The new open source project has created an infrastructure that allows users to send Bitcoin transactions without internet access.
It was submitted to the Bitcoin 2025 official hackathon under the name Darkwire, Open Source Project It uses long-range radios and is designed to allow off-grid communication.
Invented and designed by pseudonym programmers ‘cyber’ He currently holds a degree in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.
I’m talking DecryptionCyber explained that Darkwire may be necessary or desirable in situations where traditional communication infrastructures such as the Internet, power grids, and cellular networks are “unavailable or controlled.”
Cyber provided examples of “censored or politically sensitive areas” such as the Rafa intersection and the India-Tibet border, as well as disaster areas where infrastructure could have been destroyed or taken offline.
“(Darkwire) is an individual who wants privacy or wants to bypass communication and transaction surveillance,” they said, adding that the framework is not for more casual bitcoiners.
“Imagine it’s similar to TOR, but for this particular use case,” they add. “Bitcoin is (somewhat) private, but fails when the government and administration simply cut the supply of the internet, but Darkwire aims to solve this particular problem.”
In terms of how Darkwire actually works, Cyber explains that the framework can use long distance wireless (LORA) to create distributed mesh networks, allowing small packets of data, such as text messages and Bitcoin transactions, to pass distances of several kilometers without the need for traditional internet connections, cell phone networks, or satellites.
“We need to push transactions to the blockchain to see the miners because at least one node in our network needs to be connected to the internet,” Cyber said.
From node to node
Apart from long-range radio transceivers, DarkWire uses microcontrollers such as the Ardoino UNO to form mesh networks. This is a distributed network in which multiple nodes without centralized access points are connected to multiple other nodes.
“If users want to send Bitcoin transactions using the Darkwire GUI, they use a local wallet managed by Bitcoinlib (Python Library) to specify recipient addresses and amounts,” Cyber says.
Once this is done, the Darkwire graphical user interface will generate raw Bitcoin transactions signed in hexadecimal format, sending raw transaction hexadecimal from your computer (via a serial connection such as USB) to a Darkwire node (a combination of microcontroller and Lora device).
They said, “The DarkWire node will retrieve this transactional data, fragment this into small packets if necessary, and send it wirelessly using LORA.”
In ideal conditions, each Darkwire node has a 10km range with direct gaze, but in densely populated environments the range is between 3km and 5km.
“In a mesh network, other Darkwire nodes receive these packets and relay them forward, hoping from node to node,” Cyber continues. It adds that this process continues until transactional data reaches a specified Darkwire node with internet access.
“This internet-connected node can broadcast and verify raw Bitcoin transactions to the global Bitcoin network and include them in blocks,” they say.
Just the beginning
Darkwire remains an entry at this time Bitcoin 2025 Official HackathonHowever, Cyber aims to further develop the project, refine it into a mature open source platform, and make it “industry standard” with LORA-based Comms.
“I’m also grateful for the contributions of open source, as this is obviously not possible on my own,” Cyber said.
It also noted that programmers have not yet implemented several Darkwire features such as UTXO searching for messages, message encryption, and NoStr (an open source protocol for sending messages).
And given that Darkwire is still a very ongoing work, Cyber has now admitted that there are some limitations that could be resolved over time.
This includes the relatively low bandwidth of Lora Radio, Lora’s sensitivity to terrain failures, and the dependency of Darkwire nodes on Internet exit nodes that can be the point of failure.
However, as time passes, as Darkwire networks grow, such restrictions need to be significantly improved, providing Bitcoin users with a means of sending transactions to Bitcoin Balters elsewhere in the world in less favorable environments.
And the world becomes more and more Authoritarian and undemocraticDarkwire could become an important tool in the continued use and growth of Bitcoin.
“I hope that people living in all kinds of authoritarian regimes and states will use Darkwire to put the truth there,” Cyber says.
edit Sebastian Sinclair
