Bitshala

Bitshala Reading Club: A New Chapter Begins! We are thrilled to announce the launch of a brand-new season of the Bitshala Reading Club, where we dive deep into the most influential literature surrounding the Bitcoin ecosystem. This season, we are tackling one of the most provocative and discussed theses in recent years:

The Book "Softwar: A Novel Theory on Power Projection and the National Strategic Significance of Bitcoin" by Jason Paul Lowery. Major Lowery’s work recontextualzes Bitcoin not just as a financial system, but as a masterpiece of cyber-security and a tool for national strategic defense. Whether you are a developer, an economist, or a curious learner, this reading will fundamentally change how you view the protocol.

The Schedule Launch Date:
Friday, May 8, 2026 (Introductory Session)
Weekly Sessions: Every Friday Time: 8:00 PM IST / 2:30 PM UTC
Location: Bitshala Discord - Lounge voice channel

Why Join? Reading alone is great, but dissecting complex theories with a community is better. Guided Discussions: Breakdown of complex chapters. Interactive Q&A: Share your perspectives and challenge the status quo. Community: Connect with fellow Bitcoin learners from around the globe. Set your reminders and grab your copy of Softwar. Let’s explore the future of power projection together. See you on the Bitshala Discord!

Jump in. Monday 8 PM IST.

# ​!!! Venue's capacity is 10 seats. First come First Serve!!!

# What if your 24-word seed looks perfectly random… but really isn’t?

Every Bitcoin wallet eventually comes down to one thing: a secret number nobody else should be able to guess.

We usually trust our hardware wallet, phone, or computer to generate that secret for us. It gives us 12 or 24 random-looking words, we write them down, and move on.

​But here’s the uncomfortable part:

​24 words don’t automatically mean 256 bits of security.

If the process that created those words was predictable, an attacker doesn’t have to search the enormous Bitcoin keyspace. They only have to reproduce the weak process that generated your seed.

And a recent vulnerability in Coldcard hardware wallets gives us a very real example of what that can look like.

​This meetup is about understanding what actually sits underneath the words randomness, entropy, and secure key generation — without treating the wallet as a black box.

## ​What we’ll figure out together

​Randomness vs entropy
They’re often used interchangeably. They shouldn’t be. We’ll build an intuitive understanding of what a “bit of entropy” actually means.

​From entropy → private key
Why Bitcoin has roughly 2^{256} possible private keys, and what it really means to randomly choose one.

​Where computers get randomness
Computers are deterministic machines. So where does a CSPRNG get the unpredictability needed to create Bitcoin keys?

​12 words vs 24 words
Why a 12-word BIP39 seed starts with 128 bits of entropy while a 24-word seed starts with 256 — and why 12 words can still be cryptographically strong.

When the RNG goes wrong
We’ll unpack the Coldcard failure at a conceptual level: how a wallet can output a 256-bit-looking value while the process behind it contains far less entropy.

​Hardware randomness vs physical randomness
We’ll compare device-generated entropy with things you can actually do yourself: Dice, Coins, Camera images.
Drawing BIP39 words from a bag.

## ​Is this for you?

​This meetup will probably click if:

• ​You’ve generated a seed phrase before and wondered what actually happened inside the device.
• ​You don’t particularly like the answer “the hardware wallet handles that securely.”
• ​You enjoy understanding where security assumptions come from rather than simply accepting them.
• ​You’ve heard people say hardware-generated randomness is always better than human-generated randomness and want to examine that claim properly.
• ​The Coldcard vulnerability made you wonder whether you could ever detect a bad entropy source yourself.

​You do not need a cryptography background. We will use some math, but only where it helps us reason about the problem.

​This is also not a “which hardware wallet should I buy?” session.

​It’s about understanding one of the assumptions every wallet ultimately depends on.

# ​​About Bitshala

# Join us for Bitshala Bitcoinversations in Delhi, a casual gathering for developers, enthusiasts, and anyone curious about the future of money.

Whether you're a developer looking to contribute to Open Source, a student curious about the ecosystem, or a builder exploring new ideas, come grab a chair and join the conversation!

## 💡 What to Expect

• ​💼 Career in Bitcoin: Discover how to transition into and build a long-term career within the Bitcoin ecosystem.
• ​🛠️ Builder & Dev Chat: Casual, deep-dive discussions on Bitcoin FOSS (Free and Open Source Software)—or as we like to call it, BOSS.
• ​🤝 Network: Connect with fellow local Bitcoiners, find potential collaborators, and grow your network right here in your city.

## 🎙️ Special Guest

​We are excited to be joined by Suyash, Device Engineer at Trezor, who will be sharing his experience working on Bitcoin hardware, his journey in the ecosystem, and insights into building secure, open-source devices for self-custody.

Whether you're interested in hardware wallets, Bitcoin security, open-source development, or simply curious about how Bitcoin devices are built, this will be a great opportunity to learn and ask questions.

# ​About Bitshala

Join our laid-back Bitcoin tech catch-up every Monday at 8 PM IST on Discord!

We cover the latest Bitcoin Optech newsletter and podcast - https://bitcoinops.org/

Come chill with us in the chilly winters, as we dive into the latest Bitcoin Optech newsletter, discussing tech highlights in Bitcoin & Lightning.

Jump in. Monday 8 PM IST.