Subject: Re: [bitcoin-dev] BIPable-idea: Consistent and better definition of the term 'address'

From: Lloyd Fournier <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 11 Oct 2019 12:13:40 +1100

Hi Thread,

This may not be the most practical information, but there actually did
exist an almost perfect analogy for Bitcoin addresses from the ancient
world: From wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulla_(seal)

"Transactions for trading needed to be accounted for efficiently, so the
clay tokens were placed in a clay ball (bulla), which helped with
dishonesty and kept all the tokens together. In order to account for the
tokens, the bulla would have to be crushed to reveal their content. This
introduced the idea of impressing the token onto the wet bulla before it
dried, to insure trust that the tokens hadn't been tampered with and for
anyone to know what exactly was in the bulla without having to break it."

You could only use the bulla once because it had to be destroyed in order
to get the tokens out! I think there are even examples of bulla with a kind
of "signature" on them (an imprint with the seal of a noble family etc).

"send me a Bitcoin bulla" has a nice ring to it!

Sincerely,

LL

On Fri, Oct 11, 2019 at 2:44 AM Emil Engler via bitcoin-dev <
[email-masked]> wrote:

> * Sorry if this mail was sent multiple times, my E-Mail client went crazy *
>
> Thanks for all your feedback.
> I came to the decision to write a BIP for this, even if it might not be
> implemented by many wallets, a standardization is never wrong and this
> would be the first step in the correct direction for better on-chain
> privacy.
>
> However currently we still need a good term for the 'address' replacement.
>
> The current suggestions are:
> * Invoice ID
> * Payment Token
> * Bitcoin invoice (address)
> * Bitcoin invoice (path)
>
> Because of the LN term invoice I really like the term 'Bitcoin Invoice'
> by Chris Belcher.
>
> So how do find a consensus about these terms?
>
> Greetings
> Emil Engler
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