Passkeys, Cashu, and the Commons Hub hack

A dense Crypto Wednesday. Three threads, each pulling in a different direction — identity, privacy, and forensics — and enough rabbit holes to fill another evening.

What we discussed

• Nostr + passkeys. We looked at using device passkeys as the key pair behind a Nostr identity. The idea: no seed phrase to back up, hardware-bound signing, and a login flow that feels normal to non-technical users. We talked through the trade-offs — portability, recovery, and what you lose when your device is gone.

• Cashu hidden sets and emojis. Cashu mint tokens can be issued inside named token sets, which can be hidden from the outside. We explored how that works and what it enables — including the use of emoji identifiers as lightweight, human-readable mint labels. Small tokens, big privacy surface.

• Tracing the Commons Hub hack. We pulled up the on-chain history and followed the transaction trail from the Commons Hub wallet. Step by step through the hops — mixers, bridges, and dead ends. A practical lesson in what blockchain transparency actually reveals, and where it runs out.