Bitcoin Socratic Seminar #47 - February 18, 2026

[bolty-atlbitlab]

Bitcoin Socratic Seminar #47

Date: February 18, 2026 (3rd Wednesday)
Location: ATL BitLab
Meetup Link: https://www.meetup.com/atlbitlab/events/313165388/

This issue tracks topic suggestions for our February Socratic Seminar. Please add topic suggestions as comments below with links and brief descriptions.

Topic Approval: React with 🚀 to suggest interest. Topics are approved when @sbddesign or @alexlwn123 add a 🚀 reaction.

Once we have enough approved topics, I'll update PR #128 with the final list.

Current Topics Under Consideration

Bitcoin

• Argo: a garbled-circuits scheme for 1000x more efficient off-chain computation
• Bitcoin Core #33822 - Block header support in libbitcoinkernel API

Lightning

• LN-Symmetry update - Rebased to Bitcoin Inquisition 29.x

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How this works:

1. 💬 Suggest topics in comments (with links!)
2. 🚀 Community can react to show interest
3. ✅ Topics approved when @sbddesign or @alexlwn123 add 🚀
4. 📝 Approved topics get added to PR Bitcoin Socratic Seminar #47 (Feb 18, 2026) #128
5. 📅 Event page goes live closer to Feb 18

[bolty-atlbitlab]

Bitcoin Topic: Argo Garbled Circuits

Argo: a garbled-circuits scheme for 1000x more efficient off-chain computation

New technique using MAC-encoded elliptic curve points for garbled circuits, enabling arithmetic operations instead of binary gates. First step toward more efficient BitVM-like constructs.

Paper: https://eprint.iacr.org/2026/049.pdf

React with 🚀 if you'd like to discuss this!

[bolty-atlbitlab]

Lightning Topic: LN-Symmetry Update

LN-Symmetry project recap - January 2026 update

Greg Sanders rebased his LN-Symmetry (eltoo) implementation to Bitcoin Inquisition 29.x with TRUC, ephemeral dust, P2A, and 1p1c package relay support. Also migrated to OP_TEMPLATEHASH+OP_CSFS+IK.

BOLT specs: https://github.com/instagibbs/bolts/tree/eltoo_trucd
CLN implementation: https://github.com/instagibbs/lightning/tree/2026-01-eltoo_rebased

React with 🚀 if you'd like to discuss this!

[bolty-atlbitlab]

Bitcoin Core Topic: libbitcoinkernel API

Bitcoin Core #33822 - Block header support in libbitcoinkernel

New API interface adds block header support to libbitcoinkernel, enabling validation and processing of headers without requiring full blocks. Includes methods for creating, copying, and destroying headers, plus fetching header fields and best chain state.

React with 🚀 if you'd like to discuss this!

[bolty-atlbitlab]

BOLT 12 Offers Available for All Lexe Beta Users

Link: https://blog.lexe.app/bolt12-offers/

Summary:
Lexe (self-custodial Lightning wallet with 24/7 node hosting) has launched BOLT 12 offers support for all beta users.

Key points:

• BOLT 12 offers are reusable, static payment identifiers (no new invoice needed per payment)
• Enables round-the-clock donations and recurring push payments
• Lexe claims to solve the "offline receive" problem that affects other self-custody wallets
• Use cases: donations, subscriptions, pay-as-you-go services (VPNs, cloud compute, LLM inference)

Discussion angles:

• How does Lexe's architecture enable offline receive for BOLT 12?
• BOLT 12 adoption status across Lightning implementations
• Privacy benefits vs BOLT 11
• Comparison with other BOLT 12 implementations (CLN, LDK, etc.)

[bolty-atlbitlab]

Alby Buzz #49 - Bitcoin App Ecosystem Roundup

Lightning/Payments:

• Alby Bitcoin Payments Agent Skill - AI agent skill for bitcoin payments
• Alby Lite - Lightning address server for NWC wallets
• V4V Analytics CLI - Lightning payment tracking via Nostr Wallet Connect
• Club Orange Payment Links - Shareable lightning payment links (no invoices)

Ark/Layer 2:

• bark-0.1.0-beta.6 - hArk for async VTXO claims, removes sync coordination

Taproot Assets:

• RailsX by Amboss - P2P platform for KYC-free BTC and Taproot Asset swaps

Bitcoin Commerce:

• Peach BTCPay Plugin - Sell BTC from self-hosted wallets, no KYC
• Geyser Crowdfunding - All-or-nothing funding via Rootstock

Nostr + Bitcoin:

• Fountain for Artists - Music distribution with RSS, bitcoin, Nostr
• Ridestr/Drivestr - Ridesharing on Nostr with bitcoin payments
• Pathos - Censorship-resistant activist platform with zaps

Tools & Infrastructure:

• Flint by Spiral - AI + bitcoin builder community
• SatsLegacy - Bitcoin inheritance with timelocks
• Plebdashboard - Lightning network visualization
• Bitzed - Lightning + mobile money in Zambia
• Braiins Hashpower - Buy hashrate on demand

Source: Alby Buzz #49

[bolty-atlbitlab]

Alby Bitcoin Payments Agent Skill

https://github.com/getAlby/alby-agent-skill

AI agent skill for bitcoin payments via NWC

[bolty-atlbitlab]

Alby Lite

https://blog.getalby.com/alby-lite-a-lightning-address-server-for-nwc-wallets/

Lightning address server for NWC wallets

[bolty-atlbitlab]

bark-0.1.0-beta.6 (Ark)

https://x.com/2ndbtc/status/2015401100355002626

Adds hArk for async VTXO claims, removes synchronous coordination

[bolty-atlbitlab]

RailsX by Amboss

https://x.com/ambosstech/status/2017251538033656017

P2P platform for KYC-free BTC and Taproot Asset swaps

[bolty-atlbitlab]

Peach BTCPay Plugin

https://x.com/peachbitcoin/status/2015791375854321702

Sell BTC from self-hosted wallets at premium, no KYC

[bolty-atlbitlab]

Geyser All-or-Nothing Crowdfunding

https://x.com/geyserfund/status/2011830072924115231

Bitcoin crowdfunding via Rootstock with refunds if goals not met