Author: Luke Dashjr 2016-01-26 02:24:16
Published on: 2016-01-26T02:24:16+00:00
The author of a Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP) warns against publishing or implementing it due to potential spam and user unwillingness. The BIP proposes allowing merchants to add plain text invoice hashes to checkout transactions by constructing PaymentRequests with the hash in an OP_RETURN, thereby encoding proof of purchase to the blockchain without coordinating with merchant software. However, such "proof" is useless without wallet support for checking upfront. The proposal would also encourage spam and lacks relevance to keys. The specification for the BIP calls for two changes: accepting outputs where the script is an OP_RETURN and the value zero and rejecting those with greater than zero value. This change from current requirements allows for data storage at the expense of permanently destroyed Bitcoin. However, the proposed changes result in severe consequences and are not backward nor forward compatible.
Updated on: 2023-06-11T03:16:00.356100+00:00