Developer Sends Bitcoin Over Apple's Find My Network Without Internet
A developer has found an unusual way to send Bitcoin over Apple's Find My network without needing an internet connection. The method uses a small device that packs Cashu ecash tokens into Bluetooth signals, which are then picked up by nearby iPhones and relayed through the tracking system behind AirTags.
The sending device runs on cheap ESP32 boards and uses a Python script to rebuild the token piece by piece from the broadcast reports. The recipient needs an Apple account to pull those reports and rebuild the token. However, the developer warns that each broadcast token is public, meaning anyone who recovers one can spend it.
The Cashu protocol aims to keep Bitcoin payments private through bearer tokens issued by mints. But in this case, the payload carries no encryption, and the IDs needed to look up the token are public. As a result, the developer advises sending only tiny amounts for now.