When a Counterparty message is embedded in opreturn, it is encoded with ARC4.
opreturn = arc4(first input coin, message)
I believe ARC4 was introduced in 2014 or '15 to obfuscate transactions. This to make it harder for mining pools (Eligius) to censor Counterparty. Since this is hardly a concern anymore, maybe we should consider removing ARC4? (Or at least make it optional; at parsing the node would look for the CNTRPRTY prefix in both encoded and raw opreturn.)
Without ARC4 encoding it will be easier for Bitcoin explorers to detect Counterparty transaction., slightly easier for devs, and dispensers can be bought from general Bitcoin wallets.
When a Counterparty message is embedded in opreturn, it is encoded with ARC4.
opreturn = arc4(first input coin, message)I believe ARC4 was introduced in 2014 or '15 to obfuscate transactions. This to make it harder for mining pools (Eligius) to censor Counterparty. Since this is hardly a concern anymore, maybe we should consider removing ARC4? (Or at least make it optional; at parsing the node would look for the CNTRPRTY prefix in both encoded and raw opreturn.)
Without ARC4 encoding it will be easier for Bitcoin explorers to detect Counterparty transaction., slightly easier for devs, and dispensers can be bought from general Bitcoin wallets.