Litecoin wallet update

Open-source bitcoin project Coinpunk has launched an Indiegogo campaign in an effort to raise funding for a new wallet solution that could be used on iOS devices without a jailbreak.

Apple has a history of restricting bitcoin-related apps in the app store (which contains over 1 million apps). Thus, Coinpunk is not designing an app, but a web application.

The web application allows users to create self-hosted bitcoin wallets and access them through the browser, rendering Apple’s walled garden approach pointless. The idea of self-hosted wallets is interesting, as many users are still suspicious of online wallets, so they tend to believe their bitcoins are safer in their own hands.

Coinpunk is based on HTML5, and it is accessible from Safari, Apple’s stock iOS browser. Better yet, since it is a web-based HTML5 application, it can be used on almost any platform out there – Windows, Android, Mac OS X, etc.

100% open source

The developers say they are planning to make standalone/browser store versions, integrate support for cold wallets, introduce more merchant tools and add more options for buying bitcoin. Support for altcoins is coming too, but the team admits their primary focus is on bitcoin. Their goal is outlined on Indiegogo:

“We want to prove that you can make 100% open source HTML5/JS Bitcoin wallets that work just as well as proprietary native ones, if not better.”

However, to make it all happen the Coinpunk team needs a fair bit of cash. The funding goal is $55, 000, which sounds rather ambitious. The money will be used to pay server and development bills, improve the website, conduct security audits and – of course – pay for living expenses. Even developers have to eat and sleep every once in a while.