Electrum Plugin with Support for Multiple Address Scripts

[Forsyth Jones]

As we know, it's possible to create third-party plugins for the Electrum wallet, adding additional functionality to the software.

Is it possible to create and integrate a plugin that can switch address script types (BIP44, BIP49, BIP84)?

Without needing to:
- Create a new keystore and re-enter the same recovery seed;
- Without having to enter the password;
- If possible, all scripts should work in a multi-alternative way (as in Bitcoin Core).

Do you understand what I mean? Currently, it's a pain in Electrum to access another address script, having to go through the entire wallet restoration process just to change the address. While wallets like Bitcoin Core offer this functionality simultaneously (in addition to receiving funds to any address and sending funds from any script).

It would be ideal if this plugin were made available as open source and also worked with the hardware wallets integrated with Electrum.

@TryNinja, what do you think?

[pooya87]

I think you should technically be able to use the publicly available functions to fetch the wallet's master key and derive any address type at any derivation path you want but I don't think it is possible to make it part of the wallet file itself. Because that would require modifying the wallet file (something that a plugin should not do) and that's something that would corrupt the wallet because it is designed to have a single "type" that the code uses to derive child keys. To change this last part you'd need to change the code.

[Forsyth Jones]

I think you should technically be able to use the publicly available functions to fetch the wallet's master key and derive any address type at any derivation path you want but I don't think it is possible to make it part of the wallet file itself. Because that would require modifying the wallet file (something that a plugin should not do) and that's something that would corrupt the wallet because it is designed to have a single "type" that the code uses to derive child keys. To change this last part you'd need to change the code.

So that's it. Unfortunately, the Electrum developers will never add such functionality, as they believe address types should be separate. I'll just keep using Bitcoin Core, even though I need to have the entire Bitcoin network synchronized.

[nc50lc]

Unfortunately, the Electrum developers will never add such functionality, as they believe address types should be separate.

Is there any reference that can back-up this claim?
Perhaps it's related to Electrum's existing seed phrase version number which indicates which script type the wallet should be.
Implementing a multi-script wallet will make that feature obsolete. But that doesn't mean it's not open for update.

Even one of the main developers has this issue opened:
Implement advanced wallet option: multiple xpubs, mixed script types, and similar (maybe with output script descriptors) #6016