Spaces Protocol’s May update introduces a free faucet for trying Bitcoin-anchored handles, alongside a Nostr group-chat client and expanded developer tools. The project update presents a way to experiment with identities whose ownership can be checked cryptographically, with an important qualification: faucet handles are for testing.
The faucet prepares key pairs in advance so users can claim a handle that has already been issued. Spaces says it deletes the secret key when the handle is claimed and allows key rotation afterward. That setup is different from registering through an operator while supplying only your own public key.
Testing handles through chat and application tools
One of the applications is Orbee, a beta group-chat client built on Nostr relays. It supports groups, reactions, replies and shared images, with messages represented as signed events. The associated Fabric software resolves and verifies handles in the browser.
The update also introduces Fabric SDK support for JavaScript, React Native, Rust, Python, Go, Swift and Kotlin. Developers can use those libraries to add handle resolution to an application without creating the verification mechanism themselves.
Spaces describes certrelays as servers that deliver certificates and proofs connecting a handle to the Bitcoin-anchored state. The useful distinction is between a server supplying data and an application checking that data. A cryptographic proof can reduce dependence on the server’s word, provided the application verifies it against the appropriate reference.
The experimental stage has practical limits
The project also details Subs v0.1, software for operators issuing handles under a namespace. It replaces an earlier command-line prototype with a persistent service and dashboard for commitments, proofs and certificates.
Production is still a separate milestone. The May update says protocol changes for handle issuance and commitments on Bitcoin mainnet are being tested, with production operation for top-level spaces expected in June.
For a reader exploring the faucet, the immediate use is learning the identity and verification flow. It is not a reason to make an experimental, pre-generated key the permanent basis of an important account. The same distinction between a public identifier and control of its keys appears in our guide to crypto wallets.
