Author: Jonas Schnelli 2019-07-26 10:04:32
Published on: 2019-07-26T10:04:32+00:00
The use of Basic Block Filters (BIP158) for Bitcoin transactions is debated due to the amount of traffic it generates, causing issues for mobile users and those in less developed parts of the world. Catch-up for offline users requires approximately 25MB per week of bandwidth, which is more than required for BIP37. However, the potential increase in privacy may be worth the tradeoff for some users. Protocol developers should make users aware of the consequences of using BIP158 versus BIP37 or stratum/electrum. BIP158 only filters blocks and does not address unconfirmed transactions. It may also encourage address re-use, though large wallets appear to operate acceptably with block filters. The filters are not yet committed to the blockchain, requiring trust in the server providing correct filters. Developers should be transparent about the implications of filter usage and provide users with choices between Electrum/BIP37/BIP158 depending on their needs for privacy and bandwidth availability. Full node hardware appliances may solve many of these issues if done correctly.
Updated on: 2023-06-13T20:14:08.111914+00:00