Author: Odinn Cyberguerrilla 2014-01-28 06:08:43
Published on: 2014-01-28T06:08:43+00:00
The discussion is about the implementation of recurring payments and subscriptions through Bitcoin, which could potentially be supported through a Bounty or BIP. A new BIP is required for this purpose. The situation is similar to HTML5 local storage. The merchant can only send a "subscription request" as Bitcoin follows a push model for payment. Centralized services like coinbase.com or blockchain.info will have an easy time with automated programs on their backend sending payments as needed. Innovative services could use multisig transactions generating and signing one signature of a TX, and then sending that TX to the human for further signing and publishing. However, decentralized standalone wallet clients will be troublesome for recurring payments as they may miss payments if the wallet app is not running. Each solution offered can be canceled at any time by the user, and a subscription cancellation message sent to the merchant is recommended. The user holds complete control over their money, and a reminder email + manual spend inserts additional human thought and review into the process. Jeff Garzik, a Bitcoin core developer and open-source evangelist, shared these thoughts on the topic.
Updated on: 2023-06-08T01:58:29.904067+00:00