Bitcoin Q&A: Schnorr Signatures and the Privacy Roadmap
Channel: aantonop
Date: 2018-08-25

How important are privacy improvements to Bitcoin in the roadmap? How will second layers and atomic swaps help with this? When will Schnorr signatures / signature aggregation be added to Bitcoin? What are Taproot and Graftroot? Will it be done through a soft or hard fork? Should we keep transaction transparency instead of adding privacy features?

Watch Pieter Wuille's presentation - https://youtu.be/YSUVRj8iznU
Schnorr signature BIP - https://github.com/sipa/bips/blob/bip-schnorr/bip-schnorr.mediawiki

CORRECTION / CLARIFICATION: At 3:47, I mention that Schnorr signatures had to overcome "patent encumbrances" and guessed that the patent expired somewhere around 2010. The precise expiration date of the U.S. Patent (No. 4,995,082) was February 2008. At 4:22, I say that ECDSA and EC-Schnorr are based on the difficulty of solving the discrete logarithm problem over a prime-order field. While this is true for the digital signature algorithm (DSA), ECDSA and Schnorr are based on the discrete log problem over an elliptic curve group. (h/t Daira Hopwood)

Chapters
0:00 I know we have Zcash and Monero. Do you see a second layer protocol for Bitcoin that will render those unnecessary? Which one of those protocols is the most promising for obfuscation and keeping your transactions private?
2:43 After a quick reminder of what doors Schnorr signatures will open for Bitcoin, could there be any reason not to want them implemented into Bitcoin? Can you also tell us how you think this would be rolled out, in a soft fork or a hard fork? Is there any timeline for these changes?
11:53 If people will have an untraceable, anonymous cryptocurrency with a high degree of privacy, don't we also need a traceable and transparent cryptocurrency for states, NGOs, and politicians? Could you do atomic swaps between them?


These questions were part of the monthly live Patreon Q&A session in July and the Denver event as part of 'The Internet of Money Tour' at the Hilton Denver Inverness, which took place on July 28th and August 6th 2018 respectively. If you want early-access to talks and a chance to participate in the monthly live Q&As with Andreas, become a patron: https://www.patreon.com/aantonop

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How do I choose a wallet? - https://youtu.be/tN6b62sEpsY
Using paper wallets - https://youtu.be/cKehFazo8Pw
Exchanges, identity, and surveillance - https://youtu.be/TVFy8xXfxAA
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SegWit and fork research - https://youtu.be/OorLoi01KEE
MimbleWimble and Schnorr signatures - https://youtu.be/qloq75ekxv0
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Andreas M. Antonopoulos is a technologist and serial entrepreneur who has become one of the most well-known and respected figures in bitcoin.

Follow on Twitter: @aantonop https://twitter.com/aantonop
Website: https://antonopoulos.com/

He is the author of two books: “Mastering Bitcoin,” published by O’Reilly Media and considered the best technical guide to bitcoin; “The Internet of Money,” a book about why bitcoin matters.

THE INTERNET OF MONEY, v1: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Internet-Money-collection-Andreas-Antonopoulos/dp/1537000454/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

[NEW] THE INTERNET OF MONEY, v2: https://www.amazon.com/Internet-Money-Andreas-M-Antonopoulos/dp/194791006X/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

MASTERING BITCOIN: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mastering-Bitcoin-Unlocking-Digital-Cryptocurrencies/dp/1449374042

[NEW] MASTERING BITCOIN, 2nd Edition: https://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Bitcoin-Programming-Open-Blockchain/dp/1491954388

Translations of MASTERING BITCOIN: https://bitcoinbook.info/translations-of-mastering-bitcoin/

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