Author: Peter Todd 2013-06-06 08:31:16
Published on: 2013-06-06T08:31:16+00:00
In this email thread, Peter Vessenes discusses the possibility of adding a revocability layer to Bitcoin transactions without requiring protocol changes. He proposes a scheme involving a trusted escrow service that issues time promises for signing and cancels transactions if it does not receive a cancel message within the allotted time. However, this approach is vulnerable to griefing and relies on the existence of a trusted escrow service. Instead, he suggests replicating the effect of revoking a transaction by giving private keys to a relevant revocation authority or using 1-of-2 multisig addresses. In the event that a transaction needs to be revoked, the escrow service can make a transaction to take coins from the wallet and give them to the sender. The focus should be on taking money from someone who thought they had it and giving it to someone else, rather than revoking a transaction. It is noted that legal issues may arise around limited revocation windows.
Updated on: 2023-06-06T18:33:27.461869+00:00