LifeHash VS bips

I do think that this can potentially help https://github.com/BlockchainCommons/LifeHash but only so far.

Context: Bitcoin miners have just adopted a 50% pay cut for themselves. This pay cut was baked into Bitcoin protocol at the launch of the network (mostly, see "BIP 42" [1]). The OP link gives information about the block in which this pay cut was made.

I get that HN comments tend to dismiss Bitcoin. But the fact that for the fourth time this pay cut has happened without a hitch speaks volumes to what makes Bitcoin interesting: It's a rare combination of economic incentives and technology that keeps chugging. Nobody can stop it. And it's extremely resistant to change. It requires no governmental approval. All attempts at subversion or interference have failed. There aren't many things that come close to that kind of record.

[1] https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0042.mediawi...

Bitcoin transactions involve locking funds in scripts, which can only be spent if those locking conditions are met. The part of the script that expresses these locking conditions are called ScriptPubKeys. On the other hand, the part that provides unlocking scripts to satisfy the locking conditions is referred to as ScriptSig for legacy transactions, and ScriptWitness for SegWit Transactions. These scripts are evaluated by a stack-based language called Script. This article will mainly focus on ScriptPubKeys.

Here’s the reference https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0039.mediawiki

There are 5 271 537 971 301 488 476 000 309 317 528 177 868 800 possible permutations of the bip39 wordlist found here: https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0039/english.txt when using 12 word seeds. You probably have better change to win the lottery every week for the rest of your life than cracking a 12 word seed in correct order

No one controls Bitcoin, because it's a protocol. Bitcoin Core is the reference implementation, but there are others, and anyone can create new implementations if they wish. Also, the Bitcoin Core maintainers can't just change something on a whim, because users would then switch to another fork. Maintainers (or miners or other groups) can't force their changes on users, because everyone can decide on their own which version they want to use.

The protocol development happens through BIPs (Bitcoin improvement proposals): https://github.com/bitcoin/bips

BIPs are discussed for years, before (and if) they are implemented, and basically everyone needs to agree on them, because no one wants to fork the blockchain, which could be devastating.

All the seeds generated from the CoolWallet (Number / Word) adhere to the BIP-39 protocol.

> users would be required to hand over control of their wallet to actually manage the massive proliferation of addresses needed

BIP32 solved this in 2012, and is used by basically all self-custodial wallets these days. https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0032.mediawi...