Trezor to Implement Bitcoin Cash Addresses

After seeming to be outright hostile to incorporating Cashaddr, a way to distinguish easily between bitcoin core and bitcoin cash addresses, popular hardware cold storage wallet company Trezor confirmed its integration is on the way.

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Cold Storage Wallet Maker Trezor to Integrate Cashaddr for BCH
Twitter bitcoin cash advocate, Jason Elliott, began tweeting to hardware, cold storage wallet makers as to when their users could expect integration of Cashaddr, a bitcoin cash (BCH) ecosystem adopted standard for addresses to help limit confusion. Within the thread, Bach N. of Trezor responded, affirming Cashaddr to be in development for Trezor. His response came complete with a Github link, which appeared to confirm the tweet.

The Github leads to a Trezor MCU started the beginning of this year. Jochen Hoenicke is the developer/author of Cashaddr #285. It has three commits, and includes Satoshi Labs’ Pavol Rusnak as a repository participant. Though it stops at the end of February, the most detail comes around the middle of that month.

“This needs to be done outside the firmware for cashaddr support,” Mr. Hoenicke explains, “Webwallet: compute cashaddr addresses from xpub. Note that only the last step from hashed public key to address needs to be changed. The webwallet checks that the address the Trezor returns is as expected. This check should also allow 1.. addresses so that it works with older firmware (so we don’t have to deploy both at the same time); allow cashaddr as send to address. The firmware supports both and both use SPENDADDRESS. The only difference is the confirmation message given to the user; the transaction format did not change at all.”

If true, it’s an interesting turn of events in the mini-drama surrounding the issue. Summer of last year, just prior to the fork creating bitcoin cash, it was Mr. Rusnak who warned through Github, “I suggest to change the address version to something different, so it is obvious the address is a Bitcoin Cash address. (It can start with C for example). Don’t forget to change also address version for P2SH!” It would turn out to be fateful advice, advice that, for whatever reason, was not initially followed.

Ideology Aside, Trezor Usually Yields to Customers
Recognized as a lead developer of bitcoin cash, Amaury Séchet (otherwise known as deadalnix), responded to Mr. Rusnak’s warning, “Agreed. I have a plan to change the address format. Changing the address format is expensive, so I would like to investigate various other option than just changing the prefix before settling on something. I would also have to convince other in the space that this is a good address format,” and eventually Cashaddr became that option.

Trezor, as soon as two weeks ago, responded to long time Reddit user u/normal_rc on the popular bitcoin cash forum, r/btc, about how the company was just outright refusing to add the address change. In response, the Trezor cofounder tweeted “This mess was made by bad architectural decision of [BCH] team. We warned them, they knew about the issues and they decided to ignore it. I refuse any responsibility for it. Cashaddr support is in standard development process and it’ll be ready when done.”

Though it reads as hostile, it does leave the door open to eventual implementation. Combined with the even more recent acknowledgment and Github activity, bitcoin cash users continue to have reasons to be hopeful about the coin’s future prospects.

Do you support Trezor’s eventual move to accommodate BCH addresses? Let us know in the comments!