reducing UTXO growth by having all wallets implement spend all option

[Spaceman_Spiff]

I had a brief thought about UTXO growth and decided to post it here.  If this is the millionth time this is mentioned, or irrelevant/incorrect, I will delete the topic again.

Anyways, the idea is super simple.  Some wallets have a button that automatically calculates the max amount you can send from the wallet (deduces the fee ). I think this is a very useful function that should be implemented by all wallet software (I haven't checked a lot of different software but I don't think this is universally present).  Doing so will reduce the UTXO growth a bit by reducing accumulation of dust wallets that are thrown away or never looked at again (when somebody moves to other wallets/software).  Seems like very low-hanging fruit.

[danda]

OP, are you volunteering to compile a list?   :-)

Copay has a send-all feature now, I'm pretty sure.  dunno about others.

[amaclin]

Doing so will reduce the UTXO growth a bit by reducing accumulation of dust wallets

1) Who cares about dust?
2) This reduces anonymity

[Spaceman_Spiff]

Doing so will reduce the UTXO growth a bit by reducing accumulation of dust wallets

1) Who cares about dust?
2) This reduces anonymity

1) You should if you care about making bitcoin as lean and efficient as possible
2) Why would it reduce anonymity? I am not talking about combining outputs that otherwise wouldn't be combined, I am talking about not leaving behind a few satoshis when you move out of a wallet

[amaclin]

1) You should if you care about making bitcoin as lean and efficient as possible

Wrong. I shouldn't. Do not speak for anyone. I do not "earn" by hodling.

2) Why would it reduce anonymity? I am not talking about combining outputs that otherwise wouldn't be combined, I am talking about not leaving behind a few satoshis when you move out of a wallet

Why should I spend even a 0.00001% of my live thinking about a values of $0.0001?

[Spaceman_Spiff]

1) You should if you care about making bitcoin as lean and efficient as possible

Wrong. I shouldn't. Do not speak for anyone. I do not "earn" by hodling.

Please learn to read.

2) Why would it reduce anonymity? I am not talking about combining outputs that otherwise wouldn't be combined, I am talking about not leaving behind a few satoshis when you move out of a wallet

Why should I spend even a 0.00001% of my live thinking about a values of $0.0001?

You are missing the point. It is not about the value of the dust. It is about the size of the UTXO that these unspent outputs increase. And no, you don't need to spend time thinking about it, you are free to do as you want.  Does make me wonder why you spend time posting on this topic since you value your time so much? My topic was addressed to people who want to make bitcoin a (slightly) more efficient system.

[amaclin]

My topic was addressed to people who want to make bitcoin a (slightly) more efficient system.

I am tired to post this link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons
Nobody wants to make bitcoin "more efficient system". Everyone looks for a profit for himself. Point. No exceptions.

[merelcoin]

I think it would be a nice feature without even considering the UTXO growth.
It happens quite often that i'd like to empty out a wallet, and now i have to calculate how much i can send by taking the total ammount, calculating an appropriate fee and deducting the two. I think it would be handy to have such a feature in a wallet.

That being said, i do think bitcoin is about freedom. It's up to the wallet developers to either introduce such a feature or not... It's up to the user to use a certain wallet, or a different one

[Domrada]

+1 I would use this feature. I care about bitcoin hygiene and hygiene of the UTXO set.

[Spaceman_Spiff]

My topic was addressed to people who want to make bitcoin a (slightly) more efficient system.

I am tired to post this link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons
Nobody wants to make bitcoin "more efficient system". Everyone looks for a profit for himself. Point. No exceptions.

I know about tragedy of the Commons. It doesn't apply here because leaving dust in old wallets does not provide any advantage to a user.  Yes people mostly act in their own self-interest, but they are capable of making agreements when it is mutually beneficial.  Last time I replied to you by the way, go waste someone else's time.

[Spaceman_Spiff]

I think it would be a nice feature without even considering the UTXO growth.
It happens quite often that i'd like to empty out a wallet, and now i have to calculate how much i can send by taking the total ammount, calculating an appropriate fee and deducting the two. I think it would be handy to have such a feature in a wallet.

That being said, i do think bitcoin is about freedom. It's up to the wallet developers to either introduce such a feature or not... It's up to the user to use a certain wallet, or a different one

Exactly, I have been in this situation several times.  Of course every wallet developer is free to do as he pleases, I am just trying to raise awareness that besides being a convenient feature, it improves bitcoin hygiene.  And this has got to be the simplest feature ever to code  . Just need to provide a bit of space in the UI .  Of course making the calculation yourself isn't super hard, but a slight increase in convenience is important for user experience (and changes behavior).

[Syke]

It doesn't apply here because leaving dust in old wallets does not provide any advantage to a user.

Sure it does. By leaving it in place you preserve any potential anonymity. By always combining all your outputs you are linking addresses that don't need to be linked.

[Spaceman_Spiff]

It doesn't apply here because leaving dust in old wallets does not provide any advantage to a user.

Sure it does. By leaving it in place you preserve any potential anonymity. By always combining all your outputs you are linking addresses that don't need to be linked.

Who says you always need to combine your outputs, I am talking about the situation where you want to cash out all of your outputs of a certain wallet anyway.  Leaving a few satoshis behind in that situation doesn't accomplish anything.

[belcher]

Electrum can do this by you typing ! into the amount field.

Not many people know about it though, maybe a button or help box would be useful.