[bitcoindev] Proposal: Self-Verifiable Transaction Broadcast Log for Enhanced User Transparency

[bitcoindev] Proposal: Self-Verifiable Transaction Broadcast Log for Enhanced User Transparency

[wang wang]

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Dear Bitcoin developers,

I’d like to propose a modest but meaningful improvement to Bitcoin node 
software that addresses a real-world user issue involving orphaned or 
dropped transactions: a local broadcast log for transactions that a node 
has accepted and attempted to propagate.

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**Background**

There is currently no robust way for users to prove or verify that a 
transaction was ever seen, accepted, or propagated by the Bitcoin network — 
especially in cases where:

- the transaction is not mined,
- it gets dropped from the mempool (e.g. due to eviction),
- or the transaction becomes part of a stale/orphaned block.

In such cases, users who possess the private key for an address might find 
no trace of their transaction on-chain or in the mempool — effectively 
losing any record that it was ever broadcast. This can result in perceived 
"disappearance" or "freezing" of funds, and is especially problematic for 
privacy-focused or air-gapped users who do not maintain full mempool logs.

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**Proposal**

I propose a new opt-in mechanism called the *Self-Verifiable Transaction 
Broadcast Log*. When enabled, this feature would:

- Record any transaction that a node accepts for broadcast (via P2P or 
RPC), along with a timestamp and source;
- Optionally allow filtering by address or wallet;
- Provide a new RPC call (e.g., `getbroadcastedtxs`) to retrieve this 
information;
- Help users and wallets verify that a transaction existed — even if it was 
later dropped, reorganized, or not confirmed.

This does not change any consensus behavior, and the log can be locally 
managed and purged by the user. It is purely a UX and auditability 
improvement, similar in spirit to how `debug.log` can assist with debugging 
but more structured and purpose-built.

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**Motivation and Urgency**

This proposal stems from a real personal experience: having a valid signed 
transaction broadcast via a node, but later being unable to locate it 
anywhere — not in the mempool, not in the blockchain, and not recoverable 
from most block explorers. I still hold the private key, yet I cannot prove 
(to myself or anyone else) that the transaction ever existed.

This opens the door to transaction censorship or selective orphaning by 
powerful actors (e.g. mining pools or state actors), without leaving 
user-verifiable traces.

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**Initial BIP Draft**

I’ve drafted a preliminary BIP here:
> [GitHub Gist / Link to PR - will insert final link here]

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**Request for Feedback**

Before submitting the BIP as a formal PR or implementation patch, I’d like 
to ask for early feedback from the community on the following:

- Would such a feature add meaningful user transparency and auditability?
- Are there concerns about wallet behavior, privacy, or implementation 
complexity?
- Should logs be stored in-memory or disk by default?
- Would wallet software (like Core, Specter, Sparrow) benefit from exposing 
this to users?

I look forward to hearing your thoughts and criticisms. If there's 
interest, I will follow up with a reference implementation for Bitcoin Core 
(v25+ compatible).

Warm regards,  
liang  

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