Published on: 2015-01-22T09:46:26+00:00
In an email conversation on January 22, 2015, U.Mutlu raised concerns about the lack of support for Hierarchical Deterministic (BIP32) wallets in Bitcoin Core. This limitation only allows one private key to be backed up per backup, which is both useless and risky. Mutlu suggested that developers should consider creating functionality for users to address this issue. Pavol Rusnak responded to Mutlu's suggestion by recommending software wallets like Electrum or Multibit, which already support Hierarchical Deterministic wallets. These wallets provide the desired functionality that Mutlu had highlighted. Building on this discussion, the author contemplates the possibility of printing a wallet's account number, in either base16 or base64 format, on paper for physical storage in a home or bank safe. The purpose behind this idea is to have a backup option in case of a computer hardware disaster. In this scenario, the user would manually input the information from the printed paper into a small converter program that would recreate the wallet file. However, to ensure security against potential bank fraud and theft, the output on paper should be encrypted, and the owner should store the encryption key separately. The author recommends that developers make this functionality available to users, allowing them to print encrypted wallet information for secure physical storage while maintaining the ability to recreate the wallet file when needed.
Updated on: 2023-08-01T11:14:57.167814+00:00