Improving Bitcoin Privacy With Silent Payments

The beneath is simply a nonstop excerpt of Marty's Bent Issue #1214: "Silent payments." Sign up for the newsletter here.

The archetypal soundless outgo transaction connected Signet, a bitcoin testnet

Here's an absorbing connection from Ruben Somsen that would assistance summation the privateness of those receiving bitcoin: Silent Payments. Somsen's connection builds connected concepts similar BIP47, which allows individuals to make reusable outgo codes that tin beryllium tweaked by others to make unsocial nationalist addresses that lone the sender and receiver are alert of. This allows the receiver to judge bitcoin successful a much backstage manner erstwhile compared to exposing a xpub oregon simply reusing a azygous code to person payments.

BIP47 introduces the tradeoff of accrued information usage arsenic the reusable addresses it enables are produced by including OP_RETURN messages, which necessitate much information than your mean bitcoin transaction. With soundless payments, the tradeoff made by BIP47 successful the signifier of other information associated with the instauration of a outgo codification utilizing OP_RETURN is eliminated and replaced with an summation successful the scanning requirements of wallet software. The mode I recognize it, senders instrumentality a soundless outgo nationalist code provided by a receiver, usage the backstage cardinal of the input (UTXO) they volition beryllium utilizing to nonstop bitcoin to the receiver to make a caller nationalist code owned by the receiver and nonstop the bitcoin to that address. The receiver past scans the blockchain for inputs and uses information associated with their soundless payments code to place wherever payments person been received.

This is an absorbing tradeoff due to the fact that it would trim the agelong word information load connected those operating afloat nodes if it is adopted successful favour of solutions similar those enabled by BIP47, but requires buy-in from those gathering wallet bundle to guarantee that their products are compatible with the soundless payments plan scheme. A dense lift, nary doubt, but 1 that whitethorn beryllium worthwhile to effort to get implemented crossed these wallet softwares. This would supply accrued inferior for those looking to person bitcoin payments with amended privateness assurances and little interactivity with the chain. Think dissidents surviving nether oppressive regimes who request to person payments arsenic privately and easy arsenic possible.

Earlier today, idiosyncratic initiated the archetypal soundless payments transaction connected Signet, a bitcoin testnet. You tin excavation into that here. We volition beryllium keeping you freaks abreast of the developments of soundless payments arsenic they unfold.