A faithful implementation of the Bitcoin protocol, built not for continued development—but for permanence.
"The rules are stable. The software is not. We believe this is a problem." — Bitcoin Echo Manifesto
The Bitcoin protocol hasn't changed since 2008. But the software implementing it never stops changing. Every update is a risk. Every refactor is a chance for divergence.
What if we built software the way Bitcoin builds its chain? Append-only. Immutable. Final.
"An echo does not editorialize. It faithfully reproduces what was said."
Bitcoin Echo is not a new interpretation. It's a faithful transcription of Satoshi's protocol—built to outlast its creators, designed to be compiled and run by engineers in 2125 who have never heard of us.
We are not building something new. We are preserving something important.
Every library is a liability. Every package manager is a bet on someone else's decisions. Bitcoin Echo depends on a C compiler and nothing else. There is no npm install. There is no supply chain.
The consensus engine makes no system calls. It is pure computation—bytes in, validity out. Operating systems change. The consensus engine does not.
A single skilled programmer should be able to read and understand every line. We target 20,000 lines of heavily-commented C. No abstraction for its own sake. No cleverness.
Not because it's the best language, but because it will outlive us. C compilers will exist as long as computers do. The Linux kernel proves that C can last for decades. So will Bitcoin Echo.
Upon completion, the repository will be archived. The signing keys will be published. Not compromised—intentionally released. So that no one can falsely claim authority to issue updates. The project will be finished.
The consensus engine is pure computation. It can be extracted, compiled independently, and verified against any specification—forever.
Bitcoin asks us to trust mathematics, not institutions. To verify, not believe. To run our own nodes and check the chain ourselves.
But what good is verification if the verifier changes every six months?
We want verification without expiration. We want software that exists the way the protocol exists: unchanging, reliable, permanent.
We are building something else: a frozen reference. A verification artifact. Software that someone in 2125 can compile and run to check the chain, without trusting that a century of developers made compatible choices.
This is not abandonment. This is completion.
An echo does not editorialize. It does not improve upon the original. It faithfully reproduces what was said. And when the sound travels further than expected, a new echo carries it forward—faithful to the last, as the last was faithful to the first.