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From: Andy Chase <theandychase@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 2015 02:43:54 -0700
Message-ID: <CAAxp-m9upffFeuf_SQM2OzSh=Jf-8QX3Rie6w73s0yLPMirGTA@mail.gmail.com>
To: Mark Friedenbach <mark@friedenbach.org>
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Cc: Bitcoin Dev <bitcoin-dev@lists.linuxfoundation.org>
Subject: Re: [bitcoin-dev] Named Bitcoin Addresses
Precedence: list

What's some more information about the "memorizing and sharing" use
case? In most cases if you wanted someone to send you money you'd send
them a payment request via email (or just send them your address).

There's a bunch of solutions to your problem listed here:
https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0015.mediawiki
But sending a payment request via BIP-70 is the "best practice":
https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0070.mediawiki

On Thu, Sep 10, 2015 at 2:32 PM, Mark Friedenbach via bitcoin-dev
<bitcoin-dev@lists.linuxfoundation.org> wrote:
> Are you aware of the payment protocol?
>
> On Sep 10, 2015 2:12 PM, "essofluffy . via bitcoin-dev"
> <bitcoin-dev@lists.linuxfoundation.org> wrote:
>>
>> Hi Everyone,
>>
>> An issue I'm sure everyone here is familiar with is the problem concerni=
ng
>> the fact that Bitcoin addresses are too complex to memorize and share.
>> Current Bitcoin addresses can be very intimidating to new users. As Bitc=
oin
>> grows it's necessary to provide a much more user friendly experience to =
the
>> end user. I think that having the capability to assign a unique name to =
a
>> Bitcoin address is in the best interest of Bitcoin and it's users.
>> I've recently come up with a method for assigning a unique name to a
>> specific Bitcoin address. I'm looking to get some feedback/criticism on =
this
>> method that I have detailed below.
>>
>> Let=E2=80=99s run through Bob and Alice transacting with a Named Bitcoin=
 Address.
>> Bob wants to collect a payment from Alice for a service/good he is
>> selling, but Alice wants to pay from her home computer where she securel=
y
>> keeps all her Bitcoin. So now Bob needs to give Alice his Bitcoin addres=
s
>> and because Bob is using a Named Bitcoin Address and a supported wallet =
he
>> can give her an easy to memorize and hard to mess up address. Bob=E2=80=
=99s address
>> is simply =E2=80=98SendBitcoinsToBob=E2=80=99 which can easily be writte=
n down or memorized.
>> Now Alice can go home send the Bitcoin from her own supported wallet and=
 be
>> positive that she sent it to Bob.
>>
>> Let=E2=80=99s look at how Bob=E2=80=99s supported wallet made that addre=
ss.
>>
>> First Bob let=E2=80=99s his wallet know that he wants to create a new ad=
dress. In
>> response, his wallet simply asks him what he wants that address to be na=
med.
>> Bob then enters =E2=80=98SendBitcoinsToBob=E2=80=99 as his preferred add=
ress name. The
>> wallet then let=E2=80=99s Bob know if his preferred address name is avai=
lable. If
>> it=E2=80=99s available the name is broadcasted to the network and ready =
to use.
>>
>> Now let=E2=80=99s get a little more technical.
>>
>> When Bob inputs his preferred address name the client has to make sure
>> this name hasn=E2=80=99t been taken or else who knows where Alice will b=
e sending
>> her Bitcoins. The client does this by referencing a downloaded =E2=80=9C=
directory=E2=80=9D
>> of names chosen by people using this system. This directory of names are
>> transactions sent to an address without a private key (but still viewabl=
e on
>> the blockchain) with the name appended to the transactions as an OP_RETU=
RN
>> output. These transactions are downloaded or indexed, depending on wheth=
er
>> or not the wallet contains the full Blockchain or is an SPV wallet. Beca=
use
>> of such a large amount of possible address names a binary search method =
is
>> used to search through all this data efficiently. The names could be sor=
ted
>> in two ways, the first being the first character and the second being th=
e
>> total length of the name (I will being exploring additional methods to m=
ake
>> this process more efficient). So now that Bob=E2=80=99s client has verif=
ied that the
>> name has not been taken and is valid (valid meaning it's under 35 bytes =
long
>> and only using chars 0-9 and a-z) it sends a transaction of 1 satoshi an=
d a
>> small fee to the address without a private key as talked about earlier. =
The
>> transaction's OP_RETURN output consists of two parts. The implementation
>> version of this method (up to 8 characters) and the name itself (up to 3=
2
>> characters). Once the transaction is broadcasted to the network and
>> confirmed the name is ready to be used.
>>
>> Let=E2=80=99s look at how Alice=E2=80=99s supported wallet sends her Bit=
coin to Bob=E2=80=99s
>> Named Bitcoin Address.
>>
>> When Alice enters in Bob=E2=80=99s address, =E2=80=98SendBitcoinsToBob=
=E2=80=99 Alice=E2=80=99s client
>> references the same =E2=80=9Cdirectory=E2=80=9D as Bob only on her devic=
e and searches for
>> the OP_RETURN output of =E2=80=98SendBitcoinsToBob=E2=80=99 using a very=
 similar binary
>> search method as used for the verification of the availability of an add=
ress
>> name. If a name isn=E2=80=99t found the client would simply return an er=
ror. If the
>> name is found then the client will pull the information of that transact=
ion
>> and use the address it was sent from as the address to send the Bitcoin =
to.
>>
>> Essentially what this idea describes is a method to assign a name to a
>> Bitcoin address in a way that is completely verifiable and independent o=
f a
>> third party.
>>
>> Please ask your questions and provide feedback.
>>
>> - Devin
>>
>>
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>>
>
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