ms so no problem. Try and censor this, nation states!

Launch:

Up to 50kg payload to SSO orbit with SpaceX : $300,000 (looking to 2026 launch dates)

https://www.spacex.com/rideshare/

Orbit Plus pre-configured communication with groundstation with alba : 250,000 Euro https://www.albaorbital.com/launch

NanoRacks 1U (10cmx10cmx10cm) Cubesat Piggyback on ISS launch : $90,000 https://www.satcatalog.com/insights/cubesat-launch-costs/

Monero node:

Fully stacked nodo : $500

https://moneronodo.com/

Cubesat:

Stacked Cubesat with Solar Array, All controllers, 10Mbps laser communications, 512GB Radiation proof storage, high-power radio, up to 3 cameras etc. (1U is smaller and cheaper to send, like $100k rather than 300K if a node fits inside)

$44,000

https://www.cubesat.market/kratos1uplatform

Estimated total cost: $200,000

We could crowdfund that right?

I have started a fundraiser using Kuno. You can donate Monero there to get stickers printed which will be handed out at a protest on February 20th in London.

Donate to Sticker fund here:

https://kuno.anne.media/fundraiser/i3gx/

Julian Assange, who has been imprisoned in the UK for over ten years, faces his final court case in England. Having passed through several rounds of kangaroo courts, being faced with no legal charge, he is still held in maximum security prison in Belmarsh, London. Febrary the 20th (and 21st) will see him at the highest court in the land, pleading with the judge to not be extradited to the USA. It has already been shown that, if extradited, he would face cruel and unusual punishment at the hands of the US government and would likely be disappeared and never seen again. Read more about the campaign here: dontextraditeassange.com

I wouldn't usually post a findraiser here but I think it intersects with Monero well. Firstly, Wikileaks were an early adopter of crypto. When they were booted off Paypal in 2011 for posting Afghan War Logs, they began accepting a bunch of cryptocurrencies. Assange has also spoken out on the dissident use of cypherpunk technology at length. I also used Kuno for the fundraiser, which only accepts Monero. The experience was good, it was simple to set up and hopefully works well. I did have to learn about secret view keys which was useful, would recommend the site to others.

Every little helps, even a few minero. I will be getting 100 stickers printed off my own back, it costs 0.26 ish XMR for 100 stickers and the fundraiser is only open for 3 weeks. I appreciate your reading this and hopefully we can make some difference. Will post 'proof of stickers' when the first batch is printed. Will also post any good photos of the stickers in action in London. If you are in the UK and dnoate, direct message me and I will post a sticker or two in the post.

Peace!

Count me in!