By Jamie Redman,
The Austin, Texas-based software startup Stash Inc., has just announced the release of its first product — the “Stash Node Pro.” The device is a Bitcoin full node with various features that protect privacy and cryptographic financial security.
Stash Reveals Its Bitcoin Full Node With Strong & Privacy-Centric Cryptography
Stash is a privacy-focused Bitcoin company founded by Cliff Baltzley and Chris Odom. The company’s first product, the Stash Node Pro, will be the world’s first Open-Transactions hardware device. The plug-and-play device is a Bitcoin full node roughly five-by-five inches in size.
With the typical capabilities of a full node, the products’ privacy-centric features are unique. Stash Node Pro will include Open-Transactions — which has untraceable cash, digital checks, recurring payments, basket currencies, bid/ask market exchange, and a secure end-to-end encrypted messaging system. All the features included give Stash Node owners a complete cryptographic resource library.
“We’re reducing the need for reliance on trusted third parties,” says Chris Odom, Stash CTO and co-founder. “All money services existing today can be replaced by consumer devices. Through strong cryptography, parties can transact directly and privately with one another.”
‘A Powerful Turnkey Transaction Server’
Stash said members of its staff have been coding rigorously for over six years to provide this software to the public. Stash Node Pro is a “powerful turnkey transaction server and mobile financial platform, built on Open-Transactions and the blockchain,” says CEO Cliff Baltzley. The startup believes consumers have been looking for a turnkey device that is accessible from their mobile wallets. With the Stash Node Pro, the developers say “among other things, it’s a bank in a box; your own, personal bank.”
The Bitcoin full node contains a self-hosted copy of the blockchain and can support any block size in the future. The startup has also designed a stand-alone mobile app which can pair with the Stash Node Pro. This gives the user access to their own blockchain copy at all times. In essence, the entire platform gives financial control to the owner by enabling a trustless device with censorship resistant capability.
Currently, there isn’t a node on the market that has Open-Transaction software integration. The team believes these features add significant value to the Stash node, alongside a pairable mobile wallet interface. The Stash mobile wallet also utilizes BIP47 payment codes and enables “two-way Bitcoin addresses with fungibility and full on-chain privacy.” The founders of Stash believe that the public has desired a platform with a broad range of cryptographic procedures for quite some time. Stash CEO Cliff Baltzley explained:
Bitcoin professionals and enthusiasts have been seeking a way to gain access to a complete financial and cryptography software suite, and Stash has responded to this demand by creating a self-contained hardware device that addresses a multitude of needs.
‘Revolutionary Features Coming Soon’
Stash details that they are developing “revolutionary features” with an architecture based on freedom and prosperity. In the future, the team plans on implementing more protocols to the Stash financial infrastructure. Innovations coming soon include trustless coin mixing, multi-signature technology, cold storage applications, SMS integrations, multi-currency support, payments through SMS texting, and much more.
The startup Stash hopes this product and its upcoming innovations will help spread “true financial autonomy.” The company will be accepting a limited number of pre-orders for the founder’s edition of the Stash Node Pro. Pre-orders are currently available for purchase with Bitcoin only, and free FedEx shipping is included. The startup says it has quite a lot of devices in stock and will begin shipping orders on November 18. Stash looks forward to providing a node with the foundations of privacy in mind and believes consumers will as well.