Bitcoin Core developers may initiate a proposal that would allow hodlers to use long-term savings vaults to keep their bitcoins safe.
If the soft fork were to get the green light, new forms would open up for the long-term preservation of digital assets. Thanks to on-chain vaults, we are able to lock bitcoins for a specific period of time. The solution would be useful in the event that the exchange rate falls rapidly and hodlers feel compelled to sell their existing assets.
James O’Beirne, one of the developers of Bitcoin Core, made an official proposal regarding an idea. The soft fork would add two new opcodes to Bitcoin’s script, named OP_VAULT and OP_UNVAULT. The new codes would add a range of investment-related features to programmable Bitcoin wallets, significantly improving Bitcoin’s current Timelock technology.
OP_VAULT might bring parameters that would set a highly trusted spending mode, a less trusted spending mode, and a timeout. In the case of the highly trusted spending path, transactions would require multiple signatures by devices in different locations. Thanks to this, the risk of selling digital assets would be greatly reduced during a possible panic.
The less trusted spending path is therefore more convenient, as it includes a hot wallet connected to the Internet. And a time lock would prevent transactions from being credited before a certain time.
The two new codes would allow users to specify the exact time of approval of a particular transaction. If the transaction does not meet the rules previously defined by the owner, the system can send the money to a trusted address to wait for your consent.
O’Beirne’s proposal might provide a safe way for hodlers to keep their bitcoins in the event of a price crash. However, the implementation will require the approval of other Bitcoin Core developers, security checks, and the agreement of miners and node operators.
