Published on: 2011-08-17T18:59:31+00:00
A developer named Sam Revitch has proposed a new private key export format that includes password protection. This format is intended to be a base-58 interchange format and is simple enough to be generated by the vanitygen program. The details of this scheme have been posted on bitcointalk.org, and Revitch is inviting comments on it.However, if someone wants to import the protected private key into the official bitcoin client using a method like the import/export patch, they would need to provide both the password for the private key and the wallet password if the wallet is encrypted.Revitch also mentions that he would like to use one of the data classes proposed by Pieter Wuille a month ago for this protected export format. However, he is open to exploring other possibilities if it does not align with the general bitcoin development agenda.In response to Revitch's proposal, a revised description of the password-protected export format has been posted, which now includes multiple algorithms and a parameter byte for selecting the encryption parameters. This information can be found in a thread on bitcointalk.org. If there are no existing or planned uses for data class 32, it will be used for password-protected private keys for bitcoin. According to Sipa's description, type 32 would be used for bitcoin private keys, while type 79 would be used for the testnet. So far, there have been no objections to this proposal.
Updated on: 2023-08-01T02:15:58.482546+00:00