Author: Mike Hearn 2014-02-21 15:34:31
Published on: 2014-02-21T15:34:31+00:00
The Bitcoin URI in BIP 72 is too long and results in dense QR codes, according to a recent post on the bitcoin-dev mailing list. However, BIP 73 seems to be a better alternative. The only issue with it is that existing wallets that can scan QR codes will have trouble doing so. The reason for the length of the new URIs is due to backwards compatibility. One method to reduce the size of the QR code is to not escape the payment URL. bitcoinj/Bitcoin Wallet does not require this and reduces the size of the QR code significantly. Removing the "https://" and defaulting to it also saves some bytes. BitPay's use of rather long invoice IDs could also be contributing to the problem. The company could implement a short mapping on the server side and make much smaller IDs, as the invoices expire fast and such large ID spaces are unnecessary.
Updated on: 2023-06-08T03:03:40.131937+00:00