This was discussed here and got really good feedback. This is the BIP draft for it. Feedback appreciated.
BIP 179: Name for payment recipient identifiers #856
pull emilengler wants to merge 1 commits into bitcoin:master from emilengler:emilengler-redefinition-of-the-term-address changing 2 files +65 −0-
emilengler commented at 7:28 PM on October 17, 2019: contributor
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in bip-emilengler-redefinition-of-the-term-address.mediawiki:4 in 868b556b04 outdated
0 | @@ -0,0 +1,54 @@ 1 | +<pre> 2 | + BIP: UNDEFINED 3 | + Titel: Redefinition of the term address 4 | + Author: Emil Engler <me@emilengler.com>
MarcoFalke commented at 8:06 PM on October 17, 2019:I'd suggest to find one co-author, so that potential changes to the BIP can be addressed by either
emilengler commented at 8:18 PM on October 17, 2019:Good idea, I will ask on the ML
MarcoFalke commented at 8:20 PM on October 17, 2019:If no one else steps up, you can put me in.
in bip-emilengler-redefinition-of-the-term-address.mediawiki:8 in 868b556b04 outdated
0 | @@ -0,0 +1,54 @@ 1 | +<pre> 2 | + BIP: UNDEFINED 3 | + Titel: Redefinition of the term address 4 | + Author: Emil Engler <me@emilengler.com> 5 | + Status: Draft 6 | + Type: Informational 7 | + Created: 2019-10-17 8 | + License: Public Domain
MarcoFalke commented at 8:06 PM on October 17, 2019:BIP2 recommends to use CC0 instead. And I think all new BIPs did that.
emilengler commented at 8:19 PM on October 17, 2019:Understandable, some countries (e.g Germany) don't have the US like public domain
in bip-emilengler-redefinition-of-the-term-address.mediawiki:17 in 868b556b04 outdated
12 | +This BIP proposes a new term for 'address' 13 | + 14 | +==Specification== 15 | +The new term is: 16 | +''Bitcoin'' '''Invoice''' ''Address'' 17 | +Short: ''BIA''
MarcoFalke commented at 8:09 PM on October 17, 2019:I think BIA causes more confusion than it serves as a easily recognizable identifier. Also it will be misleading, when in the (far) future, it will just be "Bitcoin invoice".
emilengler commented at 8:19 PM on October 17, 2019:You might be right. I think invoice is short enough
in bip-emilengler-redefinition-of-the-term-address.mediawiki:45 in 868b556b04 outdated
40 | +The reason why we use ''Bitcoin Invoice Address'' or just ''Invoice'' is to show that it is more like a temporary thing. 41 | +We decided to keep Bitcoin and Address as optional terms for the reasons named above. 42 | + 43 | +==Backwards Compatibility== 44 | +Because this is an informational BIP it does not break any compatibility. 45 | +However some documentation, for example BIP 21, needs to get updated.
MarcoFalke commented at 8:11 PM on October 17, 2019:I think this can be omitted. Whenever a software implements this UI change, they will update their documentation as well.
emilengler commented at 8:20 PM on October 17, 2019:Ok
MarcoFalke commented at 9:59 PM on October 17, 2019:Oh, I only meant that the " However some documentation, for example BIP 21, needs to get updated. " sentence ought to be removed, not the whole section
in bip-emilengler-redefinition-of-the-term-address.mediawiki:48 in 868b556b04 outdated
43 | +==Backwards Compatibility== 44 | +Because this is an informational BIP it does not break any compatibility. 45 | +However some documentation, for example BIP 21, needs to get updated. 46 | + 47 | +==Reference Implementation== 48 | +''Not implemented yet''
MarcoFalke commented at 8:12 PM on October 17, 2019:I think a list of "reference implementations" might be spammy and doesn't really help other implementations. To implement this in a given piece of software, a replacement of the term "bitcoin address" with "bitcoin invoice address" in the user facing strings should be sufficient.
emilengler commented at 8:20 PM on October 17, 2019:ACK
in bip-emilengler-redefinition-of-the-term-address.mediawiki:54 in 868b556b04 outdated
49 | + 50 | +==Acknowledgements== 51 | +Thanks to Chris Belcher for the suggestion of the term 'Bitcoin Invoice Address' 52 | + 53 | +==Copyright== 54 | +This BIP is released into the Public Domain.
