Embassy
anyone can do it.
no one can stop it.
Embassy is an elegant, plug-and-play personal server for running self-hosted software. It sits quietly on your shelf, running all day and night - your own private cloud. It offers one-click installation of powerful, open-source services like Bitcoin, Lightning, data storage, password management, instant messaging, social networking, and more. There is no command line involved, and no technical expertise required.
You use your Embassy and its installed services in total privacy, right from the browser, from anywhere on Earth, and there are no trusted 3rd parties. What you do with your Embassy is your business; it cannot be monitored or accessed by anyone - not even Start9, not even your ISP. It is your sovereign territory in the land of the Internet
Welcome to the era of Sovereign Computing.
bitcoin
An innovative payment network and new kind of money. Bitcoin uses peer-to-peer technology to operate with no central authority or banks ‐ managing transactions and the issuing of bitcoins is carried out collectively by the network.
bar
Burn After Reading (BAR) uses Tor (.onion) ephemeral links to share encrypted messages and files that are destroyed after they are viewed. Data are stored directly on the Embassy, and there are no trusted 3rd parties. Try out the hosted demo.
mastodon
Mastodon is an open source decentralized social network - by the people for the people. Follow friends, discover new ones and publish anything you want: links, pictures, text, video. All on a platform that is community-owned and ad-free.
file browser
Personal cloud data service that enables you to store, organize, edit, and share all your files. Files are stored on your physical Embassy device and accessible from anywhere on Earth over Tor V3, right from the browser. There are no central servers or trusted 3rd parties of any kind.
bitwarden
A password manager that helps you create and manage secure passwords. Bitwarden on the Embassy is totally self-hosted and secure. Your passwords are encrypted and never leave the confines of your physical Embassy device. Use as an extension in Firefox and Tor Browser or via the Android mobile app for a seamless experience.
bitcoin proxy
Bitcoin Proxy is both a gatekeeper and a super charger for your Bitcoin node. It enables multiple user accounts with fine-grained permission management. Bitcoin Proxy also introduces dynamic block fetching for pruned nodes. If your wallet requires a missing block, Bitcoin Proxy will dynamically fetch the block over Bitcoin's P2P network, making your pruned act like an unpruned node!
lnd
Lightning Network Daemon (LND) is a complete implementation of the Lightning Network in Go, fully conforming to the "Basis of Lightning Technology" (BOLT) specification.
rtl
Ride the Lightning (RTL) is a fully-featured, device agnostic, web user interface for managing lightning node operations. RTL on the Embassy is hosted as its own Tor V3 hidden service, accessible right from the browser, communicating directly with the Embassy's own LND node.
c-lightning
A lightweight, highly customizable, and standards compliant implementation of the Lightning Network in C, optimized for performance and extendibility.
spark wallet
Spark is a minimalistic wallet GUI for c-lightning, accessible over the web or through mobile and desktop apps. It is currently oriented for technically advanced users and is not an all-in-one package, but rather a "remote control" interface for a c-lightning node that has to be managed separately.
cups
A private, peer-to-peer instant messaging service. Messages are end-to-end encrypted and onion routed over Tor directly between the two communicating parties. There are no central servers or trusted third parties. Cups is arguably the most private messaging service in history.
Architecture
privacy without trust
Embassy
The Embassy implements commodity hardware that can be purchased online or at most electronics stores. Our specifications include:
raspberry pi 4b
cortex-a72 cpu
4gb ram
128gb high endurance microsd
bluetooth 5.0
2.4ghz and 5.0ghz ieee 802.11ac wireless
ble internal speaker buzzer for audio feedback
EmbassyOS
The Embassy comes pre-installed with Start9's own EmbassyOS, a stripped-down and augmented version of Raspbian Buster Lite. EmbassyOS handles Embassy setup, owner authentication, Tor Hidden Service management, networking, and the installation, configuration, and hosting of services. EmbassyOS is at the core of Start9's technology stack and what makes our unprecedented user experience possible.
TOR
Tor is woven into the fabric of EmbassyOS. Each service running on the Embassy receives its own unique Tor Hidden Service address. All communications to and from the Embassy, between Embassies, and between services running on the Embassy are done over Tor. Even potentially compromised Tor exit nodes are kept out of the loop.
Services
The world of free and open source software is rich and expanding. These software solutions are often difficult to install and configure, which is why most of the world runs on trusted third party servers. With the Embassy device and platform, Start9 aims to unleash open source software and usher in a new era of sovereign computing.
As the world has migrated to the cloud, we've lost something critical: digital privacy. For everyone who doesn't care about that, the Embassy won't be interesting. For everyone else, the Embassy is your new best friend.
The Embassy is a project I'm very excited about. With a promising roadmap ahead of powerful applications that empower the individual, Embassy may be the first private server that even your mom will want to run. Simple plug-n-play installation of apps makes the Embassy a delight.
By far the easiest internet connected appliance I've ever set up, and when you consider that it's running a Bitcoin node, an encrypted messaging service, and communicating entirely over TOR... Well that's just crazy impressive.
If you want to support Bitcoin by running Bitcoin Core on your own node it can't and won't get any easier than the Embassy from Start 9. The Embassy is definitely Bitcoin For Boomers approved.
Community
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