Bitcoin SV Technical Standards roadmap 2021-2023
The Bitcoin SV Technical Standards Committee (TSC) roadmap is designed to summarise the current standardisation landscape for the Bitcoin SV ecosystem. The roadmap aims to provide clear technical direction for the industry at large, in line with the committee’s mission to promote technical excellence and improve the utility of Bitcoin SV by enhancing interoperability through standardisation. It is intended to help people navigate emerging standards and includes several proposed areas for future development based on feedback received from stakeholders. It also lists some prior art, in addition to proposals for consideration.
Standards listed under prior art or in consideration in the roadmap have not been proposed for development, rather, these are commonly adopted ways of solving a problem that could be adapted into a standard, as well as proposals that could be considered for standardisation in the future. The TSC does not decide when to develop a new standard; the process is industry-driven. Individuals or companies who wish to see these proposals being actioned are encouraged to come forward and submit a proposal for consideration.
Read more about how to get involved.
Roadmap
Wallets
Area description- Standardise wallets and other Bitcoin client tools to improve the usability, security and adoption of Bitcoin wallets.
Stream- SPV client tools
Stream goals- Standardise direct payment exchange between wallets.
- Standardise making payment requests between merchants and wallets.
- Standardise the process of payment verification by wallets and its successful confirmation.
- Encrypted data standard for payment metadata.
- Standardise a login protocol (Paymail Oauth will require a client service).
Standards in progress
Prior art or proposals for consideration*- Accumulator multiSig
- Peer discovery and transport
Client services
Area description- Standardise server side services and APIs for Bitcoin clients to consume.
Stream- SPV client services
Stream goals- Standardise offline and/or direct peer-to-peer communications between wallets.
- Standardise protections to prevent fraudulent transactions.
- Standardise fee/policy specification for transaction construction.
- Standardise callback interfaces for transaction event notifications (double spends, SPV proofs).
- Standardise service discovery for user-associated services.
Standards in progress Prior art or proposals for consideration*- SPV channels
- mAPI
- Orphan notification
- Paymail ID extensions e.g. cell/phone number
- Paymail transaction flow extensions
- Paymail group extensions
- Paymail threshold signatures extensions
- Paymail payment channels extensions
- Double-spend and SPV proof notifications
- Mining fee specs/ rate cards
- Nano-payment negotiation
On-chain data
Area description- Implement and standardise tokenized digital assets on Bitcoin.
Stream- Data and token interoperability
Stream goals- Standardise token protocol for token representation and exchange.
- Standardise token protocol extensions for future use-cases.
- Standardise wrapping of non-standard tokens to allow interoperability between token services.
- Standardisation of Metanet data structure.
Standards in progress Prior art or proposals for consideration*- Protocol identifiers
- Data framing
- UTXO based token
Regulation and compliance
Area description- Standards that drive compliance with regulatory requirements to help further the regulation of Bitcoin.
Stream- FATF compliance
Stream goals- Adherence to Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendation 16 for virtual assets and virtual asset service providers.
- Standardise the exchange of data between virtual asset service providers.
- Standardise the message flows between virtual asset service providers and/or identity services.
Standards in progress Prior art or proposals for consideration*- On-chain identity (KYC)
- Region codes
Mining
Area description- Standards that assist miners commercialising services they can offer on Bitcoin.
Stream- Mining interoperability
Stream goals- Standardise API’s for interacting with miners.
- Standardise the exchange of data between miners.
Prior art or proposals for consideration*- Miner ID
- Authenticated channels
Roadmap planning and review
As an organising body, the purpose of the Bitcoin SV Technical Standards Committee (TSC) is to facilitate industry collaboration; its success relies on the participation of industry stakeholders and ecosystem businesses.
In the development of the roadmap, the TSC extended several open invitations for interested stakeholders to submit feedback, which was was followed by a public review of the amended roadmap. The stakeholders’ comments and feedback from the public review have defined the final roadmap content and serve as supporting data for the plans and goals that the roadmap details.
It is important to note that the roadmap is a living document; monitoring and updating the roadmap is essential, with a formal review scheduled to take place every six months. In conjunction with the formal review process, TSC members will, on an ongoing basis, review and reassess the priorities and dependencies of the TSC with a separate matrix document.
Submit a feedback
Roadmap bi-annual review