MarcoFalke commented at 8:13 PM on October 17, 2019:See comment above.
MarcoFalke commented at 8:13 PM on October 17, 2019: memberThanks! Concept ACK
emilengler commented at 8:32 PM on October 17, 2019: contributor@MarcoFalke Done, also asked on the ML
in bip-emilengler-redefinition-of-the-term-address.mediawiki:3 in 3fe8174e08 outdated
0 | @@ -0,0 +1,46 @@ 1 | +<pre> 2 | + BIP: UNDEFINED 3 | + Titel: Redefinition of the term address
ryanofsky commented at 8:35 PM on October 17, 2019:Maybe title should be "Replacing the term address" if the goal isn't to give the word "address" a new meaning, but to introduce new terms that should be used instead
emilengler commented at 8:54 PM on October 17, 2019:ACK
emilengler commented at 8:56 PM on October 17, 2019: contributorBIP title has changed, could someone change the title of the PR? I have insufficient permissions.
in bip-emilengler-replacing-the-term-address.mediawiki:3 in 6c9a935e8f outdated
0 | @@ -0,0 +1,46 @@ 1 | +<pre> 2 | + BIP: UNDEFINED 3 | + Titel: Replacing the term address
luke-jr commented at 9:00 PM on October 17, 2019:Title*
luke-jr commented at 9:02 PM on October 17, 2019:Suggest "Terminology for payment recipient identifiers" or something that refers to the new standard rather than the previous standard.
emilengler commented at 9:14 PM on October 17, 2019:I think to get more attention it would be better to include the old de-facto standard into the title
luke-jr commented at 9:21 PM on October 17, 2019:I don't agree. The title is supposed to be for the BIP, not an older thing being replaced.
emilengler commented at 9:36 PM on October 17, 2019:Convinced, updated. This should be the final title version of the BIP title however. Sorry for letting you update it again :confused:
in bip-emilengler-replacing-the-term-address.mediawiki:24 in 6c9a935e8f outdated
19 | +For ''Bitcoin'': 20 | +* Useful for multicoin wallets to indicate that it belongs to Bitcoin 21 | +* Indicates a difference between a lightning and an on-chain invoice 22 | +For ''Address'': 23 | +* To not confuse users with a completely new term 24 | +* To show that it is where you send something to
luke-jr commented at 9:04 PM on October 17, 2019:This belongs in the
Rationalesection.in bip-emilengler-replacing-the-term-address.mediawiki:16 in 6c9a935e8f outdated
11 | +==Abstract== 12 | +This BIP proposes a new term for 'address' 13 | + 14 | +==Specification== 15 | +The new term is: 16 | +''Bitcoin'' '''Invoice''' ''Address''
luke-jr commented at 9:04 PM on October 17, 2019:Suggest making "Address" an extended temporary form only for backward compatibility purposes.
emilengler commented at 9:17 PM on October 17, 2019:Ok, will put into that section
in bip-emilengler-replacing-the-term-address.mediawiki:30 in 6c9a935e8f outdated
25 | + 26 | +This gives us the four following possibilities: 27 | +* Bitcoin Invoice Address 28 | +* Bitcoin Invoice 29 | +* Invoice Address 30 | +* Invoice
luke-jr commented at 9:05 PM on October 17, 2019:"Invoice" alone may be too confused with regular invoices in general.
emilengler commented at 9:12 PM on October 17, 2019:IN the lightning user-land it also just Invoice IIRC
in bip-emilengler-replacing-the-term-address.mediawiki:15 in 6c9a935e8f outdated
10 | + 11 | +==Abstract== 12 | +This BIP proposes a new term for 'address' 13 | + 14 | +==Specification== 15 | +The new term is:
luke-jr commented at 9:06 PM on October 17, 2019:A definition is needed. Particularly one that should be inclusive of Lightning or other L2 networks.
emilengler commented at 2:06 PM on October 18, 2019:I added a note for the ''address'' part, hop it is sufficient
luke-jr commented at 2:55 PM on October 18, 2019:I don't see a definition in the current draft either...
Someone who doesn't know "address" needs to be able to understand this BIP.
