DotNetOpenAuth

My recently released Nerdbank.Zcash library is available on nuget.org and makes the Zcash cryptocurrency accessible to .NET apps. This library exposes all the APIs necessary to generate seed phrases and derive Zcash accounts from them that support ... [More] the transparent pool and the shielded sapling and orchard pools. You can interact with the blockchain with common […] [Less]

I’ve programmed primarily in C# for over 20 years. Before that, I did a mix of C++ and VB, and a bit of ruby. While I’m a long-time fan of C#, the more I learn about rust, the more it appeals to me. Despite its being a “systems programming” language, I find it has many […]

Background into IVKs and internal addresses ZIP-32 describes how to derive accounts and keys for Sapling and Orchard pools. Among these are “internal keys” and “internal addresses”. Internal addresses are prescribed for use for receiving ‘change’ and ... [More] for shielding transactions. Technically the public address would work fine for shielding and change, so why use internal […] [Less]

Committing generated files into source control is a shame. Besides bloating your source control database, it creates more opportunity for merge conflicts. And if the computer generated the file in the first place, why can it not regenerate it later instead of “checking it in”? Thanks to Sam Harwell‘s work, now there is one more […]

I recently applied for a grant from the Zcash Foundation to fund a .NET library that would be able to parse and construct Zcash Unified Addresses. You can learn more about that and my efforts on the Zcash Community Forum. The work for the grant is complete and you can find the libraries I wrote […]

Shared libraries should not use System.Console. Besides an assumption that they are running in a process with an attached console, which may not be correct, the library really has no idea what its hosting process is using its STDIO streams for. A console app may be using a TUI where blindly writing to the console […]

.NET assemblies may contain embedded streams of arbitrary data. In an msbuild project this is done by adding an EmbeddedResource item to your project with the path to a file to be embedded. By default, MSBuild will compute a ‘manifest resource name’ to key the content of the file within your assembly. This technique is […]

Zcash privacy is best in class. Zcash was the first cryptocurrency to use Zero Knowledge proofs, which allows Zcash to totally hide all information about a transaction (and therefore your spending habits, balance, and where your money comes from). ... [More] Zcash offers both shielded and transparent addresses, which means privacy is a choice users can make […] [Less]

Zcash privacy is best in class. Zcash was the first cryptocurrency to use Zero Knowledge proofs, which allows Zcash to totally hide all information about a transaction...

What are “Crypto Wednesdays”? Simply put, that on Wednesdays you only make purchases using cryptocurrency. Today, this severely limits where you can spend your money one day of the week. Many of your purchases are not optional and will have to be made on other days rather than Wednesday. But it also focuses purchases toward […]