Bitcoin Archive

BIP 21 — URI Scheme

· Nils Schneider · BIP (Bitcoin Improvement Proposal)
Participants: Nils Schneider ,  Matt Corallo
bip uri-scheme payment usability qr-code

BIP 21: URI Scheme

Authors: Nils Schneider, Matt Corallo Status: Final Type: Standards Track Created: 2012-01-29

Abstract

BIP 21 proposes a URI scheme for making Bitcoin payments. The bitcoin: URI format allows users to click a link or scan a QR code to initiate a payment with pre-filled address, amount, and metadata.

Specification

The general format is:

bitcoin:<address>[?amount=<amount>][&label=<label>][&message=<message>]

Examples:

  • bitcoin:175tWpb8K1S7NmH4Zx6rewF9WQrcZv245W
  • bitcoin:175tWpb8K1S7NmH4Zx6rewF9WQrcZv245W?amount=50&label=Luke-Jr
  • bitcoin:175tWpb8K1S7NmH4Zx6rewF9WQrcZv245W?amount=0.001&label=Donation&message=Thank%20you

Significance

BIP 21 became one of the most widely implemented BIPs, supported by virtually every Bitcoin wallet. It superseded the earlier BIP 20 proposal and enabled the QR code-based payment flow that became standard in Bitcoin commerce. The URI scheme was later extended by BIP 70 (Payment Protocol) and remains the foundation for Bitcoin payment interoperability.

Original Source

https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0021.mediawiki

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