Standardizing automatic pre-negotiation of transaction terms with BIP70? (Emulating Amazon one-click purchase at all merchants)

Summary:

BIP70 is a protocol for communication between a user's wallet and a merchant's server to agree on payment details and other functionalities. The protocol enables advanced functionality such as automatically negotiating terms, selecting a multisignature arbitrator and agreeing on the speed and type of delivery. However, BIP70 is designed to be initiated at the time of payment, which can make it difficult for users who want next-day delivery or prefer shopping with an arbitrator involved.To address this issue, there could be a BIP70 HTML tag on web shops that automatically triggers a user's wallet as soon as they visit the page. A browser extension would talk to the wallet to tell the user if the web shop has terms they consider acceptable or not. This notification can even be automatically updated as items are added or removed from the cart and shipping options change. This would simplify the shopping experience and make every web shop feel like Amazon.However, this method has privacy implications and increases exposure to potential wallet exploits. To mitigate these problems, the wallet can ask the user if they intend to shop at each site before connecting and sending any information. Another option would be to automatically connect but limit what data is sent in order to remain privacy preserving until the user agrees to send private information.The second method would also allow merchants to send relevant information such as details about certifications from third parties. The user's wallet could require a certificate to be present to even allow them to make a purchase, and lack of required certifications would result in automatic denial. With a list of predefined types of certifications that the wallet understands and accepts, the user can choose to only shop at merchants with certain certifications.Overall, implementing BIP70 HTML tags could greatly enhance the shopping experience for users while still preserving their privacy and security.

Updated on: 2023-06-09T16:44:23.018190+00:00