Bitcoin Core contributor Peter Todd has joined the MARA Foundation to lead the development and maintenance of Slipstream. This service functions as a private mempool for the MARA mining pool, allowing users to submit transactions directly to the pool while bypassing the public peer-to-peer network.
The platform gained prominence in 2024 for facilitating large Ordinals inscriptions. It has also served as a research environment for projects such as Quantum Safe Bitcoin and Binohash, which explores emulating covenants without requiring a soft fork. The service provides privacy by hiding transaction details before block confirmation.
Slipstream proved particularly useful following a July security incident involving Coldcard hardware wallets, where hackers stole over $115 million. By keeping transaction data private until inclusion in a block, the service helps protect public keys from exposure during the verification process.
Todd is known for his work on BIP 125 and the creation of OpenTimestamps. In 2024, he launched Libre Relay, a Bitcoin Core fork designed to support non-standard transactions. In his new role, he plans to utilize Slipstream as a testing ground for experimental development and protocol innovation.
