Author: Mike Hearn 2015-03-11 17:14:19
Published on: 2015-03-11T17:14:19+00:00
The use of the wallet words system is becoming complicated, with at least five incompatible results from a 12-word list. The main issue with regular SPV wallets and BIP39 is the absence of birth time data, which means users must also write down a timestamp to know where to start rescanning the chain. Electrum v2 has a version number but no date, while myTREZOR has no version or date, and seeds are now sometimes generated with 24 words instead of 12. MultiBit HD supports BIP32 and BIP44, but with no version and a date in a custom form that creates non-date-like codes; GreenAddress has no version or date, and other bitcoinj-based wallets have no version and a date written down in normal human form, supporting only BIP32. This situation risks creating wallet-specific word combinations based on minor differences. It is important for wallets to provide a fully compatible system for good UX consistency, but currently there are no bright ideas for how to achieve this.
Updated on: 2023-06-09T18:15:28.359252+00:00