MarcoFalke commented at 3:02 PM on October 18, 2019:"A bitcoin invoice address is a human-readable encoding of a scriptPubKey, for example bech32 addresses BIP173 or base58 legacy addresses"?
luke-jr commented at 6:15 PM on October 18, 2019:No, that's too specific to technical details (and excludes L2 stuff), and neglects to cover the intent/purpose of the invoice address.
Maybe something like "A bitcoin invoice [address] is a string of characters that can be used to indicate the intended recipient and purpose of a transaction." ?
emilengler commented at 10:37 PM on October 18, 2019:Ok, good to know I will use @luke-jr definition. It should contain that it in affiliated to the recipient in some way.
emilengler commented at 10:39 PM on October 18, 2019:Done
in bip-emilengler-replacing-the-term-address.mediawiki:41 in 6c9a935e8f outdated
36 | +The motivation for this BIP is to change the term address to something that indicates that the address is connected to a single transaction. 37 | + 38 | +==Rationale== 39 | +The reason why we use ''Bitcoin Invoice Address'' or just ''Invoice'' is to show that it is more like a temporary thing. 40 | +We decided to keep Bitcoin and Address as optional terms for the reasons named above. 41 | +
luke-jr commented at 9:07 PM on October 17, 2019:A backwards compatibility section is needed.
emilengler commented at 9:13 PM on October 17, 2019:It was suggested to remove it 3fe8174e084a994bd6f8d4b4fdc474a36752b5d0 Was the old one sufficient?
luke-jr commented at 9:20 PM on October 17, 2019:No, it doesn't actually address backward compatibility.
You want something like "since the term used will initially be
invoice address, it includes the existing termaddressand should be immediately recognisable to users"luke-jr changes_requestedluke-jr renamed this:Add BIP: Redefinition of the term address
New BIP: Replacing the term address
on Oct 17, 2019luke-jr renamed this:New BIP: Replacing the term address
New BIP: Terminology for payment recipient identifiers
on Oct 17, 2019in bip-emilengler-terminology-for-payment-recipient-identifiers.mediawiki:18 in 2ffd6a76ae outdated
11 | +==Abstract== 12 | +This BIP proposes a new term for 'address' 13 | + 14 | +==Specification== 15 | +The new term is: 16 | +''Bitcoin'' '''Invoice''' ''Address''
luke-jr commented at 9:45 PM on October 17, 2019:Suggest specifying (vaguely) the intended sunset on the "address" suffix.
emilengler commented at 9:53 PM on October 17, 2019:Done
in bip-emilengler-terminology-for-payment-recipient-identifiers.mediawiki:43 in 2ffd6a76ae outdated
38 | +* Invoice Address 39 | +* Invoice 40 | + 41 | +==Backwards Compatibility== 42 | +To avoid issues, the 'Address' suffix is permitted, but not recommended. 43 | +The suffix 'address' remains so users should be immediately able to recognize it until the new term is widely known.
murchandamus commented at 3:47 PM on October 18, 2019:The suffix is capitalized once and not capitalized in the next line.
emilengler commented at 10:42 PM on October 18, 2019:Will fix
in bip-emilengler-terminology-for-payment-recipient-identifiers.mediawiki:25 in 2ffd6a76ae outdated
20 | +The term 'address' however indicates consistency because nearly everything on the internet or the offline world with the term 'address' 21 | +is something that rarely or even never changes (postal address, e-mail address, IP-Addresses (depends heavily on the provider), etc.) 22 | +The motivation for this BIP is to change the term address to something that indicates that the address is connected to a single transaction. 23 | + 24 | +==Rationale== 25 | +The reason why we use ''Bitcoin Invoice Address'' or just ''Invoice'' is to show that it is more like a temporary thing.
murchandamus commented at 3:51 PM on October 18, 2019:The "temporary" seems a bit off. It's not really temporary, an invoice doesn't change or go away. It's just that it is single-use. Therefore, how about "[…]is to emphasize that it is single-use."
