Bitcoin sites are moving to IPv6 and you should too

P2P or end-to-end Bitcoin transactions are coming back. Will you be ready? Then IPv6 is the way to go. To help spread the word about IPv6 and why it is needed, websites in the Bitcoin world are moving to IPv6 servers. So far, CoinGeek, nChain, and the Bitcoin Association have IPv6 addresses, and more in the BSV industry are likely to follow if they aren’t already.

• coingeek.com – 2606:4700::6813:ab32
• nchain.com – 2606:4700::6811:9f43
• bitcoinassociation.net – 2606:4700::6811:17eb

Why does Bitcoin need IPv6? Or rather, why does IPv6 need Bitcoin? Bitcoin is, after all, “a peer-to-peer electronic cash system.” Support for direct transactions between IP addresses was written into Bitcoin’s original code, and while it worked, there were some security vulnerabilities when communicating over IPv4.

IPv4 is the older (but currently still the majority) Internet protocol. In recent years, more of the global network has begun to migrate to IPv6, which has 340 trillion trillion trillion (not a typo) unique addresses, and built-in privacy/security enhancements, such as cryptographically generated addresses (CGA).

With IPv6, Bitcoin can realize its full potential with direct, secure and fast transactions between hundreds of billions of users and devices worldwide. Bitcoin and IPv6 could create a whole new type of digital economy. Micro- and nano-payments can be automated between machines and small IoT devices. The Internet may finally get its long-awaited payment layer and the means to manage it.

Check if you use IPv6 and how you set it up

IPv6 addresses look different than IPv4 addresses. Instead of four numbers separated by periods, IPv6 typically has eight groups of four hexadecimal characters, separated by colons. If you see a double colon, it is shorthand for groups of only zeros (eg: 0000:0000 becomes ::). All leading zeros in a group can be omitted.

You can verify if a website is running on IPv6 by installing an extension called “IPvFoo” in Chrome and Chromium-based browsers. A small widget will show whether you are viewing the site on IPv4 or the shiny new version 6.

There’s one problem, though: even if a website has an IPv6 address, you might still be looking at the IPv4 version. There is no difference (to the user) in how the site works, and you may be wondering why you can’t see any sites running on IPv6.

The reason is probably this: you are still on an IPv4 network. This is where it gets a bit tricky because to change it, you need to configure your home router (or wifi router) settings.

If you don’t know how to do it, it might be best to leave it alone for now or learn. If you do, it’s relatively easy (although it will be different for each router). Most modern router configurations will have a section to set up IPv6 network access. What you enter in the fields will depend on your ISP. Either you need to chat with your ISP’s support team or they have a page online to guide you.

Popular brands such as Netgear and TP-Link have information pages on router/wifi configuration and how to configure them for IPv6. Here are some links, and if your brand isn’t there, you can still get a general idea of ​​how it’s done and what’s required:

It’s also possible that your ISP or mobile provider doesn’t offer IPv6 access yet, although it’s becoming more common for them to have it as an option. Unfortunately, if not, it’s a sign that your ISP is not forward-thinking. Some ISPs actually require IPv6 configuration at setup, so you may already have it.

Bitcoin and IPv6: improving the Internet

Dragging the entire Internet, along with all its users and services, into the world of IPv6 has been a slow process. After all, IPv6 has been around since before the World Wide Web, and even tutorials from over a decade ago tell us that IPv4 probably still has a few years left. That’s mainly because of the work network administrators have to do to reconfigure everything, as well as the need to replace outdated hardware.

Bitcoin P2P transactions should still be able to use IPv4, so legacy networks aren’t left behind – as long as you have a static IPv4 address without a NAT or CGN router handling your traffic. But not everyone is. For ordinary users, unique IPv4 addresses are quite rare these days. The transactions must also rely on IPv4’s security additions such as DNSSEC and TLS/SSL certificates to generate addresses. While this works, IPv6’s built-in secure key generation is far better.

Direct transactions between IP addresses is another example of how Bitcoin was years ahead of its time, even in 2008. Although migrating to a better network has been a slow process, it is moving quickly. It’s good to have some knowledge of how this works and why it’s better, so take these steps to migrate yourself to IPv6 as soon as you can.

Watch: Dr. Craig Wright’s keynote speech at the BSV Global Blockchain Convention: A Better Internet with IPv6 and BSV Blockchain

New to Bitcoin? Check out CoinGeeks Bitcoin for beginners section, the ultimate resource guide for learning more about Bitcoin – originally envisioned by Satoshi Nakamoto – and blockchain.