Bitcoin wallet VS client

The P2P cryptocurrency Bitcoin has been a hot topic in the tech world this year, something that hasn’t gone unnoticed by the BitTorrent community.

Dozens of prominent sites and trackers, including The Pirate Bay, have added support for Bitcoin donations in recent months. Perhaps more excitingly, several BitTorrent developers are exploring options to integrate the currency more closely into BitTorrent software.

The people behind FrostWire are working hard to add Bitcoin address support to torrent meta-data, so users can send donations to content creators and tracker owners, directly from the client.

“The idea is to let users enter an optional Bitcoin address and suggested donation amount along with the torrent they’re about to create on FrostWire, ” FrostWire‘s Angel Leon tells TorrentFreak.

“When FrostWire encounters a .torrent with the Bitcoin address field set, FrostWire will be able to display a Bitcoin icon on the transfer row in the GUI. When clicked, FrostWire could try to open a Bitcoin client, or take the user to a website which will enable them to copy the address, or scan a QR code, ” Leon adds.

According to the FrostWire team this Bitcoin integration will encourage content creators to share, and let the fans show some love and support to their favorite artists. In addition to showing donation buttons in BitTorrent clients, torrent sites can also show this information in their search results.

The proposal will enable developers to integrate Bitcoin even further, making it possible for clients to talk to the Bitcoin network and come up with new business models for content creators.

FrostWire, for example, plans to add a Bitcoin wallet to their client so users can easily send donations to tracker operators or content creators.

“Our implementation plan includes adding a simplified Bitcoin wallet to FrostWire, users can send Bitcoins to their FrostWire Bitcoin wallet which can then be used to support their favorite content creators, ” Leon says.