Peter Todd Joins MARA Foundation
Prominent Bitcoin Core developer Peter Todd has taken on a key role with the MARA Foundation, stepping in as the principal maintainer for its Slipstream service. This innovation serves as a private mempool that facilitates the direct submission of Bitcoin transactions to the MARA Pool, circumventing the conventional public peer-to-peer relay network.
Capabilities of Slipstream
Slipstream has gained recognition for its capabilities in processing transactions that deviate from typical Bitcoin relay protocols. This includes support for larger Ordinals inscriptions and specific transaction types linked to BitVM experiments. Recently, MARA—a notable publicly traded company in the bitcoin mining sector—has elevated Slipstream’s status as a foundational tool for Bitcoin’s research and development initiatives.
Noteworthy projects that have leveraged this service encompass efforts to create quantum-resistant Bitcoin transactions and Binohash, a technique proposed for simulating covenants without necessitating a soft fork of Bitcoin.
Privacy Features and Recent Usage
An intriguing aspect of Slipstream is that it allows transactions to be submitted without being disseminated across the public Bitcoin network ahead of confirmation, thereby enhancing the privacy of transaction data. This feature garnered significant attention amid the recent vulnerabilities exposed in Coldcard firmware, with many multisig users resorting to Slipstream to transfer funds from compromised wallets. MARA reported that over 10,000 BTC was moved from these affected wallets utilizing the service.
Peter Todd’s Background and Vision
Peter Todd is no stranger to Bitcoin innovation; he previously launched Libre Relay in 2024, an open-source fork of Bitcoin Core designed to ease restrictions on certain non-standard transactions. As a proponent of the replace-by-fee mechanism, he is also a co-author of BIP 125 and the creator of OpenTimestamps. Todd advocates for mining and relay policies to be dictated by market forces, arguing against unnecessary limitations on transaction types.
In a recent statement, Todd expressed enthusiasm for potential advancements within the Bitcoin space, viewing Slipstream as a testing ground for pioneering development and protocol innovations.
Speculation and Recent Developments
Additionally, Todd has been a subject of speculation regarding the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin’s enigmatic creator. A 2024 HBO documentary titled “Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery” suggested Todd’s involvement based on various clues, including stylistic similarities in his writings. However, he has firmly denied these claims, stating on social media in 2024,
“I’m not Satoshi.”
This month has also seen a notable resurgence of dormant bitcoins, with significant movements occurring since September 5.
