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Add BIP 179: Name for payment recipient identifiers
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README.mediawiki

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| Standard
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| [[bip-0179.mediawiki|179]]
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| Name for payment recipient identifiers
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| Emil Engler, MarcoFalke, Luke Dashjr
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| Informational
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| Draft
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| [[bip-0180.mediawiki|180]]
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| Peer Services
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bip-0179.mediawiki

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<pre>
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BIP: 179
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Title: Name for payment recipient identifiers
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Author: Emil Engler <[email protected]>
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MarcoFalke <[email protected]>
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Luke Dashjr <[email protected]>
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Comments-Summary: No comments yet.
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Comments-URI: https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/wiki/Comments:BIP-0179
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Status: Draft
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Type: Informational
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Created: 2019-10-17
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License: CC0-1.0
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</pre>
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==Abstract==
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This BIP proposes a new term for 'address'
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==Specification==
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The new term is:
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''Bitcoin'' '''Invoice''' ''Address''
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The ''Bitcoin'' and ''Address'' parts are optional.
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The address suffix should only be used as a transitional step.
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A ''Bitcoin'' Invoice ''Address'' is a string of characters that can be used to indicate the intended recipient and purpose of a transaction.
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==Motivation==
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Bitcoin addresses are intended to be only used '''once''' and you should generate a new one for every new incoming payment.
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The term 'address' however indicates consistency because nearly everything on the internet or the offline world with the term 'address'
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is something that rarely or even never changes (postal address, email address, IP addresses (depends heavily on the provider), etc.)
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The motivation for this BIP is to change the term address to something that indicates that the address is connected to a single transaction.
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==Rationale==
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The reason why we use ''Bitcoin Invoice Address'' or just ''Invoice'' is to emphasize that it is single-use.
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The terms ''Bitcoin'' and ''Address'' are optional for the following reasons:
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For ''Bitcoin'':
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* Useful for multicoin wallets to indicate that it belongs to Bitcoin
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* Indicates a difference between a lightning and an on-chain invoice
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For ''Address'':
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* To not confuse users with a completely new term
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* To show that it is where you send something to
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* To not break backwards compatibility
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This gives us the four following possibilities:
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* Bitcoin Invoice Address
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* Bitcoin Invoice
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* Invoice Address
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* Invoice
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==Backwards Compatibility==
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To avoid issues, the 'Address' suffix is permitted, but not recommended.
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The suffix 'Address' remains so users should be immediately able to recognize it until the new term is widely known.
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==Acknowledgements==
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Thanks to Chris Belcher for the suggestion of the term 'Bitcoin Invoice Address'
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==Copyright==
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This BIP is released under CC0-1.0 and therefore Public Domain.

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