SMS transactions with Text BSV

There was a time, not too long ago, when Bitcoin felt alive in my hands.

From late 2017 through 2018, I spent countless nights tipping bartenders and servers in BCH, spreading satoshis like confetti to anyone willing to take them. It was a different era—one where the culture of BCH encouraged real transactions in everyday life. No debates over “HODLing” or maximalist ideologies. Just pure, simple commerce.

I was running the BCH Chicago Meetup back then, and life was good.

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No kids yet, just a few years into marriage, living in one of the greatest cities on Earth. My wife and I would bar-hop through Chicago, frequenting old speakeasies, hitting the gym, and soaking up the energy of a city that never stops moving. But what made it all seamless, what made Bitcoin adoption more than just an idea, was CoinText.

CoinText: The best onboarding tool we ever had

For those who missed it, CoinText was a stroke of genius. Created by the enigmatic Vin Armani—yes, the same Vin Armani who once graced television screens as an American Gigolo before pivoting to Bitcoin entrepreneurship—the service allowed anyone to send BCH to anyone else via SMS. No need for apps, wallets, or seed phrases. Just 123-123-1234>, and in seconds, the recipient would have access to their new digital cash. The system derived a private key from the phone number, notified the recipient, and boom—they could send it to someone else immediately.

Sure, it wasn’t some hardcore, self-sovereign, cold-storage, cypherpunk-approved setup running on your wife’s boyfriend’s Ubuntu system, but it was effortless. And that was the magic.

Bitcoin was supposed to be digital cash for the world, and CoinText delivered on that promise in a way nothing else did. I must have onboarded hundreds of people this way. I even created a how-to video that, in hindsight, makes me question whether I was wearing eyeliner at the time. 

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(The answer remains inconclusive.)

But then, the second leg of the Bitcoin Civil War happened.

The great schism that led to the BSV split rattled the BCH ecosystem. CoinText wobbled and pivoted, offering the same service for Dash and Litecoin, which only confused customers and diluted the brand. Vin Armani changed his name to “Cyprian,” joined the Eastern Orthodox religion, and blocked me on Twitter… Before long, CoinText was gone, and with it, one of the best tools for everyday Bitcoin adoption.

Until now.

Enter Text BSV: Bringing back the magic

This past week, Text BSV launched—bringing back the best parts of the CoinText experience, but now on BSV, where it belongs.

The project is the brainchild of Haste Arcade and TakeItNFT co-founder, Dan Wagner, who had a simple but powerful motivation:

Why did you create Text BSV?

“Had some time and thought it would be fun to bring back.”

Why did we need this?

“Easiest way to share Bitcoin in casual convo.”

Where do you want to see this go/grow?

“To be honest, there are no plans for it. Sort of going with the flow on this one. If it starts taking off, I’ll cross that bridge then. Just hope people find it useful and fun to use for now.”

Are you going to change your name and become a gigolo or go Orthodox?

“I’m not bald enough…”

Now, if you know me, you know I didn’t just sit on the sidelines. Over the past five days, I’ve been sending sats to everyone I know—just like the old days.