Bitcoin: Are the characters 0, O, I, l really not allowed in address?

Controversy of the surrounding characters outside the ASCII in Bitcoin addresses

While the popularity of Bitcoins is constantly increasing, one of the most important challenges for developers and users is to ensure that addresses are valid and correctly formatted. The key aspect of this is the use of non -English characters in the address chain.

One of the main problems is to limit the use of certain features, such as 0, O, I, L and others which are considered to be “non-loulament” (not part of the ASCIII character file). This restriction is the subject of the debate between developers and Bitcoin users, some pleading for the use of these characters, while others claim that they can lead to visual ambiguity in address chains.

Argument against signs outside the ASCII

The petitioners of using characters outside the ASCII at the address claim that it is little supervision of the creator of Bitcoin Satoshi Nakamoto. They argue that the original design of the Bitcoins protocol has not explicitly prohibited the use of these characters. In addition, they point out that many programming languages ​​and text editors support the use of characters outside the ASCII, so the restriction is necessary.

On the other hand, the opponents of the characters outside the ASCII in the address say that this is an important problem. They argue that the use of characters such as 0, O, I, L and others can lead to visual ambiguity when you try to display or print addresses. This is particularly the case for users who need a high level of readability and clarity when verifying their Bitcoin transactions.

Example by hand

In recent months, several addresses have been reported which contain characters such as 0, o, I, L. for example ::

• 12345678901234567890123456789012345678901 (using the Latin alphabet)

• `1Ool3! 2345678901234567 ‘(using the Cyrillic Alphabet)

Although some may seem to be a minor problem, this type of address chain can cause problems when trying to check or display in certain environments. For example, some text editors and online services may not take care of the characters outside the ASCII, which causes visual errors.

Conclusion

In conclusion, although there are valid arguments on both sides, the current limits of the use of characters outside the ASCII in Bitcoin addresses are a source of frustration for many users and developers. Although it is technically possible to use these characters in addresses, the potential for problems of visual ambiguity and compatibility can prevail over all the advantages. Since the Bitcoin ecosystem is constantly evolving, it will be interesting to know how this problem is solved and solved.

Recommendations

In order to avoid visual errors in the validation of Bitcoin addresses, users can consider the use of the following strategies:

• Use standard ASCII characters (A-Z, A-Z, 0-9) on address chains.

• Consider using the compatible publishers of a text or services that support characters outside the ASCII.

• If necessary, convert characters that are not ascii to your corresponding ASCII equivalents before introducing the address chain.

In the end, find the balance between usability and compatibility the key to ensure that Bitcoin addresses remain valid and correctly formatted.