BIP 383: Multisig Output Script Descriptors

  BIP: 383
  Layer: Applications
  Title: Multisig Output Script Descriptors
  Author: Pieter Wuille <pieter@wuille.net>
          Ava Chow <me@achow101.com>
  Comments-Summary: No comments yet.
  Comments-URI: https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/wiki/Comments:BIP-0383
  Status: Final
  Type: Informational
  Created: 2021-06-27
  License: BSD-2-Clause

Abstract

This document specifies multi(), and sortedmulti() output script descriptors. Both functions take a threshold and one or more public keys and produce a multisig output script. multi() specifies the public keys in the output script in the order given in the descriptor while sortedmulti() sorts the public keys lexicographically when the output script is produced.

Copyright

This BIP is licensed under the BSD 2-clause license.

Motivation

The most common complex script used in Bitcoin is a threshold multisig. These expressions allow specifying multisig scripts as a descriptor.

Specification

Two new script expressions are defined: multi(), and sortedmulti(). Both expressions produce the scripts of the same template and take the same arguments. They are written as multi(k,KEY_1,KEY_2,...,KEY_n). k is the threshold - the number of keys that must sign the input for the script to be valid. KEY_1,KEY_2,...,KEY_n are the key expressions for the multisig. k must be less than or equal to n.

multi() and sortedmulti() expressions can be used as a top level expression, or inside of either a sh() or wsh() descriptor. Depending on the higher level descriptors, there may be restrictions on the type of public keys that can be included.

Depending on the higher level descriptors, there are also restrictions on the number of keys that can be present, i.e. the maximum value of n. When used at the top level, there can only be at most 3 keys. When used inside of a sh() expression, there can only be most 15 compressed public keys (this is limited by the P2SH script limit). Otherwise the maximum number of keys is 20.

The output script produced also depends on the value of k. If k is less than or equal to 16:

OP_k KEY_1 KEY_2 ... KEY_n OP_CHECKMULTISIG

if k is greater than 16:

k KEY_1 KEY_2 ... KEY_n OP_CHECKMULTISIG

`sortedmulti()`

The only change for sortedmulti() is that the keys are sorted lexicographically prior to the creation of the output script. This sorting is on the keys that are to be put into the output script, i.e. after all extended keys are derived.

Multiple Extended Keys

When one or more the key expressions in a multi() or sortedmulti() expression are extended keys, the derived keys use the same child index. This changes the keys in lockstep and allows for output scripts to be indexed in the same way that the derived keys are indexed.

Test Vectors

Valid descriptors followed by the scripts they produce. Descriptors involving derived child keys will have the 0th, 1st, and 2nd scripts listed.

multi(1,L4rK1yDtCWekvXuE6oXD9jCYfFNV2cWRpVuPLBcCU2z8TrisoyY1,5KYZdUEo39z3FPrtuX2QbbwGnNP5zTd7yyr2SC1j299sBCnWjss)
- 512103a34b99f22c790c4e36b2b3c2c35a36db06226e41c692fc82b8b56ac1c540c5bd4104a34b99f22c790c4e36b2b3c2c35a36db06226e41c692fc82b8b56ac1c540c5bd5b8dec5235a0fa8722476c7709c02559e3aa73aa03918ba2d492eea75abea23552ae
multi(1,03a34b99f22c790c4e36b2b3c2c35a36db06226e41c692fc82b8b56ac1c540c5bd,04a34b99f22c790c4e36b2b3c2c35a36db06226e41c692fc82b8b56ac1c540c5bd5b8dec5235a0fa8722476c7709c02559e3aa73aa03918ba2d492eea75abea235)
- 512103a34b99f22c790c4e36b2b3c2c35a36db06226e41c692fc82b8b56ac1c540c5bd4104a34b99f22c790c4e36b2b3c2c35a36db06226e41c692fc82b8b56ac1c540c5bd5b8dec5235a0fa8722476c7709c02559e3aa73aa03918ba2d492eea75abea23552ae
sortedmulti(1,04a34b99f22c790c4e36b2b3c2c35a36db06226e41c692fc82b8b56ac1c540c5bd5b8dec5235a0fa8722476c7709c02559e3aa73aa03918ba2d492eea75abea235,03a34b99f22c790c4e36b2b3c2c35a36db06226e41c692fc82b8b56ac1c540c5bd)
- 512103a34b99f22c790c4e36b2b3c2c35a36db06226e41c692fc82b8b56ac1c540c5bd4104a34b99f22c790c4e36b2b3c2c35a36db06226e41c692fc82b8b56ac1c540c5bd5b8dec5235a0fa8722476c7709c02559e3aa73aa03918ba2d492eea75abea23552ae
sh(multi(2,[00000000/111'/222]xprvA1RpRA33e1JQ7ifknakTFpgNXPmW2YvmhqLQYMmrj4xJXXWYpDPS3xz7iAxn8L39njGVyuoseXzU6rcxFLJ8HFsTjSyQbLYnMpCqE2VbFWc,xprv9uPDJpEQgRQfDcW7BkF7eTya6RPxXeJCqCJGHuCJ4GiRVLzkTXBAJMu2qaMWPrS7AANYqdq6vcBcBUdJCVVFceUvJFjaPdGZ2y9WACViL4L/0))
- a91445a9a622a8b0a1269944be477640eedc447bbd8487
sortedmulti(2,xpub6ERApfZwUNrhLCkDtcHTcxd75RbzS1ed54G1LkBUHQVHQKqhMkhgbmJbZRkrgZw4koxb5JaHWkY4ALHY2grBGRjaDMzQLcgJvLJuZZvRcEL/,xpub68NZiKmJWnxxS6aaHmn81bvJeTESw724CRDs6HbuccFQN9Ku14VQrADWgqbhhTHBaohPX4CjNLf9fq9MYo6oDaPPLPxSb7gwQN3ih19Zm4Y/0/0/)
- 5221025d5fc65ebb8d44a5274b53bac21ff8307fec2334a32df05553459f8b1f7fe1b62102fbd47cc8034098f0e6a94c6aeee8528abf0a2153a5d8e46d325b7284c046784652ae
- 52210264fd4d1f5dea8ded94c61e9641309349b62f27fbffe807291f664e286bfbe6472103f4ece6dfccfa37b211eb3d0af4d0c61dba9ef698622dc17eecdf764beeb005a652ae
- 5221022ccabda84c30bad578b13c89eb3b9544ce149787e5b538175b1d1ba259cbb83321024d902e1a2fc7a8755ab5b694c575fce742c48d9ff192e63df5193e4c7afe1f9c52ae
wsh(multi(2,xprv9s21ZrQH143K31xYSDQpPDxsXRTUcvj2iNHm5NUtrGiGG5e2DtALGdso3pGz6ssrdK4PFmM8NSpSBHNqPqm55Qn3LqFtT2emdEXVYsCzC2U/2147483647'/0,xprv9vHkqa6EV4sPZHYqZznhT2NPtPCjKuDKGY38FBWLvgaDx45zo9WQRUT3dKYnjwih2yJD9mkrocEZXo1ex8G81dwSM1fwqWpWkeS3v86pgKt/1/2/,xprv9s21ZrQH143K3QTDL4LXw2F7HEK3wJUD2nW2nRk4stbPy6cq3jPPqjiChkVvvNKmPGJxWUtg6LnF5kejMRNNU3TGtRBeJgk33yuGBxrMPHi/10/20/30/40/'))
- 0020b92623201f3bb7c3771d45b2ad1d0351ea8fbf8cfe0a0e570264e1075fa1948f
- 002036a08bbe4923af41cf4316817c93b8d37e2f635dd25cfff06bd50df6ae7ea203
- 0020a96e7ab4607ca6b261bfe3245ffda9c746b28d3f59e83d34820ec0e2b36c139c
sh(wsh(multi(16,03669b8afcec803a0d323e9a17f3ea8e68e8abe5a278020a929adbec52421adbd0,0260b2003c386519fc9eadf2b5cf124dd8eea4c4e68d5e154050a9346ea98ce600,0362a74e399c39ed5593852a30147f2959b56bb827dfa3e60e464b02ccf87dc5e8,0261345b53de74a4d721ef877c255429961b7e43714171ac06168d7e08c542a8b8,02da72e8b46901a65d4374fe6315538d8f368557dda3a1dcf9ea903f3afe7314c8,0318c82dd0b53fd3a932d16e0ba9e278fcc937c582d5781be626ff16e201f72286,0297ccef1ef99f9d73dec9ad37476ddb232f1238aff877af19e72ba04493361009,02e502cfd5c3f972fe9a3e2a18827820638f96b6f347e54d63deb839011fd5765d,03e687710f0e3ebe81c1037074da939d409c0025f17eb86adb9427d28f0f7ae0e9,02c04d3a5274952acdbc76987f3184b346a483d43be40874624b29e3692c1df5af,02ed06e0f418b5b43a7ec01d1d7d27290fa15f75771cb69b642a51471c29c84acd,036d46073cbb9ffee90473f3da429abc8de7f8751199da44485682a989a4bebb24,02f5d1ff7c9029a80a4e36b9a5497027ef7f3e73384a4a94fbfe7c4e9164eec8bc,02e41deffd1b7cce11cde209a781adcffdabd1b91c0ba0375857a2bfd9302419f3,02d76625f7956a7fc505ab02556c23ee72d832f1bac391bcd2d3abce5710a13d06,0399eb0a5487515802dc14544cf10b3666623762fbed2ec38a3975716e2c29c232)))
- a9147fc63e13dc25e8a95a3cee3d9a714ac3afd96f1e87
wsh(multi(20,KzoAz5CanayRKex3fSLQ2BwJpN7U52gZvxMyk78nDMHuqrUxuSJy,KwGNz6YCCQtYvFzMtrC6D3tKTKdBBboMrLTsjr2NYVBwapCkn7Mr,KxogYhiNfwxuswvXV66eFyKcCpm7dZ7TqHVqujHAVUjJxyivxQ9X,L2BUNduTSyZwZjwNHynQTF14mv2uz2NRq5n5sYWTb4FkkmqgEE9f,L1okJGHGn1kFjdXHKxXjwVVtmCMR2JA5QsbKCSpSb7ReQjezKeoD,KxDCNSST75HFPaW5QKpzHtAyaCQC7p9Vo3FYfi2u4dXD1vgMiboK,L5edQjFtnkcf5UWURn6UuuoFrabgDQUHdheKCziwN42aLwS3KizU,KzF8UWFcEC7BYTq8Go1xVimMkDmyNYVmXV5PV7RuDicvAocoPB8i,L3nHUboKG2w4VSJ5jYZ5CBM97oeK6YuKvfZxrefdShECcjEYKMWZ,KyjHo36dWkYhimKmVVmQTq3gERv3pnqA4xFCpvUgbGDJad7eS8WE,KwsfyHKRUTZPQtysN7M3tZ4GXTnuov5XRgjdF2XCG8faAPmFruRF,KzCUbGhN9LJhdeFfL9zQgTJMjqxdBKEekRGZX24hXdgCNCijkkap,KzgpMBwwsDLwkaC5UrmBgCYaBD2WgZ7PBoGYXR8KT7gCA9UTN5a3,KyBXTPy4T7YG4q9tcAM3LkvfRpD1ybHMvcJ2ehaWXaSqeGUxEdkP,KzJDe9iwJRPtKP2F2AoN6zBgzS7uiuAwhWCfGdNeYJ3PC1HNJ8M8,L1xbHrxynrqLKkoYc4qtoQPx6uy5qYXR5ZDYVYBSRmCV5piU3JG9,KzRedjSwMggebB3VufhbzpYJnvHfHe9kPJSjCU5QpJdAW3NSZxYS,Kyjtp5858xL7JfeV4PNRCKy2t6XvgqNNepArGY9F9F1SSPqNEMs3,L2D4RLHPiHBidkHS8ftx11jJk1hGFELvxh8LoxNQheaGT58dKenW,KyLPZdwY4td98bKkXqEXTEBX3vwEYTQo1yyLjX2jKXA63GBpmSjv))
- 0020376bd8344b8b6ebe504ff85ef743eaa1aa9272178223bcb6887e9378efb341ac
sh(wsh(multi(20,KzoAz5CanayRKex3fSLQ2BwJpN7U52gZvxMyk78nDMHuqrUxuSJy,KwGNz6YCCQtYvFzMtrC6D3tKTKdBBboMrLTsjr2NYVBwapCkn7Mr,KxogYhiNfwxuswvXV66eFyKcCpm7dZ7TqHVqujHAVUjJxyivxQ9X,L2BUNduTSyZwZjwNHynQTF14mv2uz2NRq5n5sYWTb4FkkmqgEE9f,L1okJGHGn1kFjdXHKxXjwVVtmCMR2JA5QsbKCSpSb7ReQjezKeoD,KxDCNSST75HFPaW5QKpzHtAyaCQC7p9Vo3FYfi2u4dXD1vgMiboK,L5edQjFtnkcf5UWURn6UuuoFrabgDQUHdheKCziwN42aLwS3KizU,KzF8UWFcEC7BYTq8Go1xVimMkDmyNYVmXV5PV7RuDicvAocoPB8i,L3nHUboKG2w4VSJ5jYZ5CBM97oeK6YuKvfZxrefdShECcjEYKMWZ,KyjHo36dWkYhimKmVVmQTq3gERv3pnqA4xFCpvUgbGDJad7eS8WE,KwsfyHKRUTZPQtysN7M3tZ4GXTnuov5XRgjdF2XCG8faAPmFruRF,KzCUbGhN9LJhdeFfL9zQgTJMjqxdBKEekRGZX24hXdgCNCijkkap,KzgpMBwwsDLwkaC5UrmBgCYaBD2WgZ7PBoGYXR8KT7gCA9UTN5a3,KyBXTPy4T7YG4q9tcAM3LkvfRpD1ybHMvcJ2ehaWXaSqeGUxEdkP,KzJDe9iwJRPtKP2F2AoN6zBgzS7uiuAwhWCfGdNeYJ3PC1HNJ8M8,L1xbHrxynrqLKkoYc4qtoQPx6uy5qYXR5ZDYVYBSRmCV5piU3JG9,KzRedjSwMggebB3VufhbzpYJnvHfHe9kPJSjCU5QpJdAW3NSZxYS,Kyjtp5858xL7JfeV4PNRCKy2t6XvgqNNepArGY9F9F1SSPqNEMs3,L2D4RLHPiHBidkHS8ftx11jJk1hGFELvxh8LoxNQheaGT58dKenW,KyLPZdwY4td98bKkXqEXTEBX3vwEYTQo1yyLjX2jKXA63GBpmSjv)))
- a914c2c9c510e9d7f92fd6131e94803a8d34a8ef675e87

