Historical retrospective · Bitcoin
BIP 70 explored richer merchant payment messages
BIP 70 proposed a payment protocol for exchanging invoices, payment details and acknowledgements beyond a bare Bitcoin address.
It aimed to improve merchant workflows by allowing a wallet to receive structured payment information and return a receipt-like response.
The proposal captures an early attempt to bridge decentralized settlement with familiar checkout experiences.
The ecosystem later learned that richer protocols also introduce certificate, privacy and maintenance burdens; adoption is not automatic just because a standard exists.
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