diff --git a/components/MDXComponents.tsx b/components/MDXComponents.tsx index 9d6b7c856..9e8df88dd 100644 --- a/components/MDXComponents.tsx +++ b/components/MDXComponents.tsx @@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import { BlogNewsletterForm } from 'pliny/ui/NewsletterForm' import Image from './Image' import BrowserFrame from './BrowserFrame' +import PhoneFrame from './PhoneFrame' import VideoPlayer from './VideoPlayer' import CustomLink from './Link' import DonateToGeneralFundForm from './DonateToGeneralFundForm' @@ -35,6 +36,7 @@ export const Wrapper = ({ layout, content, ...rest }: MDXLayout) => { export const MDXComponents: ComponentMap = { Image, BrowserFrame, + PhoneFrame, VideoPlayer, TOCInline, a: CustomLink, diff --git a/components/PhoneFrame.tsx b/components/PhoneFrame.tsx new file mode 100644 index 000000000..60bd64c05 --- /dev/null +++ b/components/PhoneFrame.tsx @@ -0,0 +1,15 @@ +import { ReactNode } from 'react' + +const PhoneFrame = ({ children }: { children: ReactNode }) => { + return ( +
+
+
+ {children} +
+
+
+ ) +} + +export default PhoneFrame diff --git a/data/blog/developer-spotlight-egge-coco.mdx b/data/blog/developer-spotlight-egge-coco.mdx new file mode 100644 index 000000000..e2e4a5e7c --- /dev/null +++ b/data/blog/developer-spotlight-egge-coco.mdx @@ -0,0 +1,248 @@ +--- +title: "Egge’s Bitcoin Journey: From Marketer to Cashu Maintainer" +date: '2026-06-30' +tags: ['bitcoin', 'ecash', 'spotlight'] +authors: ['tuma', 'ville'] +images: ['/static/images/spotlight/egge/featured.jpg', '/static/images/spotlight/egge/hero.jpg'] +draft: false +summary: "Bitcoin took Egge off the predictable path, leading him towards a brilliant career in FOSS." +pullQuotes: + - "I believe you cannot dive really deep into Bitcoin without it changing or affecting you in some way." + - "I am a freedom-loving open-source developer, a Bitcoiner, a husband, and most importantly, a father to an amazing little girl." + - "The PayPal experience was what pushed me to look deeper and take it seriously." + - "Before I stumbled upon Bitcoin, I was economically blind. Bitcoin changed the way I view the world, + my values, and a big part of my personality. I strongly believe it changed me for the better." + - "I dedicated my professional life to working on freedom technology." +--- + +It’s 2021, and Egge is a person like many others. He is following a predictable path: +he went to school, studied marketing at university, and now works a normal day job in advertising, +running around at the fast pace of one of Germany's highly productive cities. + +Fast-forward to today, Egge is one of the leading developers in the [Cashu] +ecosystem, producing code used by multiple applications in the Bitcoin space. +What happened during this time? + +> I am a freedom-loving open-source developer, a Bitcoiner, a husband, and most importantly, +> a father to an amazing little girl. + +Egge grew up around technical people. His dad, an electrician and a real do-it-yourselfer, +introduced him to gaming from a young age. As a PC gamer, Egge picked up many technical skills along the way, +though he never touched code, save for a brief parenthesis during high school. + +His journey into development started when Egge wanted to modify the [Einundzwanzig] +community Telegram bot to add useful features. He didn’t wait for someone else to do it. Instead, +he rolled up his sleeves, bought an Udemy course on Python, and started exploring the world of coding. +He hasn’t stopped learning and building since. + +Egge’s history with Bitcoin started differently than that of an average European. +“Back in 2021, my PayPal account was banned.” PayPal was one of the most common methods, +if not the only one, to get paid online. For someone living in the developed world, +this may not seem like a big deal, but that’s not entirely true for the rest of the world. +Companies like PayPal have the power to do real damage to individuals, and the worst part +is that they don’t even have to justify their choices. + +> I quickly realized that the arbitrary decision of a single company could have a real impact +> on my personal life. It was easy to imagine how much worse that kind of dependency must +> be for people with fewer alternatives or less privilege. + +Although he recalls hearing about Bitcoin very early on, during one of his *World of Warcraft* +gaming sessions, he invested neither time nor attention in it, missing his “chance at a pretty +nice early retirement.” Even in 2020, his understanding was mostly limited to it being *magic internet money*. + +That PayPal misadventure, which some may consider a blessing, led him at last to take Bitcoin seriously, +falling into the rabbit hole and joining the *Einundzwanzig* community, the largest and most active +Germany-based Bitcoin community. Egge started to get involved and quickly became the co-host of its podcast. +A member of the community was translating and recording influential Bitcoin posts into German. +They asked Egge to record one, and by chance it was Alex Gladstein’s +‘[Check Your Financial Privilege][essay-gladstein]’. That piece cemented his conviction even more. + +Gladstein’s essay, which was then developed into a book, talks about how unjust the current financial +system is, how almost 90% of the world population lives under financial repression, and how Bitcoin gives +hope to people outside of the financially privileged countries. That was exactly what Egge had personally +lived through, even in one of those rich places that dismiss Bitcoin as “rat poison” or “a tool for