Author: Gavin Andresen 2012-02-20 17:17:07
Published on: 2012-02-20T17:17:07+00:00
The discussion is about distinguishing between the old scheme of [one-byte-version][20-byte-hash][4-byte-checksum] and the new scheme of [one-byte network ID][20-byte hash][one-byte address class][3-byte checksum] for base58-encoding. It is suggested that 1 in 256 old addresses will have a first-byte-of-checksum that matches the new address class. The code would then perform certain checks to determine if it is a valid singlesig or p2sh address, otherwise, it would be considered an invalid address. However, this scheme may not work well as an attacker could generate a single/multisig collision by generating around 8 billion ECDSA keys. This could result in an attacker being able to create singlesig/p2sh address collisions which counts as a major flaw. It is also mentioned that the BIP process should be followed when proposing ideas. The steps include posting a rough draft of the idea, writing up a draft BIP, posting the draft BIP for review, and asking the BIP editor for a BIP number. The author encourages implementing the idea between steps 3 and 4.
Updated on: 2023-06-06T02:59:04.644239+00:00