Password-protected private key export format and version bytes

Hi folks,

I've been working on a new private key export format that includes simple password-protection. Details of the scheme are posted at:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=36195.0

It is intended as an interchange format, not specifically integrated with wallet encryption, and simple enough to be produced by the vanitygen program. Importing to the official bitcoin client using a method like the import/export patch would require the user to provide the password of the private key, in addition to the wallet password if the wallet is encrypted.

Comments on the format are welcomed!

As the proposed format is base-58, I would like to make a request to use one of the data classes as proposed by Pieter Wuille about a month ago:

http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/forum.php?thread_name=20110708092506.GA6641%40ulyssis.org&forum_name=bitcoin-development

If this doesn't fit with the general bitcoin development agenda, that's OK too, but I would like to explore some possibility for a protected export format for private keys.

Thanks, -Sam Revitch

Hello all,

The description of the password-protected export format has been revised slightly, and now includes multiple algorithms and a parameter byte for selecting the encryption parameters. As before, the thread is here:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=36195.0

Unless there is an existing or other planned use for data class 32, or another specific objection, I would like to use it for password-protected private keys. Going by Sipa's description, this would mean that a password-protected private key for bitcoin is type 32, and for the testnet, type 79.

Thanks, -Sam Revitch