emilengler commented at 10:43 PM on October 18, 2019:Single use is what I meant. Thanks for the word(s) suggestion
in bip-emilengler-terminology-for-payment-recipient-identifiers.mediawiki:26 in 2ffd6a76ae outdated
21 | +is something that rarely or even never changes (postal address, e-mail address, IP-Addresses (depends heavily on the provider), etc.) 22 | +The motivation for this BIP is to change the term address to something that indicates that the address is connected to a single transaction. 23 | + 24 | +==Rationale== 25 | +The reason why we use ''Bitcoin Invoice Address'' or just ''Invoice'' is to show that it is more like a temporary thing. 26 | +The terms ''Bitcoin'' and ''Address'' are optional this has the following reasons:
murchandamus commented at 3:53 PM on October 18, 2019:How about: "are optional for the following reasons:"
emilengler commented at 10:43 PM on October 18, 2019:+1 It sounds better
murchandamus changes_requestedemilengler commented at 4:52 PM on October 21, 2019: contributor@MarcoFalke I added you as a co-author as no responded so far. Which E-Mail should I use?
in bip-emilengler-terminology-for-payment-recipient-identifiers.mediawiki:4 in b7c2cd20fa outdated
0 | @@ -0,0 +1,54 @@ 1 | +<pre> 2 | + BIP: UNDEFINED 3 | + Title: Terminology for payment recipient identifiers 4 | + Author: Emil Engler <me@emilengler.com>, Marco Falke <example@example.com>
luke-jr commented at 5:21 PM on October 21, 2019:This will need to be multiple lines.
You can add me too if you want, since I guess I ended up providing a bunch of content in the end. ^^;
emilengler commented at 5:29 PM on October 21, 2019:Sure thing, what E-Mail should I use?
emilengler commented at 5:35 PM on October 21, 2019:Name added, just need an E-Mail.
MarcoFalke commented at 1:47 PM on October 22, 2019:Just my normal git email:
Author: MarcoFalke <falke.marco@gmail.com>
emilengler commented at 3:14 PM on October 22, 2019:Done
in bip-emilengler-terminology-for-payment-recipient-identifiers.mediawiki:6 in 85bbe343bf outdated
0 | @@ -0,0 +1,56 @@ 1 | +<pre> 2 | + BIP: UNDEFINED 3 | + Title: Terminology for payment recipient identifiers 4 | + Author: Emil Engler <me@emilengler.com> 5 | + MarcoFalke <falke.marco@gmail.com> 6 | + Luke Dashjr <luke@example.com>
luke-jr commented at 10:37 PM on October 22, 2019:luke+bip@dashjr.org
emilengler commented at 1:05 PM on October 23, 2019:Done
emilengler commented at 1:08 PM on October 23, 2019: contributorSquashed, could this get a BIP number now as it is probably ready? @luke-jr
in bip-emilengler-terminology-for-payment-recipient-identifiers.mediawiki:26 in 446d7638d8 outdated
21 | +The address suffix should only be used as a transitional step. 22 | + 23 | +A ''Bitcoin'' Invoice ''Address'' is a string of characters that can be used to indicate the intended recipient and purpose of a transaction. 24 | + 25 | +==Motivation== 26 | +Bitcoin addresses are intended to be only used '''once''' and you should generate a new one for every new incoming payment.
murchandamus commented at 11:05 PM on October 25, 2019:Shouldn't this sentence start with
Bitcoin invoice addresses…? :grin:
emilengler commented at 1:31 PM on October 26, 2019:It describes a problem of the past and currently the present so I think it will be fine there. :P
in bip-emilengler-terminology-for-payment-recipient-identifiers.mediawiki:28 in 446d7638d8 outdated
23 | +A ''Bitcoin'' Invoice ''Address'' is a string of characters that can be used to indicate the intended recipient and purpose of a transaction. 24 | + 25 | +==Motivation== 26 | +Bitcoin addresses are intended to be only used '''once''' and you should generate a new one for every new incoming payment. 27 | +The term 'address' however indicates consistency because nearly everything on the internet or the offline world with the term 'address' 28 | +is something that rarely or even never changes (postal address, e-mail address, IP-Addresses (depends heavily on the provider), etc.)
murchandamus commented at 11:08 PM on October 25, 2019:In English "email" is much more commonly written without a dash. Similarly, drop the dash in "IP address" and don't capitalize the "a" (see e.g. Wikipedia:IP address).
emilengler commented at 1:31 PM on October 26, 2019:Ok
emilengler commented at 1:33 PM on October 26, 2019:Fixed
murchandamus changes_requestedMarcoFalke commented at 2:09 PM on November 4, 2019: member@luke-jr Is this ready?
