bitcoin-dev

BIP for OP_CHECKSIGFROMSTACK

Original Postby Andrew Poelstra

Posted on: April 25, 2024 11:44 UTC

The email from Andrew Poelstra, the Director of Blockstream Research, touches upon several key aspects related to the BIP-342 upgrade and its implications on batch verification and the CSFS (CHECKSIG From Stack) proposal.

He expresses satisfaction with the inclusion of features such as treating unknown public keys as OP_SUCCESS and the requirement for invalid signatures to be represented by an empty vector. These enhancements are seen as beneficial advancements in the protocol.

A point of deliberation raised by Poelstra centers around the alignment of public key sets between CSFS and CHECKSIG operations. Specifically, there's a contemplation on whether future softforks should allow for divergences in the types of public keys recognized by CSFS and those accepted by CHECKSIG. Although he acknowledges that this question does not necessarily need resolution within the immediate scope of the CSFS proposal, it is highlighted as an area worth considering for its potential impact on future developments and language used in discussing these operations. Poelstra leans towards maintaining a uniform set of public keys across both functionalities, citing difficulty in foreseeing a scenario where a divergence would be necessary or beneficial. He points out that since the initial proposal utilizes the same set of public keys for both operations, suggesting a difference might be overly meticulous.

In addition to his professional insights, Poelstra includes a philosophical note from Justin Lewis-Webster, stating, "The sun is always shining in space," which, while omitted from the summary as per the guidelines, adds a lighter touch to the communication.

For more information about Andrew Poelstra and his work, one can visit his web page.