GlossaryAdvanced
Covenant (Bitcoin Script)
A proposed Bitcoin scripting capability that would let a transaction restrict how the funds it creates can be spent in the future.
A covenant, in the Bitcoin scripting context, refers to a proposed capability that would let a transaction restrict how the funds it creates can be spent in the future — for example, enforcing that an output can only be spent back to a specific address, or only after a specific condition is met.
Bitcoin's scripting language is deliberately limited (see Kaavon's "Bitcoin Script Explained" guide) and doesn't natively support general covenants today; various covenant proposals remain an actively discussed area of potential future Bitcoin development, not a currently deployed feature.
Examples
- A covenant-enabled transaction could in principle restrict its own future spending conditions in ways Bitcoin's current scripting language doesn't natively support.
- Covenants remain a proposed, actively debated area of Bitcoin's possible future development, not a feature already live on the network today.