Samourai Wallet is a digital wallet for cryptocurrencies. The company recently announced the launch of a Proof of Concept (PoC) for an application for Android mobile operating system that would allow to realize transactions in the Bitcoin blockchain network through text messages (SMS).
The new application was announced on the company’s official Twitter account. The Proof of Concept (PoC) is called PonyDirect and it is the work of the Samourai’s research and development team. The app makes it possible to send transactions to the Bitcoin network via SMS, but it also allows to use the device as a retransmitter of the SMSs towards the Bitcoin blockchain network.
Detailed information about the new tool can be found on the GitHub repository of the Mule.Tools initiative, where the developers from Samourai Wallet elaborated on the project.
Basically, to send a transaction you should start PonyDirect on your device and enter the telephone number of Pony Relay or the device that will be used as a retransmitter. Next, you should add the transaction in hexadecimal format (hex) in order to divide it into the necessary number of text messages. Finally, the text messages with the divided transaction are sent to the retransmitter. Of course, the sender will be charged the usual cost for sending text messages.
The important part of the process is the rentrasmitter, known as Pony Relay. The function of the retransmitter is to receive the messages with the fractions of the transaction, reunite them using PonyDirect and send them to the Bitcoin blockchain network after validating the identity of the transaction. The transaction is sent to the blockchain network using the Samourai pushTx node.
Samourai Wallet is one of the most famous and used wallets for bitcoins. One of the big advantages of the wallet is the implementation of the SegWit bifurcation right after it was launched. This brought cheaper transactions to its users, because the signatures are separated from the rest of the data and this lowers the transaction commission.
With the new application, Samourai Wallet is trying to offer alternative ways to use the Bitcoin network. Their users have more tools at their disposal, reducing the dependency on internet to perform transactions in the Bitcoin blockchain network.
