Author: Pieter Wuille 2017-03-08 23:12:01
Published on: 2017-03-08T23:12:01+00:00
The discussion on BIP150 is being sidetracked, as there is a difference between identification/fingerprinting and proving identity. BIP150 only facilitates the latter, not the former, and this is what people should be focusing on. If you know an IP/onion address + BIP150 pre-shared key (PSK), you can verify whether some node has it, but if you know 2 IP/onion addresses or 2 (IP/onion addresses, BIP150 PSK) pairs, you cannot figure out whether they correspond to the same node. The extension of IP addresses that BIP150 provides is more secure against network-level attackers. Those who argue that people establishing links along existing trust lines is problematic should also be arguing against features in Bitcoin software that allow configuring preferred IP addresses to connect to.
Updated on: 2023-05-20T01:03:05.028510+00:00