Bitcoin is a monetary network built on hardware components. Specialized chips, hashboards, control boards, and signing devices determine who can participate in mining, run infrastructure, and hold keys offline. Closed and proprietary hardware concentrates power in manufacturers and large operators, working against Bitcoin's decentralized design. Open-source hardware and firmware shift power to individuals and local communities by providing them with designs they can audit, adapt, and run on their own terms.

Over the past year, OpenSats has provided targeted support to builders who create Bitcoin hardware as free and open-source infrastructure. Their projects live in public repositories, with schematics, firmware, manufacturing files, and documentation available for anyone to inspect and reuse. Many of these builders design for constrained environments, giving users more options to run their own miners and signers.

Following earlier impact reports on Lightning infrastructure, developer libraries, education, wallets, and ecash, this report focuses on Bitcoin's hardware layer and the developers building open tools for mining and self-custody. The five projects highlighted here make home mining accessible using transparent designs, enable local partners to manufacture and repair boards, deliver affordable DIY air-gapped signers, and assemble an open mining stack for independent operators.

These projects are:

• Bitaxe
• Bitshoka
• Krux
• Krux-Installer
• 256 Foundation

Having mining hardware and signing devices as public infrastructure lowers barriers to entry and expands the pool of people who can meaningfully participate in Bitcoin. Let's take a closer look at how each of these open-source projects has made an impact over the past year.

...read more at opensats.org