criminals”. + +> I believe you cannot dive really deep into Bitcoin without it changing or affecting you in some way. + +That encounter set Egge on a new path. Many people feel their values shifting once they meet Bitcoin, +and Egge was no exception: “Bitcoin changed the way I view the world, my values, and a big part +of my personality. I strongly believe it changed me for the better.” + +He started developing software, steadily leaving behind an established career in marketing. +He then left the city, the familiar landscape he grew up in, to discover the beauty of the countryside. +“Where there used to be neighbors, malls, and cars, there are now forests, farmland, and tractors,” he says. +A place where stronger human bonds take root, where his sense of community and companionship has grown manyfold. +A place where, he is sure, his daughter will have a family that extends well beyond her bloodline. + +> We are all in this together. In FOSS, our work benefits one another, and our projects rely +> not only on their maintainers, but on contributions of all kinds. That can mean code, but also testing, +> feedback, design work, ‘marketing,’ writing, documentation, and so on. + +Working in free and open-source software (FOSS) has profound consequences. The work you do does +not only benefit your project, but also the whole ecosystem around it: the projects you build +on and the ones building on yours alike. It also comes with uncertainty. He recalls spending +night after night working on his Bitcoin side projects, without ever seeing a dime. + +Egge has always been able to count on his wife. She stood beside him through the tough times, +and through everything that came during his journey. + +> My wife is my biggest supporter. She was understanding when I worked nights back in the days when +> I did not earn anything from my Bitcoin work, recorded podcast episodes with Einundzwanzig, +> and even when I had to travel to El Salvador on our anniversary. + +[Npub.cash] was the venture that launched Egge’s FOSS career. That work began when +he was looking for a way to transform a custodial wallet he and two fellow bitcoiners +were building into a non-custodial application. + +Combining a local node on a user’s phone with [Lightning Address][ln-address] +required linking the offline and online worlds. Egge found a solution in the Cashu protocol, which just +“turned out to be the perfect bridge between those two worlds”. + + + The npub.cash website + + +That same project also helped Egge obtain his first OpenSats grant, a success he recalls as +one of the most important moments of his life, one of those occasions worth remembering. +“It felt like receiving an accolade. I was at Bitcoin Zitadelle when I got the email, +and I immediately had to tell everyone around me.” + + +Funding is the hard part for any FOSS developer trying to support their own work. +FOSS is difficult to monetize by definition, and users often take contributors’ effort for granted. +OpenSats made it possible for Egge to finally provide for his family through his work. + +That victory wasn’t just financial: + +> OpenSats helped me realize that my work matters. That appreciation and acknowledgement +> were incredibly important in helping me fight my imposter syndrome and take the leap of +> faith into full-time FOSS work. + +Egge at Bitcoin Zitadelle + +Egge soon found himself entangled in the dynamics of working in the open: building upon other people’s work, +finding gaps and issues, and providing solutions. + +His service relied heavily on the TypeScript implementation of the Cashu protocol, [`cashu-ts`][cashu-ts]. +Egge’s experience as a user translated directly into better code, for him and for the entire ecosystem +building on it. He quickly spotted gaps and issues in the library and fixed them at the source; +no strange workarounds needed to make things work. + +The broader Cashu protocol benefited from Egge’s work too: new specifications were merged, +such as [NUT-17], which defines a way for mints +and applications to talk to each other through a single communication channel. +His role in the ecosystem grew large enough that [Gandlaf], +the original architect of `cashu-ts`, and [Calle], +the mind behind Cashu, asked him to become maintainer of the library. + +Egge had worked on both sides of the line, as a production user first and as an SDK maintainer +later. When asked to resurrect a beloved Cashu wallet, [eNuts], he quickly understood that even if +`cashu-ts` was a solid toolkit for Cashu operations, building a complete application around it still +required deep domain knowledge. + + + The eNuts iOS wallet + + +Working on eNuts meant rewriting most of the logic from scratch. +The wallet hadn’t been updated for a long time, and was incompatible with the rapidly changing Cashu ecosystem. +A tremendous effort for Egge, who decided to make sure that other developers wouldn’t have to go +through the same battle by abstracting away much of the complexity into a library. +The benefits of FOSS at work, again. + +That library, [Coco], soon became the main focus for Egge, +who recently managed to publish the first production-ready release, a milestone for the TypeScript developer +ecosystem around Cashu, and for him personally. Developers can now integrate a fully functional Cashu wallet +in any application with just a few lines of code, expanding the reach of the ecosystem by building on +Egge’s shoulders. He hopes Coco will lower the entry barrier for developers who want to add Cashu to their apps. + + + Coco main page + + +His focus now is making