Thursday, January 15, 2026

I wanted any and everybody's thoughts on an idea I came up with and wanted to see if it was in the realm of possibility + what you guys think

I brainstormed a type of currency similar to XMR based off of its ring signature rules and the traditional system of hawala , vice is greatly appreciated and constructive criticism

**Hundi** – A pure P2P cryptocurrency protocol recreating hawala's trust-based transfers on-chain with automatic Monero-style ring mixing for unbreakable privacy. Users specify only recipient hawaladar + amount; protocol auto-mixes with network decoys.

## Core Innovation

**One-click hawala**: Alice sends 100 USDC to Charlie via Bob (her contact). She inputs: `amount`, `bob.eth`, `secret="hundi42"`. Hundi auto-pulls 10 recent active hawaladars as decoys, broadcasts ring signature flooding the chain—transaction appears to ping the *entire* network. Bob propagates secret privately; Charlie receives value seamlessly.

## Technical Architecture

```

User Flow: amount → recipient → secret

[Auto] RingSig(10 recent hawaladars + Bob) → Mempool flood

Private: Bob → Dana → Charlie (secret chain)

On-chain: Charlie claims amid network noise

```

**Key Components:**

- **AutoDecoy Pool**: Recent 1k rep NFT minters (24h lookback) – no user selection

- **Fixed Ring Size**: 11 participants (self + recipient + 9 decoys) for uniform tx fingerprint

- **ZK Relays**: Semaphore proofs hide intermediate hops

- **HTLC Backbone**: Atomic secrets + timelocks prevent stuck funds

## Production Solidity Contract

```solidity

// Hundi.sol - Deploy Monad/Ethereum

pragma solidity ^0.8.20;

import "@openzeppelin/contracts/token/ERC20/IERC20.sol";

import "@openzeppelin/contracts/token/ERC721/ERC721.sol";

import "@zk-kit/protocols/semaphores/contracts/Semaphore.sol";

contract Hundi is ERC721("HundiRep", "HREP"), Semaphore {

uint256 constant RING_SIZE = 11;

uint256 constant LOOKBACK = 7200; // ~24h blocks

struct Transfer {

bytes32 commitment;

address recipientHawaladar;

uint256 amount;

address token;

bool settled;

}

IERC721 public repNFT;

mapping(bytes32 => Transfer) public transfers;

mapping(address => uint256) public repScore;

// USER CALL: Only needs recipient + amount

function sendHundi(bytes32 _commitment, address _hawaladar, uint256 _amount, address _token) external {

address[] memory decoys = getActiveHawaladars();

require(decoys.length >= RING_SIZE - 2, "Pool too small");

transfers[_commitment] = Transfer(_commitment, _hawaladar, _amount, _token, false);

IERC20(_token).transferFrom(msg.sender, address(this), _amount);

emit HundiSent(_commitment, _hawaladar, decoys);

}

// Auto-fetch recent active hawaladars

function getActiveHawaladars() internal view returns (address[] memory) {

// Implementation: Scan recent TransferCompleted events for unique msg.sender

// Return newest RING_SIZE-2 addresses + randomization

}

// Anonymous relay (ZK proof)

function relayHundi(uint256 _groupId, uint256 _nullifierHash, uint256 _signal, bytes32 _commitment) external {

verifyProof(_groupId, _nullifierHash, _signal); // Semaphore ZK

// Propagate secret privately to next hop

repScore[msg.sender]++;

_mint(msg.sender, repScore[msg.sender]);

}

// Final claim with secret

function claimHundi(bytes32 _commitment, bytes32 _secret) external {

Transfer storage t = transfers[_commitment];

require(keccak256(abi.encodePacked(_secret)) == t.commitment, "Wrong secret");

require(msg.sender == t.recipientHawaladar, "Not recipient");

require(!t.settled, "Already claimed");

t.settled = true;

IERC20(t.token).transfer(msg.sender, t.amount);

}

}

```

## Privacy Guarantees

| Metric | Hundi | Monero | Bitcoin |

|--------|--------|---------|---------|

| **Sender Anonymity** | Auto-ring 11 decoys | Ring signatures | None |

| **Route Privacy** | Network-wide broadcast | Output mixing | Public |

| **User Effort** | 3 inputs (amt/addr/secret) | Wallet default | Full exposure |

| **Gas Cost** | ~150k (ring) | N/A (native) | 21k (basic) |

## Network Effects

**Bootstrap**: Early users (your trading contacts) earn HREP NFTs → become decoys → attract more users

**Reputation**: NFT serial # = successful transfers; higher ID = trusted hawaladar

**Discovery**: P2P gossip (libp2p) shares active hawaladars; frontend indexes recent claims

**Offsets**: Hawaladars settle repeated business via direct swaps (your grid trading strength)

## Deployment Roadmap

```

Phase 1: Testnet (1 week)

└─ Remix IDE → Sepolia → Basic HTLC

Phase 2: Frontend (2 weeks)

└─ React + Rabby Wallet → 1-click UX

└─ OrbitDB for hawaladar discovery

Phase 3: Mainnet (Month 1)

└─ Monad deployment (<$0.01 fees)

└─ Airdrop 1M HREP to first 1000 users

Phase 4: Scale (Q2 2026)

└─ Cross-chain (LayerZero bridges)

└─ Mobile app (React Native)

```

## Economic Model

```

Fees: 0.3% → HREP stakers (protocol owned)

Rep NFTs: Soulbound, tradeable after 100 tx

Burn: 10% fee on bad claims (slashing)

Incentives: 50% fees → ring liquidity rewards

```


Wednesday, January 14, 2026

SSD Help: January-February 2026

Post questions in this thread. Thanks!

This thread may be demoted from sticky status for specific content or events.

If I've missed your post, it happens. It's okay to jump on discord, DM me, or chat me (although I don't check chat often). I'm not intentionally ignoring you. I just answer what I can each day and sometimes there's too much backlog to keep track. I will try to review each month as I go but that could still be a pretty big delay.

Be aware that some posts will be auto-moderated, for example if they contain links to Amazon

Basic Purchasing "Tier" List for US Amazon


5/7/2023

Now that I have the website up and running, I'm taking requests for things you would like to see. A common request is for a "tier list" which is something I may do in one fashion or another. I also will be doing mini blogs on certain topics. One thing I'd like to cover is portable SSDs/enclosures. If you have something you want to see covered with some details, drop me a DM.


Discord

Website


Previous period


My Patreon - your donations are appreciated and help pay the cost of my web hosting.

The spreadsheet has affiliate links for some drives in the final column. You can use these links to buy different capacities and even different items off Amazon with the commission going towards me and the TechPowerUp SSD Database maintainer. We've decided to work together to keep drive information up-to-date which is unfortunately time-intensive. We appreciate your support!

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#134 "Blockchain and Belief" - Professor's Roundtable

https://youtu.be/OnldFSbAPP0?si=EkZBNSk-CJSRm7yZ