Bitcoin Dev Reveals Multisig UI Teaser for Hardware Wallets, Full Nodes

The organizer of a Bitcoin (BTC) programming boot camp has published a multisignature (multisig) user interface (UI) proof-of-concept for both hardware wallets and full nodes.

Justin Moon published a quick guide to using the prototype UI on Twitter on Aug. 28, together with the full software code on GitHub. 

Lowering entry barriers for Bitcoin

Wallets that are protected by multisig technology require more than one private key to access the wallet and are thus thought to be much less vulnerable to security breaches, given that no single party possesses all the information necessary to decrypt them.

Moon’s step-by-step guide to using the software indicates that a user first needs to configure their RPC settings (currently only operating as a testnet version), then create a wallet and decide how many signatures and total signers will be required for its decryption.

When a hardware wallet such as Trezor, Ledger or ColdCard is plugged in, these are recognized by the software and can thus be added as signers. 

Users then generate their first receiving wallet address and generate a test transaction, which will need to be confirmed separately by each separate signer device to be confirmed and broadcasted.

In response to Moon’s code release — which he has warned is still in alpha stage and therefore buggy — self-described Bitcoin evangelist Hass McCook tweeted:

“To be honest —I think this project has the potential to increase #bitcoin's utility by billions and billions of dollars. Easy multisig like this knocks down HUGE barriers to entry for normies carrying big balances.”

Unassailable?

Earlier this summer, decentralized identity startup Civic and blockchain security firm BitGo announced their plans to launch a new wallet using BitGo’s multisig technology in Q4 2019. 

The product aims to lower the barrier to entry into the blockchain sphere for consumers and provide the secure infrastructure that can support a new blockchain-based financial and identity ecosystem.

Just last week, BitGo officially added EOS to the list of assets supported by its multisig wallet and custody service.

Back in 2017, Cointelegraph published an analysis of an attack on the multisig wallet designed by Parity Technologies — creator of the Parity Ethereum Client — which was thought to have affected at least 573 wallets at the time.