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public keys are only available after you make a transaction and usually the bitcoin clients create a new address for each new transaction such that the public k
by BrokenPipe 14y ago
public keys are only available after you make a transaction and usually the bitcoin clients create a new address for each new transaction such that the public key for the account which actually holds the coins is never revealed.
- gojomo 14y agoThe constant generation of new balnace-holding addresses on demand, that are not typically shown to the user unless they dig, is an arbitrary choice of the Bitcoin-QT software, not a requirement of the protocol. In the protocol/blockchain, you can see every public key that has ever received any balance. You can have all your 'change' returned to a small set of pregenerated/registered addresses. So the government just says, "Here, use one of these 12 wallet programs, they are certified as automatically compliant by the IRS. Using other software makes compliance your own headache."
- BrokenPipe 13y agoagain, that's not true. Only addresses from which transfer have been made from have their public key revealed in the blockchain, until then, there is no need for it.