:-)
I always used to hear about the dangers of side-channel attacks when hand-implementing core algorithms. I was looking for a discussion of this but didn't quickly see it. I'm always curious of the spark emissions of each transistor flip, and how they would interfere, couple into nearby long wires, etc. I'm noting that the experience of doing a personal implementation may be worth much more than possible side-channel dangers, and of course in a ratchet protocol keys change fast. I wonder if makerspaces have FPGAs nowadays. I'm jealous of bunnie's confidence of the well-known facts that nobody needs any authorisation to build something like this, that it is totally safe to do so, and that people really appreciate a lot such work and how it helps them protect themselves and their communities. I'm afraid I've never played with via padlock assembly myself.