def read_user_config(path: Optional[str]) -> Dict[str, Any]:
    """Parse and store the user config settings in electrum.conf into user_config[]."""
    if not path:
        return {}
    config_path = os.path.join(path, "config")
    if not os.path.exists(config_path):
        return {}
    try:
        with open(config_path, "r", encoding='utf-8') as f:
            data = f.read()
        result = json.loads(data)
        assert isinstance(result, dict), "config file is not a dict"
    except Exception as e:
        raise ValueError(f"Invalid config file at {config_path}: {str(e)}")
    return result
Parse and store the user config settings in electrum.conf into user_config[].
electrum/simple_config.py