Strengthening Network Privacy with Tor

OpenSats is pleased to announce a support grant for The Tor Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to privacy and internet freedom since 2006.

Our mission is to provide a sustainable ecosystem of funding for free and open-source contributors and projects, especially those that help Bitcoin flourish. It's obvious to us that Tor is such a project.

Tor originated in the mid-1990s as a U.S. Naval Research Laboratory project to create a secure and anonymized communications network using onion routing. Open-sourced in 2002, this technology led to the formation of The Tor Project, which launched the privacy-focused Tor Browser in 2008. The Tor Project also developed tools like Nyx, Stem, and TorBirdy to enhance usability and privacy further.

The integration of the Tor network with Bitcoin has always played a crucial role in safeguarding the ecosystem by increasing privacy. It allows bitcoiners to:

• Anonymize their network communications, effectively protecting the IP addresses of the user from tracing and surveillance, whether it be miner, node operator, service provider, or regular user.

• Run infrastructure as Onion Services, massively increasing the privacy of node runners and other infrastructure providers, as well as their users.

This grant will allow The Tor Project to expand its team of onion service developers, which will be instrumental in releasing substantial improvements to onion services, including an improved protection mechanism against DDoS attacks. Strengthening this team will ensure that Tor continues to provide reliable, anonymous, and secure communication for a global user base, including those in heavily censored regions. This is particularly important for the Bitcoin and nostr ecosystems, as users expose themselves to various risks if they can't connect to those networks in a private manner.

We believe everyone should be able to explore the internet with privacy. [...] We advance human rights and defend your privacy online through free software and open networks.

—The Tor Project

OpenSats is committed to supporting developers and contributors who strengthen the open-source foundations of Bitcoin, nostr, and related technologies.

The generosity of our donors makes grants like this possible. To continue supporting important projects like Tor, please consider donating to our General Fund: