Skip to content

Commit 295849a

Browse files
committed
doc: update/clarify/de-emphasize I2P transient address section
1 parent dffa319 commit 295849a

File tree

1 file changed

+23
-22
lines changed

1 file changed

+23
-22
lines changed

doc/i2p.md

Lines changed: 23 additions & 22 deletions
Original file line numberDiff line numberDiff line change
@@ -45,27 +45,6 @@ In a typical situation, this suffices:
4545
bitcoind -i2psam=127.0.0.1:7656
4646
```
4747

48-
The first time Bitcoin Core connects to the I2P router, if
49-
`-i2pacceptincoming=1`, then it will automatically generate a persistent I2P
50-
address and its corresponding private key. The private key will be saved in a
51-
file named `i2p_private_key` in the Bitcoin Core data directory. The persistent
52-
I2P address is used for accepting incoming connections and for making outgoing
53-
connections if `-i2pacceptincoming=1`. If `-i2pacceptincoming=0` then only
54-
outbound I2P connections are made and a different transient I2P address is used
55-
for each connection to improve privacy.
56-
57-
## Persistent vs transient I2P addresses
58-
59-
In I2P connections, the connection receiver sees the I2P address of the
60-
connection initiator. This is unlike the Tor network where the recipient does
61-
not know who is connecting to them and can't tell if two connections are from
62-
the same peer or not.
63-
64-
If an I2P node is not accepting incoming connections, then Bitcoin Core uses
65-
random, one-time, transient I2P addresses for itself for outbound connections
66-
to make it harder to discriminate, fingerprint or analyze it based on its I2P
67-
address.
68-
6948
## Additional configuration options related to I2P
7049

7150
```
@@ -98,7 +77,29 @@ In general, a node can be run with both onion and I2P hidden services (or
9877
any/all of IPv4/IPv6/onion/I2P/CJDNS), which can provide a potential fallback if
9978
one of the networks has issues.
10079

101-
## I2P-related information in Bitcoin Core
80+
## Persistent vs transient I2P addresses
81+
82+
The first time Bitcoin Core connects to the I2P router, it automatically
83+
generates a persistent I2P address and its corresponding private key by default
84+
or if `-i2pacceptincoming=1` is set. The private key is saved in a file named
85+
`i2p_private_key` in the Bitcoin Core data directory. The persistent I2P
86+
address is used for making outbound connections and accepting inbound
87+
connections.
88+
89+
In the I2P network, the receiver of an inbound connection sees the address of
90+
the initiator. This is unlike the Tor network, where the recipient does not
91+
know who is connecting to it.
92+
93+
If your node is configured by setting `-i2pacceptincoming=0` to not accept
94+
inbound I2P connections, then it will use a random transient I2P address for
95+
itself on each outbound connection to make it harder to discriminate,
96+
fingerprint or analyze it based on its I2P address.
97+
98+
I2P addresses are designed to be long-lived. Waiting for tunnels to be built
99+
for every peer connection adds delay to connection setup time. Therefore, I2P
100+
listening should only be turned off if really needed.
101+
102+
## Fetching I2P-related information from Bitcoin Core
102103

103104
There are several ways to see your I2P address in Bitcoin Core if accepting
104105
incoming I2P connections (`-i2pacceptincoming`):

0 commit comments

Comments
 (0)