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P2PK Playground

A site for creating P2PK outputs in bitcoin i.e. paying someone's raw public key

Here's how to try it

Video demo

FAQ

What is a P2PK output?

Don't ask that yet! First ask "what's an output?" It's easier that way.

Okay...what's an output?

An output is basically another name for a "recipient" in a bitcoin transaction. Every transaction contains two sections, Inputs and Outputs. Inputs are essentially the senders; outputs are essentially the recipients. Normally, an output in a bitcoin transaction contains two things: (1) the recipient's bitcoin address (2) an amount sent there in that transaction.

Now can I ask what a P2PK output is?

Yes!

This is the weirdest FAQ I've ever read.

That's not a question.

Why is this the weirdest FAQ ever?

Because I thought it would be funny if I wrote it this way.

What is a P2PK output?

P2PK means "pay to pubkey." A P2PK output is an output like normal except instead of sending money to a bitcoin address, the transaction sends money to a "raw pubkey." So the output looks funny -- there's just a public key there, not a normal bitcoin address.

Wait, you can send someone bitcoin without having their bitcoin address?

Yes!

I don't know, Rick, sounds fake.

No, really! In the early days of bitcoin, it was common to send money directly to your recipient's public key, by requesting a new one from their node whenever you wanted to send them money. Eventually, it became popular to use bitcoin addresses instead, because they were designed for "offline" usage -- you could just stick them on a website somewhere without needing to run a node and keep it online to dole out pubkeys. But bitcoin still supports the old ways because devs are sticklers about backward compatibility.

Do people still use P2PK outputs?

The short answer is no. The long answer is yes. If you visit Clark Moody's Bitcoin Dashboard and go to the section "Output Type Counts (90 Days)" you can see that people do occasionally use them:
But hardly ever.

Can I make a P2PK output?

Yes! Just follow the instructions on this page and you'll make a P2PK output of your own.
Nice write up! Are there security or privacy implications of using P2PK or is it just less efficient and more costly, or something else?
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I'm not aware of any security considerations, but the standard bitcoin advice still applies: avoid pubkey reuse, make a new one every time
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0 sats \ 2 replies \ @ek 18 Dec
I believe P2PK is vulnerable to Shor's algorithm since the public key is exposed on the blockchain
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I don't think that is a vulnerability in any meaningful sense
From what I understand, classical computers cannot execute Shor's algorithm within the lifetime of the universe
And quantum computers, if they are not a scam, are supposedly decades away from being able to run it
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @ek 18 Dec
fair point, just wanted to mention it 👀
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