Coco the best possible library to build on Cashu. To do so, he needs feedback from contributors, +testers, and adopters: “Coco is still young. While most of its primitives have already been battle-tested, +the library itself has not yet been tested as widely in real-world applications.” + +Even more so, when working in a rapidly changing environment, like Cashu: “Staying close to the +cutting edge while also improving the sturdiness and ergonomics of a library is difficult.” Any help is appreciated: +“If you are a developer and find some time to play around with Coco, I would really appreciate any feedback.” + +Despite his success and recent grant renewal, uncertainty still keeps Egge up at night. +“Working in Bitcoin, especially on a grant basis, comes with the challenge of staying relevant and renewing your +support regularly”, he notes. + +During the most difficult times, he is able to find his strength in the hope to build a better world for his daughter, +who he lovingly calls his “amazing little girl”. He believes “the technology we are building as an industry +will improve the lives of many people around the world”. + +But change doesn’t happen by itself. It needs people investing their time into building those technologies +that, in Egge’s eyes, will make the future brighter. Bitcoin needs more people working on it. +“Not only developers, but people in many different areas. There is so much work to be done across so many different fields.” + +Eric Hughes said it plainly in *A Cypherpunk's Manifesto*: “[Cypherpunks write code][cypherpunks-write-code]”. +However, writing code is not the only thing that can help Bitcoin thrive. +It needs educators, marketers, designers, and all the talented people out there. +Egge’s journey is a good reminder that anyone can have a real chance and a real impact in this space. +“I would encourage anyone who wants to give it a try to do it”, he ends. + +--- + +*Egge has been an OpenSats grantee since [June 2024][fifth-wave-nostr], +with his grant renewed in [December 2024][tenth-wave-nostr], and [December 2025][sixteenth-wave-bitcoin]. +"OpenSats has, of course, made a lot of this possible. Without funding, +I would not have been able to do what I do. But the impact goes +far beyond funding," he says, "I do not think I would be able to stand as +confidently on a stage and talk about my work without that support."* + +*If you want to support Egge, feedback on Coco is the most important thing +right now. The library is still young, and it needs to be tested in real-world +applications. Our support for Egge's work was made possible thanks +to your generous donations to [our funds][funds]. For +comments, corrections, or suggestions about our Spotlight series, please reach +out to [spotlight@opensats.org](mailto:spotlight@opensats.org).* + +[Cashu]: /projects/cashu +[Einundzwanzig]: https://einundzwanzig.space/ +[essay-gladstein]: https://bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/check-your-financial-privilege +[Npub.cash]: /blog/advancements-in-ecash#npubcash +[ln-address]: /topics/lightning-address +[cashu-ts]: https://cashu-ts.dev/ +[NUT-17]: https://github.com/cashubtc/nuts/blob/main/17.md +[Gandlaf]: https://github.com/gandlafbtc +[Calle]: /blog/cashu-calle-receives-lts-grant +[enuts]: https://enuts.cash/ +[Coco]: https://github.com/cashubtc/coco +[cypherpunks-write-code]: /newsletter/2026-Q1#cypherpunks-write-code +[fifth-wave-nostr]: /blog/nostr-grants-july-2024#npubcash +[tenth-wave-nostr]: /blog/10th-wave-of-nostr-grants +[sixteenth-wave-bitcoin]: /blog/sixteenth-wave-of-bitcoin-grants#cashu-ts-and-coco +[funds]: /funds diff --git a/public/static/images/spotlight/egge/coco-dark.png b/public/static/images/spotlight/egge/coco-dark.png new file mode 100644 index 000000000..d5edded0c Binary files /dev/null and b/public/static/images/spotlight/egge/coco-dark.png differ diff --git a/public/static/images/spotlight/egge/coco-light.png b/public/static/images/spotlight/egge/coco-light.png new file mode 100644 index 000000000..9c43a13b2 Binary files /dev/null and b/public/static/images/spotlight/egge/coco-light.png differ diff --git a/public/static/images/spotlight/egge/conf.jpg b/public/static/images/spotlight/egge/conf.jpg new file mode 100644 index 000000000..a4726498f Binary files /dev/null and b/public/static/images/spotlight/egge/conf.jpg differ diff --git a/public/static/images/spotlight/egge/enuts-dark.png b/public/static/images/spotlight/egge/enuts-dark.png new file mode 100644 index 000000000..dfd3e57a9 Binary files /dev/null and b/public/static/images/spotlight/egge/enuts-dark.png differ diff --git a/public/static/images/spotlight/egge/enuts-light.png b/public/static/images/spotlight/egge/enuts-light.png new file mode 100644 index 000000000..dfd3e57a9 Binary files /dev/null and b/public/static/images/spotlight/egge/enuts-light.png differ diff --git a/public/static/images/spotlight/egge/featured.jpg b/public/static/images/spotlight/egge/featured.jpg new file mode 100644 index 000000000..793f2bc30 Binary files /dev/null and b/public/static/images/spotlight/egge/featured.jpg differ diff --git a/public/static/images/spotlight/egge/hero.jpg b/public/static/images/spotlight/egge/hero.jpg new file mode 100644 index 000000000..01cc3a394 Binary files /dev/null and b/public/static/images/spotlight/egge/hero.jpg differ diff --git a/public/static/images/spotlight/egge/npub-cash.png b/public/static/images/spotlight/egge/npub-cash.png new file mode 100644 index 000000000..20c0bc711 Binary files /dev/null and b/public/static/images/spotlight/egge/npub-cash.png differ