What Are Silent Payments?
Silent Payments (BIP 352) is a protocol that allows users to publish a single, static address that can receive unlimited payments, with each payment going to a unique on-chain address. This dramatically improves privacy without requiring interactive communication.
Reusable Without Compromise
Unlike traditional addresses which should never be reused, a silent payment address can be shared publicly (in a profile, on a website) without linking transactions together on the blockchain. Each sender generates a unique destination address using the recipient's static identifier.
Key Benefits
Enhanced Privacy
Silent payments eliminate address reuse privacy issues while requiring no sender-recipient interaction. Observers cannot link payments to the same recipient unless they control the recipient's keys.
User-Friendly
Recipients can share one identifier for all payments, simplifying donation buttons, public profiles, and recurring payments while maintaining strong privacy guarantees. No need to generate new addresses for each payment.
Silent payments work with Taproot and are designed to be wallet-compatible with minimal changes. While still gaining adoption, they represent a significant advancement in making Bitcoin privacy more accessible and practical for everyday users.
Quick Facts
- •Proposed in BIP352
- •No address reuse on-chain
- •No interaction required between parties
- •Improved privacy for static addresses