Author: Peter Todd 2017-09-27 16:06:54
Published on: 2017-09-27T16:06:54+00:00
The re-use of old addresses poses a significant problem for privacy and operational purposes. It creates difficulties for services such as exchanges, which experience problems with users sending funds to addresses whose private keys have been lost or stolen. To combat this issue, Peter Todd suggests adding a UI-level expiration time to the new BIP173 address format. The proposed solution will mark addresses as invalid as a destination for funds after the expiration time is reached. However, the proposal raises concerns about UI and terminology. Todd suggests that the notion of addresses should be more like "payment codes," valid for payment for a short time, rather than displaying addresses associated with specific funds. Todd recommends that hour or month resolution be used for the expiration time, giving enough time for the UI to display an exact time or to round off to the nearest day in the local timezone. Hour-level precision would make it easier for services such as exchanges to use addresses with relatively short validity periods, reducing risks of losses after a hack. Furthermore, using at least hour-level ensures there are no year 2038 problems.
Updated on: 2023-06-12T19:05:57.146061+00:00