The user of txTenna app will be able to sync their mobile with a goTenna device and then switch the wallet app’s settings to transact offline. This would enable sending the Bitcoin. goTenna device costs $179 per pair. For transacting successfully, the the offline user needs to be roughly within a mile of another goTenna device. Only then, the message can be relayed across the mesh network, without any issues. Mesh network is a decade old technology, which is widely used to communicate without wifi or a landline. As of date, 100,000 goTenna devices, which can be used to access the Mesh network, have been sold.
As long as the offline user is within a mile of another active device, the transaction would bounce across the mesh until it reaches a device with an internet connection.
The device is of great assistance in disaster prone zones. As long as the phone has charge in it, a user will be able to communicate using the mesh. This makes the system censor-resistant and also provides privacy. Mesh network uses free, unlicensed radio frequency. It is the first time the technology is being tested for cryptocurrency transactions.
Nick Szabo and blockchain engineer Elaine Ou had published a report last year explaining how weak-signal radio transmissions could be used to enhance security of connections across the Bitcoin network. In December, after the US Federal Communications Commission repealed “net neutrality”, Ethereum blockchain supporters started organizing and attending mesh network technology meetings. As net neutrality expires next month, internet service providers will no longer be prohibited from blocking or favoring specific websites and communities. Bitcoin and the underlying blockchain technology is the only effective tools currently available to break such censorships.
goTenna, a New York based company, founded in 2012 by Brazilian siblings Jorge Perdomo and Daniela, has acknowledged that the project will remain open source. In fact, Samourai Wallet’s open source communication tools on GitHub inspired goTenna’s team to visualize this project. The txTenna code could also be theoretically applied to iOS wallet app.
goTenna’s focus on low-power, low-cost, modular mobile ad-hoc networking protocols and devices are easy-to-use and developer-friendly. The company’s parallel networks are designed to both enable completely off-grid communication and augment traditional systems by extending the practical edge of connectivity.