BIP: Chain Code Delegation for Private Collaborative Custody

[jurvis]

We propose a new BIP for Chain Code Delegation, a collaborative custody technique that involves privileged participants (delegatee) withholding BIP32 chain codes at key setup time from a delegator, and sharing only enough information for non‑privileged participants to provide their signature.

For non-blinded signing, the delegatee derives a per‑spend scalar tweak t from the (withheld) chain code, the delegator computes the child key (x+t, P+tG), and produces a standard signature over the transaction’s sighash. For blind signing, the nonce and challenge are blinded so the delegator returns a blind Schnorr signature that the counterparty unblinds; thanks to Schnorr’s linearity, the same tweak is incorporated without revealing the final message or linkable details (optionally with predicate proofs for policy).

This enables participants like collaborative custodians to co‑sign when needed, while avoiding the broad visibility that comes with holding an xpub.

More background and discussions can be found: https://delvingbitcoin.org/t/chain-code-delegation-private-access-control-for-bitcoin-keys/1837.

This is joint work with @jesseposner. Feedback appreciated!