What Are the Challenges of Using Bitcoin? A Look at the Pros and Cons

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The Bitcoin network is an innovative payment system that is gaining traction around the world. As Bitcoin grows in popularity, more people are asking questions about the challenges of using it. Gregory Maxwell, a Bitcoin developer, has provided an instructive example of what can happen when using Bitcoin.

The design of the Bitcoin protocol makes it possible for third parties to take valid transactions and mutate them in a way that makes them function identically, but with a different transaction ID. Writing the correct wallet software can be a difficult task and it can be misused to invalidate long chains or unconfirmed transactions.

The problem arises from OpenSSL’s willingness to accept invalid encoding signatures. Normally, ECDSA signatures encode two large integers, but the encoding does not have to be constant in length. If there are leading zeros in the signature, OpenSSL is supposed to remove them. Unfortunately, software that is designed to be easy to use assumes that signatures are of constant length, and as a result, keeps the extra leading zeros.

This example serves as a reminder of the importance of design decisions when it comes to development. It is a common concern that Bitcoin is constantly reinventing and creating its own serialization formats – such as RLP instead of using an existing format like Protobuf. This reinvention can be justified, as certain technologies like OpenSSL are not designed with all the cryptographic integrity, consensus, and determinism that cryptocurrencies require.

It is important to note that this principle has its limitations. Bitcoin is not foolish enough to invent its own hash algorithms, and instead uses widely acclaimed and well-vetted SHA3 and secp256k1 for signatures. Additionally, RLP is used to store the triple bit v.r.s.

In many cases, it is as difficult to modify an existing software package as it is to create a brand new one. It is often more difficult because existing software packages can be more complex than necessary for full functionality. The key is to find the right balance between using existing technologies and developing your own.

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