1
What is Bitcoin's locktime feature and what are some example use cases?
And how can a user make use of this new feature? Is it in any gui wallet? And how would one use it in the command line if its the only option?
What is Bitcoin's locktime feature exactly? How can it be used?
Answers
2
Like a cheque with a date in future, a Bitcoin transaction with locktime cannot be unlocked (read cashed) before that date. The definition in bitcoin.org is pretty clear
Part of a transaction which indicates the earliest time or earliest block when that transaction may be added to the block chain.
Sample use case is a cautionary deposit. For a great example see micropayment channel protocol implemented by bitcoinj and described here:
You lost me there with all the A B Q Tx Tx2 variables. – Patoshi パトシ – 2016-02-25T22:50:07.050
well, reedited with Alice and Bob. Not easy to explain without the proper actors – Davide C – 2016-02-25T22:56:46.910
what is coin Q? – Patoshi パトシ – 2016-02-25T23:16:55.100
a coin is a sum linked to the output of a past transaction and that can be spent becoming the input of another. – Davide C – 2016-02-25T23:25:50.380