Author: NVK 2022-08-29 19:52:17
Published on: 2022-08-29T19:52:17+00:00
A proposal for a BIP (Bitcoin Improvement Proposal) that specifies a format for the export and import of labels from a wallet has been put forward by Craig Raw. The proposed format is a simple two-column CSV file, with the reference to a transaction, address, input or output in the first column, and the label in the second column. CSV was chosen for its wide accessibility, especially to users without specific technical expertise. In addition, the CSV file may be compressed using the ZIP format, and optionally encrypted using AES. The full text of the BIP can be found on GitHub and feedback is appreciated. The motivation behind this BIP is to provide a defined standard to transfer any labels the user may have applied to the transactions, addresses, inputs, or outputs in their wallet. The UTXO model that Bitcoin uses makes these labels particularly valuable as they may indicate the source of funds, whether received externally or as a result of change from a prior transaction. Labels provide valuable guidance in this regard, and have even become mandatory when spending in several Bitcoin wallets. Allowing users to export their labels in a standardized way ensures that they do not experience lock-in to a particular wallet application. In order to make the import and export of labels as widely accessible as possible, this BIP uses the comma-separated values (CSV) format, which is widely supported by consumer, business, and scientific applications. A CSV export of labels from a wallet must be a UTF-8 encoded text file, containing one record per line, with records containing two fields delimited by a comma. The first field in the record contains a reference to the transaction, address, input or output in the wallet. The second field contains the label applied to the reference. Importing applications may truncate labels if necessary. The CSV file may be compressed using the ZIP file format, using the .zip file extension. This .zip file may optionally be encrypted using either AES-128 or AES-256 encryption, which is supported by numerous applications including Winzip and 7-zip. In order to ensure that weak encryption does not proliferate, importers following this standard must refuse to import .zip files encrypted with the weaker Zip 2.0 standard. The textual representation of the wallet's extended public key (as defined by BIP32, with an xpub header) should be used as the password. In conclusion, the proposal for the BIP specifies a format for the export and import of labels from a wallet. The proposed format is a simple two-column CSV file, with the reference to a transaction, address, input or output in the first column, and the label in the second column. CSV was chosen for its wide accessibility, especially to users without specific technical expertise. Additionally, the CSV file may be compressed using the ZIP format, and optionally encrypted using AES. The motivation behind this BIP is to provide a defined standard to transfer any labels the user may have applied to the transactions, addresses, inputs, or outputs in their wallet.
Updated on: 2023-06-15T23:58:30.440976+00:00