A new project is underway and set to operate on a few select devices before going public in the next couple of weeks. The new project conducts bitcoin cash transactions with any mobile phone using simple text commands without internet, smartphones, apps, accounts, or passwords. The only requirement consists of a phone number that can receive text messages. The claim to this mystical capability lies within a method by which anyone can send or receive bch using simple commands such as “Send x bch to x address.”
Through complex methods manipulate the phone number to become the bitcoin cash address. According to CoinText;
Every full phone number (country code + area code + number) is unique to a single mobile device. CoinText leverages each phone number as a unique identifier and puts them through a proprietary algorithm. The result is used as the seed for a Bitcoin Cash keypair, which is always created on the fly and never stored. This means that every phone number in the world can have a corresponding Bitcoin Cash address that is unique to that number.
The system stacks an API server, consisting of the Bitcoin Cash and CoinText libraries and an in-memory data cache. The system does not write data to disk and stores no information about phone numbers, keypairs, or transactions pushed through the system. All transactions are settled immediately on-chain and all transaction records are pulled from the Bitcoin Cash blockchain. The API server communicates with a global Tier-1+ SMS gateway provider, offering carrier redundancy with send and receive to every phone on Earth.
Users can on-board to the system by using the “cash” or “deposit” commands. They can also be on-boarded by another user who sends Bitcoin Cash to either a phone number (using “send”) or its associated address (using “withdraw”). The “balance” command retrieves the balance of the unspent outputs for the phone number (address).
All of this work is completed by a bot that gives numbers their own blockchain address and private key. CoinText states they hold no record of blockchain addresses or the private key but the user can retrieve the private key if desired.
This application has global implications especially in developing countries where internet access may be limited. Perhaps individuals will be able to donate to charity using text messages as well as pay for merchandise.