Invalid descriptors

More than 15 keys in P2SH multisig: sh(multi(16,03669b8afcec803a0d323e9a17f3ea8e68e8abe5a278020a929adbec52421adbd0,0260b2003c386519fc9eadf2b5cf124dd8eea4c4e68d5e154050a9346ea98ce600,0362a74e399c39ed5593852a30147f2959b56bb827dfa3e60e464b02ccf87dc5e8,0261345b53de74a4d721ef877c255429961b7e43714171ac06168d7e08c542a8b8,02da72e8b46901a65d4374fe6315538d8f368557dda3a1dcf9ea903f3afe7314c8,0318c82dd0b53fd3a932d16e0ba9e278fcc937c582d5781be626ff16e201f72286,0297ccef1ef99f9d73dec9ad37476ddb232f1238aff877af19e72ba04493361009,02e502cfd5c3f972fe9a3e2a18827820638f96b6f347e54d63deb839011fd5765d,03e687710f0e3ebe81c1037074da939d409c0025f17eb86adb9427d28f0f7ae0e9,02c04d3a5274952acdbc76987f3184b346a483d43be40874624b29e3692c1df5af,02ed06e0f418b5b43a7ec01d1d7d27290fa15f75771cb69b642a51471c29c84acd,036d46073cbb9ffee90473f3da429abc8de7f8751199da44485682a989a4bebb24,02f5d1ff7c9029a80a4e36b9a5497027ef7f3e73384a4a94fbfe7c4e9164eec8bc,02e41deffd1b7cce11cde209a781adcffdabd1b91c0ba0375857a2bfd9302419f3,02d76625f7956a7fc505ab02556c23ee72d832f1bac391bcd2d3abce5710a13d06,0399eb0a5487515802dc14544cf10b3666623762fbed2ec38a3975716e2c29c232))
Invalid threshold: multi(a,03a34b99f22c790c4e36b2b3c2c35a36db06226e41c692fc82b8b56ac1c540c5bd,04a34b99f22c790c4e36b2b3c2c35a36db06226e41c692fc82b8b56ac1c540c5bd5b8dec5235a0fa8722476c7709c02559e3aa73aa03918ba2d492eea75abea235)
Threshold of 0: multi(0,03a34b99f22c790c4e36b2b3c2c35a36db06226e41c692fc82b8b56ac1c540c5bd,04a34b99f22c790c4e36b2b3c2c35a36db06226e41c692fc82b8b56ac1c540c5bd5b8dec5235a0fa8722476c7709c02559e3aa73aa03918ba2d492eea75abea235)
Threshold larger than keys: multi(3,L4rK1yDtCWekvXuE6oXD9jCYfFNV2cWRpVuPLBcCU2z8TrisoyY1,5KYZdUEo39z3FPrtuX2QbbwGnNP5zTd7yyr2SC1j299sBCnWjss)

Backwards Compatibility

multi(), and sortedmulti() descriptors use the format and general operation specified in 380. As these are a wholly new descriptors, they are not compatible with any implementation. However the scripts produced are standard scripts so existing software are likely to be familiar with them.

Reference Implementation

multi(), and sortedmulti() descriptors have been implemented in Bitcoin Core since version 0.17.