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@ gandlaf21
2025-01-18 12:17:22
This is the first edition of the SDR (Squirrel Den Recap), a development blog where I recap the recent Cashu related things I've been working on.
### The year of the nut
IYKYK. 2025 is the year of the nut. Don't blame me, you can put it on the Chinese:
<img src="https://blossom.primal.net/c83ed9f135dd2ba6285d90ff3320055d7245d6d8e11022e2d57af2995b2bc654.jpg">
And I intend to take full advantage of that. This is the year where I go all in on the nut development!
## Building a mint???
There are already a few mint implementations out there ([nutshell](https://github.com/cashubtc/nutshell), [gonuts](https://github.com/elnosh/gonuts), [cdk](https://github.com/cashubtc/cdk)...). So why build another?
Honestly it was kind of a selfish move. So far, I have mainly concerned myself with building tools for Cashu wallets and clients. I figured, if I wanted to truly focus on Cashu this year, I should also know my stuff when it comes to building a mint from scratch. And so I did. It also allows me to experiment with mint related stuff, having an implementation handy that I can mess around with.
<img src="https://blossom.primal.net/3b6e156bfc9d464929696502f28986bf3764ac736e826429673129f548ec4954.png">
The mint implementation is called MNT. You can visit the homepage <https://mnt.cash> , where you will also find a link to the code.
Although the code works, the mint implementation is not yet ready for production. I've been playing around with it using a local testing lightning network with [Polar](https://lightningpolar.com/) , which by the way is a great tool for devs that need to test lightning integrations.
### The mint
MNT is short for mint. It's also pronounced like mint, but without the "i". The goal of this project is to be an easy to run mint, that could be deployed by users for example when running an event. It won't support all of the protocol features, to keep it simple. Instead the focus will be on simplicity and ease of use.
MNT comes with an admin web interface, that makes it easy to set the mint up with a lightning backend:
<img src="https://blossom.primal.net/d5ef4baee85173e98057447c1f14e70d73fe2f647a71096a954288bc70785571.png">
After adding a lightning backend, the mint is basically ready! Users can enjoy a live view of what is happening on their mint via the integrated dashboard:
<img src="https://blossom.primal.net/a2b8968f564cfe082182a44a68aed8c2e4001170f26c76d7b6892981ec43aa05.png">
Admins can take direct actions on the mint via the admin tool, like rotating keysets, disabling and enabling features, etc...
A key feature is also the keyset view, where operators get a view on how much of the issued ecash has already been redeemed in each keyset. This is a crucial tool for mint operators, because it lets them know when they can safely delete records from their database, or shut the mint down.
<img src="https://blossom.primal.net/182bb23b39b6cb1002a48abc8a0093b0fee506ebee01e7a48d50a434869e6557.png">
The mint is compatible with all Cashu wallets. It only supports a subset of the cashu specification (NUTs), and will probably never implement the full spec. I'm looking forward to soon recklessly give this badboy a spin on mainnet 😎
## What else?
**Cashu-ts**
Last year
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joined cashu-ts as a maintainer and has been killing it with development in the project! As I ramp up my involvement in the project again, we started having weekly dev calls. **Developers that want to contribute to cashu-ts development**, **please reach out to me so you can join us on the next call!**
**Nutstash**
The wallet has seen a complete make-over at the end of last year. Now is the time to consolidate, fix bugs and improve the UX.
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has been helping me with awesome designs and UX suggestions, while I've been crushing bugs. A new version fixing some edge cases in the restore process can be expected next week!
<img src="https://blossom.primal.net/55222e2206e938285cf344e84f6a5c4e8aca31c150891aad2ea6061a2a50d322.png">
### This blog
\
This year, I was fortunate to receive funding for my work on open source projects in the [Cashu](https://cashu.space) ecosystem. I am very grateful for the trust from
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and
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this means a lot to me, to be able to make a living by working on something I am passionate about is a blessing, and I don't think it would be possible without the support from you. My deepest gratitude, I hope my contributions will not only match, but exceed expectations.
By writing this blog, I want to show my progress, proof of work, and give people a look into the daily life in the squirrels den 🐿️🐿️🐿️🐿️🐿️🐿️
If you have any questions or suggestions about this blog, please let me know in a comment!
###
Best,
Gandlaf