Sending satoshis through SMS text messages offers a fast and straightforward method for transactions, making it an excellent approach to introduce new individuals to Bitcoin. Crucially, recipients are not required to download software or register accounts – they can even be completely unfamiliar with Bitcoin. Text BSV streamlines peer-to-peer micro-payments, requiring only a mobile phone number for sending and receiving. Notably, this service is compatible with any mobile phone, not exclusively smartphones.

Text BSV is the latest venture from Dan Wagner of Money Game Ventures, formerly a professional baseball player and co-founder behind the popular BSV-based gaming platform, Haste Arcade. Currently, Text BSV is inviting users within the U.S. to participate in testing the service:

While Text BSV is a recent development, the core concept is not entirely new. Previous attempts have surfaced in past years; however, like many Bitcoin applications designed for small, informal transactions, these initiatives ultimately encountered obstacles due to BTC’s limitations in scaling and associated high transaction fees. Challenges also arose from dependencies on external parties and intermediary services.

“The underlying idea is remarkably simple. Everyone has SMS capability, and therefore, in essence, they already possess a Bitcoin wallet,” Wagner explained to CoinGeek. “It’s inspired by the earlier concept of ‘CoinText’ from the BCH era, pioneered by Vin Armani, which I consistently regarded as one of the most effective tools for onboarding new users. If you know someone’s phone number, you can effortlessly send them Bitcoin without requiring any additional actions on their part.”

Text BSV can be considered the spiritual successor to CoinText, which operated on the BCH network, but it is not a revival of that original company. Notably, Armani has not been a supporter of BSV. Text BSV also intends to learn from CoinText’s past challenges. Wagner has stated that there will be no involvement of venture capitalists or intermediaries, and there will be no need for users to download an application – whether independent or integrated within a messenger platform.

“This is intended to be peer-to-peer digital cash in its purest form. It needs to be straightforward for both regular users and individuals who have never interacted with Bitcoin before.”

Built for Users, Supported by Donations

Even the funding approach for Text BSV is simple: operational expenses will be covered through voluntary donations from the user community. Individuals who appreciate the service and find it beneficial are encouraged to contribute sats to Wagner and his development team to ensure its continued operation.

“The vision is for the community and sponsors to fund the essential costs of sending SMS programmatically, ensuring that end-users can always access the service without charge,” he elaborated.

Instructions on how to begin using Text BSV are available on the project’s official homepage, although it is currently limited to SMS users within the United States. Users initiate the process by sending an initial text message to the designated number, fund their personal wallet, and they are then ready to transact. There are no service-specific fees or charges, although users are responsible for any standard per-SMS charges imposed by their mobile service providers.

“If an app download is necessary, it becomes too complex for a simple technology sharing interaction. I do not anticipate, nor would I advise, users to keep substantial funds within this system or to use it as their primary wallet. That is not its intended purpose. It is about facilitating the sharing of peer-to-peer digital cash.”

However, will a donation-based funding model prove sustainable? Wagner believes so. “Regarding the funding and maintenance of the service, BSV advocates will support it if they recognize its value, or they will not,” he stated.

“My motivation for this project stems from my commitment to the ecosystem, and my desire to see it expand.”

What Became of CoinText?

Entrepreneur Vin Armani and his associates established CoinText in 2017 with comparable objectives: to maintain simplicity and affordability, to easily onboard newcomers to Bitcoin, and to replicate peer-to-peer cash transactions as closely as possible.

According to Armani, CoinText achieved significant success. The company secured venture capital backing from Yeomans Capital and launched a beta version in 4-5 countries, which rapidly extended to at least 45. The trial service gained popularity particularly in regions with widespread mobile phone usage but where smartphone adoption and internet accessibility were not yet widespread, including countries like Ghana and South Sudan.

CoinText represented “the first instance where you could genuinely push crypto towards individuals,” Armani explained, by generating Bitcoin private/public key pairs directly from standard phone numbers.

Its challenges emerged when the financial backers at Yeomans resolved that CoinText should transition into a WhatsApp-based application, which brought about extra requirements from Facebook (now Meta [NASDAQ: META]), the parent company. At that time, Facebook was seeking to launch its own authorized digital stablecoin, Libra, and also sought to monopolize that market. Consequently, Facebook decided to disallow any competing financial or money transfer applications on its platform, effectively ending CoinText’s operations the week prior to its official launch.

Libra itself, subsequently rebranded as Diem, encountered strong opposition from financial regulators in the U.S., the European Union, and other regions, who voiced concerns related to monetary sovereignty, privacy, antitrust issues, and financial stability. Meta ultimately discontinued the Libra/Diem project in January 2022.

While Armani expressed satisfaction with CoinText’s accomplishments during its beta phase and remains fond of the concept, he currently has no intentions to revive the service. Although he retained ownership of the company’s assets, he suggested that the SMS approach is less critical in the current climate, as smartphones and mobile internet access are significantly more prevalent in the 2020s.

Armani’s observation may be valid; however, the favorable initial response to Text BSV indicates that demand for SMS-based Bitcoin payments persists. Irrespective of the advancements and user-friendliness of native BSV applications, sending sats to individuals unfamiliar with Bitcoin remains challenging. Text BSV effectively addresses this obstacle by enabling users to onboard anyone with a phone number. It avoids unnecessary complexity and its understated approach might be the key to success where previous initiatives have faltered.

Source: coingeek.com