Are multi-sig M-of-N transactions with N > 3 supported?

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BIP 11 makes M-of-N multi-sig transactions standard --- for N <= 3. What is the current support among miners for the multi-sig transactions with N > 3? (say 3-of-6). Also, BIP 11 states:

The current Satoshi bitcoin client does not relay or mine transactions with scriptSigs larger than 200 bytes; to accomodate 3-signature transactions, this will be increased to 500 bytes.

Does this still hold, and if yes, does this limit come into play for N > 3 or M > 3? What other obstacles are in the way of standardizing M-of-N for meaningful N?

random

Posted 2014-03-09T08:35:35.417

Reputation: 161

I suspect the biggest obstacle is the fact that it will create a fork in the chain due to the fact new nodes can create seemingly invalid transactions for old nodes. – John T – 2014-03-09T21:55:44.703

Cross post from: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=508256.msg5618510#msg5618510

– goodguys_activate – 2014-03-10T12:46:54.753

What % of miners will mine these transactions where N > 3? – Brian Armstrong – 2014-05-20T18:30:40.073

Answers

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Standard multisig outputs have max 3 keys, but it is possible to add up to 16 keys.

This limit is probably a result of the hard limit of output script size.

EDIT: source: I don't remember where I found this information. (I implemented it in Dartcoin and put that in the documentation.) As an alternative source, check out Mike Hearn's BitcoinJ implementation here.

Steven Roose

Posted 2014-03-09T08:35:35.417

Reputation: 10 855

If you use PS2H method there's no limit. Check Pieter's comment: http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/23893/what-are-the-limits-of-m-and-n-in-m-of-n-multisig-addresses#comment28691_23915

– Luca Matteis – 2014-05-20T19:11:38.213

Asked: 2014-03-09T08:35:35.417

Viewed: 554 times

Active: 2014-03-10T10:16:38.033