CryptoURANUS Economics: QR-Code: Cryptocurrency

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Wednesday, July 24, 2019

QR-Code: Cryptocurrency

QR code


A QR code, or Quick Response Code, is a two-dimensional machine-readable barcode that can be used to represent an address. The use of a QR code makes it easy to scan an address, rather than having to type or copy it.

Why to use a QR code

When using Bitcoin, and alt.coin cryptocurrencies for point-of-sale or face-to-face transaction solidifies the problem how to communicate the receiving address the person paying can use. A Bitcoin address is between 27 and 34 characters long. This takes time to type manually, and it is easy to make a mistake.

On the other hand, a QR code can quickly and reliably amount of data in a machine-readable manner.

The QR code can (potentially) contain other information as well, such as an amount and a message.
With a mobile phone, a convenient way to pass that data is for the payment recipient (e.g., a merchant) to display a QR code with the Bitcoin address for the transaction, and then for the person paying to scan that code to obtain the address.

It is also possible to print out the QR code containing the user's receiving address and hand it to the sender, who can use it for repeated or regular payments.

How does a QR code work

As mentioned above, a QR code is a two-dimensional barcode that contains machine-readable information in a convenient manner. It was first designed in 1994 for the automotive industry in Japan and has since expanded to a wide range of applications. Where a traditional barcode presents a string of information as a one-dimensional line of black and white bars, a two-dimensional barcode packs significantly more information into a grid of black and white squares.
It contains the following information:
  1. Quiet zone: The empty white border is making it possible to identify the code among other printed information.
  2. Finder patterns: Larger black and white squares in three of the corners. They differentiate QR codes from other types of barcodes and make the orientation of the code clear.
  3. Alignment pattern: Ensures the code can be deciphered even if the code is distorted.
  4. Timing pattern: Makes it easy to identify the individual data cells within a QR code and is especially useful when the code is damaged or distorted.
  5. Version information: Identifies the specific standard of the QR code.
  6. Data cells: Contain some of the actual data in the code.

To understand how transactions work on basic technical level, check blog post Types of Bitcoin transactions: Part I, Part 2.

More detailed description can be found in Bitcoin Wiki or in Bitcoin.org Developer guide.
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