no-compromise open source

• open source isn’t a feature - it’s survival
• the moment you compromise, you’ve already lost

you can’t halfway open-source

• can’t halfway critical infrastructure
• either expose it to scrutiny or build a ticking time bomb
• waiting for state actors, institutions, or hackers to tear it apart
• transparency IS security
• hiding flaws doesn’t make them disappear
• just means you don’t see the attack coming
• cypherpunks taught us this decades ago

the track record of closed source

• apple’s secure enclave? cracked
• intel’s SGX? compromised
• banking systems? routinely breached, users never know
• worst part: when hacked, they cover it up
• they have to - business depends on your ignorance

crypto’s vulnerability

• built to eliminate trust
• but if hardware wallet, key manager, or consensus layer is closed-source
• you’ve already lost
• building opposite of resistance infrastructure
• building dependence

killing crypto from within

• easiest way to kill crypto isn’t banning it
• it’s undermining from within
• hidden backdoors
• compromised secure elements
• firmware you can’t audit
• if keys are in wrong hands, it’s over

real security requirements

• full-stack open source
• hardware: no black-box secure elements
• firmware: verifiable, auditable, reproducible
• software: completely open, down to build process
• if any part is closed-source, you’re trusting the enemy
• in security, trust is a vulnerability

the compromise trap

• some projects start open, then compromise
• locking down firmware
• adding proprietary components
• “for security reasons” - bullshit
• that’s how system corrupts itself
• little concessions add up
• “just the secure enclave”
• “just the signing process”
• suddenly locked into something unverifiable

no middle ground

• no halfway open-source
• it’s all or nothing
• open everything or open nothing

the way forward

• build the alternative
• no black-box security
• no closed-source secure elements
• no “trust us, it’s safe”
• crypto needs end-to-end verifiability
• deep state knows this
• why they push for backdoors and “secure” black boxes
• security you can’t audit isn’t security

See also

• cypherpunk-legacy.md
• resistance-infrastructure.md
• open-everything.md
• deepstate-crypto.md