luke-jr renamed this:New BIP: Terminology for payment recipient identifiers
New BIP 179: Terminology for payment recipient identifiers
on Nov 4, 2019luke-jr commented at 3:13 PM on November 4, 2019: memberAssigned BIP 179
emilengler commented at 8:47 PM on November 4, 2019: contributor@luke-jr Thanks, will modify the text
emilengler commented at 8:52 PM on November 4, 2019: contributor@luke-jr Thanks, updated, squashed and reworded. What's next?
luke-jr commented at 1:59 AM on November 5, 2019: memberbip-0179.mediawiki has too-long TItle (45 > 44 char max) at scripts/buildtable.pl line 126, <$F> line 3.in bip-0179.mediawiki:3 in 1ccd4c05e4 outdated
0 | @@ -0,0 +1,56 @@ 1 | +<pre> 2 | + BIP: 179 3 | + Title: Terminology for payment recipient identifiers
MarcoFalke commented at 3:06 AM on November 5, 2019:Hmm interesting travis failure:
bip-0179.mediawiki has too-long TItle (45 > 44 char max) at scripts/buildtable.pl line 126, <$F> line 3.
emilengler commented at 12:05 PM on November 5, 2019:Looks like this BIP needs a new name, any suggestions?
luke-jr commented at 3:02 PM on November 5, 2019:"Name for payment recipient identifiers" maybe?
emilengler commented at 8:50 PM on November 5, 2019:@luke-jr ACK, it is 39 chars. Could you please update the title again...
emilengler commented at 8:52 PM on November 5, 2019:Updated and forced pushed
luke-jr renamed this:New BIP 179: Terminology for payment recipient identifiers
BIP 179: Name for payment recipient identifiers
on Nov 5, 2019luke-jr added the label New BIP on Nov 5, 2019in bip-0179.mediawiki:10 in d43f13ac74 outdated
5 | + MarcoFalke <falke.marco@gmail.com> 6 | + Luke Dashjr <luke+bip@dashjr.org> 7 | + Status: Draft 8 | + Type: Informational 9 | + Created: 2019-10-17 10 | + License: CC0
MarcoFalke commented at 10:42 PM on November 5, 2019:Undefined license CC0 in bip-0179.mediawiki at scripts/buildtable.pl line 154, <$F> line 10.
luke-jr commented at 12:58 AM on November 6, 2019:Should be
CC0-1.0
emilengler commented at 5:00 PM on November 6, 2019:Fixed
Add BIP 179: Name for payment recipient identifiers d3ff4b1e9ein bip-0179.mediawiki:13 in 1108fd7c97 outdated
6 | + Luke Dashjr <luke+bip@dashjr.org> 7 | + Status: Draft 8 | + Type: Informational 9 | + Created: 2019-10-17 10 | + License: CC0-1.0 11 | +</pre>
MarcoFalke commented at 6:34 PM on November 6, 2019:Missing Comments-URI in bip-0179.mediawiki at scripts/buildtable.pl line 176, <$F> line 11.
emilengler commented at 9:40 PM on November 6, 2019:
MarcoFalke commented at 10:27 PM on November 6, 2019:Please add this to the readme:
+> | [[bip-0179.mediawiki|179]] +> | +> | Name for payment recipient identifiers +> | Emil Engler, MarcoFalke, Luke Dashjr +> | Informational +> | Draft +> |-
emilengler commented at 1:58 PM on November 7, 2019:Done
MarcoFalke commented at 2:00 PM on November 7, 2019: memberluke-jr merged this on Nov 8, 2019luke-jr closed this on Nov 8, 2019emilengler commented at 4:15 PM on November 8, 2019: contributor@luke-jr Thanks for merging, what are the next steps until it gets accepted and reaches final?
MarcoFalke commented at 4:33 PM on November 8, 2019: member@emilengler BIPs aren't "accepted" there is no central authority that could do that. A BIP is merged in the repo after basic formatting rules have been obeyed. Anyone is free to not implement or to implement a BIP.
luke-jr commented at 5:48 PM on November 8, 2019: memberThe BIP Status field exists to reflect real-world status, so lacking specific conditions in BIP 2 (AFAICT), I guess it should become "Active" when there is a very obvious trend of adopting the proposed language.
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