From 5221220c6ceed705c3cb3d2d2d9b2eb13a6ac253 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Jack Grigg Date: Wed, 20 Dec 2017 18:14:40 +0000 Subject: [PATCH] Add release notes for incoming viewing keys --- doc/release-notes.md | 28 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 28 insertions(+) diff --git a/doc/release-notes.md b/doc/release-notes.md index a29094b51..21c31787b 100644 --- a/doc/release-notes.md +++ b/doc/release-notes.md @@ -4,3 +4,31 @@ release-notes at release time) Notable changes =============== +Incoming viewing keys +--------------------- + +Support for incoming viewing keys, as described in +[the Zcash protocol spec](https://github.com/zcash/zips/blob/master/protocol/protocol.pdf), +has been added to the wallet. + +Use the `z_exportviewingkey` RPC method to obtain the incoming viewing key for a +z-address in a node's wallet. For Sprout z-addresses, these always begin with +"ZiVK" (or "ZiVt" for testnet z-addresses). Use `z_importviewingkey` to import +these into another node. + +A node that possesses an incoming viewing key for a z-address can view all past +transactions received by that address, as well as all future transactions sent +to it, by using `z_listreceivedbyaddress`. They cannot spend any funds from the +address. This is similar to the behaviour of "watch-only" t-addresses. + +`z_gettotalbalance` now has an additional boolean parameter for including the +balance of "watch-only" addresses (both transparent and shielded), which is set +to `false` by default. `z_getbalance` has also been updated to work with +watch-only addresses. + +- **Caution:** for z-addresses, these balances will **not** be accurate if any + funds have been sent from the address. This is because incoming viewing keys + cannot detect spends, and so the "balance" is just the sum of all received + notes, including ones that have been spent. Some future use-cases for incoming + viewing keys will include synchronization data to keep their balances accurate + (e.g. [#2542](https://github.com/zcash/zcash/issues/2542)).