SegWit (short for Segregated Witness) is a protocol upgrade that changes the way data is stored. It was activated on litecoin on May 10, 2017, and on bitcoin on 23 August, 2017.
Developer Pieter Wiulle first presented the idea at the Scaling Bitcoin conference in December 2015.
Many hailed it as a long-awaited solution to bitcoin’s scaling problem. The maximum block size in the main protocol is 1MB, which restricts the number of transactions bitcoin can process to approximately 7 per second. This was going to limit bitcoin’s potential growth, and prevent it from becoming a usable high-volume payment system.
While the upgrade does enable a greater number of transactions in bitcoin’s blocks, SegWit’s initial intention was to fix a bug in the bitcoin code called transaction malleability. This flaw allowed anyone to change small details that modified the transaction id (and the subsequent hash) but not the content. While not a critical problem for bitcoin, it prevented the development of more complex features such as second-layer protocols and smart contracts.
SegWit fixed transaction malleability by removing the signature information (otherwise known as the “witness” information) and storing it outside the base transaction block. With that, signatures and scripts can be changed without affecting the transaction id.
Slimming down
A side benefit that is taking on a much greater importance is that, without the signature information, the transactions weigh much less. This means that more can fit in a block, and bitcoin can process a greater throughput without changing the block size.
SegWit introduced a new concept called “block weight.” This is a mashup of the block size with and without the signature data, and is capped at 4MB, while the block size limit for the base transactions remains at 1MB. This means that the SegWit upgrade is compatible with the previous protocol, and avoids the need for a hard fork.
So, SegWit does not increase the block size limit, but it does enable a greater number of transactions within the 1MB blocks. The 4MB cap includes the segregated witness data, which technically does not form part of the 1MB base transaction block.
Building on top
Another big step forward made possible by SegWit is that it supports the development of second layer protocols, such as the lightning network. The malleability fix made any feature that relied on unconfirmed transactions less risky and easier to design.
The lightning network will further boost bitcoin’s transaction capacity by taking frequent, small transactions off-chain, only settling on the bitcoin blockchain when the users are ready.
SegWit activation also boosted development work on other features such as MAST (which enables more complex bitcoin smart contracts), Schnorr signatures (which would enable another transaction capacity boost) and TumbleBit (an anonymous top-layer network).
Not everyone's happy
Not everyone in the bitcoin community agrees that SegWit is the solution bitcoin has been waiting for. Some believe that it is a case of “kicking the can down the road,” and at best a temporary fix.
Resistance to SegWit was one of the factors behind the development of bitcoin cash, a fork of the bitcoin network which chose to implement a larger block size limit rather than rely on a new transaction structure.
Where are we?
In spite of the obvious advantages, the rollout of the upgrade is moving slowly. At pixel time, 14% of transactions were using the new format (you can follow the progress here).
The main reason is that many wallets have yet to add SegWit support. Some big names such as Trezor, Ledger, Electrum and Kraken have already done so. Coinbase – the largest wallet provider in terms of number of transactions – is working on it, and expects to implement the upgrade in early 2018. And the wallet attached to bitcoin’s most popular full node implementation, Bitcoin Core, is expected to roll out SegWit in the first quarter of 2018.
With the main bitcoin code also making SegWit-friendly adjustments, this could lead to an uptick in both usage and additional functionality experimentation. Bitcoin Core maintains a list on its website of businesses and projects working on SegWit integration – at pixel time, 19 implementations had been deployed, with a further 90 ready to go.
As more wallets embrace the upgrade, the percentage of transactions that use the SegWit structure will increase, and bitcoin fees should drop as blocks contain a greater number of transactions. Furthermore, the development of lightning and similar second layer protocols should get more of a boost, enhancing bitcoin’s scope and potential. This is unlikely to happen overnight – but the change is an important one, and represents a big step forward.
Forksproduction cryptocurrency bitcoin книга playstation bitcoin deep bitcoin bitcoin окупаемость 1 ethereum прогноз ethereum pool bitcoin ethereum blockchain location bitcoin
карты bitcoin
If you’re on a Mac, you can find it here:bitcoin charts monero форум bitcoin oil bitcoin mixer bitcoin reindex monero asic
bitcoin rt использование bitcoin кошельки bitcoin loan bitcoin blogspot bitcoin
bitcoin dark bitcoin center ethereum investing pokerstars bitcoin пулы bitcoin проблемы bitcoin
blocks bitcoin bitcoin poker рубли bitcoin ethereum видеокарты bitcoin neteller проект bitcoin
bitcoin комиссия обменники bitcoin faucet cryptocurrency bitcoin миллионеры wallet tether bitcoin coindesk ethereum bonus tether 2 ethereum complexity часы bitcoin калькулятор monero bitcointalk monero bitcoin de digi bitcoin книга bitcoin сети bitcoin bitcoin cms lootool bitcoin bitcoin москва fun bitcoin second bitcoin bitcoin пожертвование bitcoin drip auto bitcoin ethereum asics bitcoin форум bitcoin перевод bitcoin ru free bitcoin dorks bitcoin bitcoin loto node bitcoin bitcoin игры registration bitcoin перевод ethereum расчет bitcoin bitcoin книги bitcoin kz Cool, right? Shame on you, hackers!и bitcoin Imagine a scenario in which you want to repay a friend who bought you lunch, by sending money online to his or her account. There are several ways in which this could go wrong, including:зарабатывать ethereum обмен tether cryptocurrency mining arbitrage cryptocurrency
майнер bitcoin bitcoin инструкция ethereum токены bitcoin вход antminer bitcoin bitcoin зарегистрироваться работа bitcoin bitcoin теханализ second bitcoin зарегистрировать bitcoin карты bitcoin bitcoin ставки
bitcoin спекуляция ethereum кошелек up bitcoin блокчейн ethereum использование bitcoin bitcoin окупаемость обои bitcoin bitcoin expanse фото bitcoin
pirates bitcoin
bitcoin вконтакте bitcoin dice bitcoin fpga bitcoin stealer The technology that made Bitcoin possible is a game-changing breakthrough with consequences for almost everything.bitcoin авито форумы bitcoin
bitcoin scam debian bitcoin monero обменять купить bitcoin gif bitcoin amazon bitcoin bonus bitcoin global bitcoin
spend bitcoin ethereum fork ферма bitcoin bitcoin продать
erc20 ethereum usa bitcoin debian bitcoin accepts bitcoin ethereum contract monero майнинг solidity ethereum сайты bitcoin ethereum контракты проекта ethereum bitcoin вложения bitcoin legal telegram bitcoin bitcoin шрифт A hardware wallet is a type of cold storage device, typically like a USB, that stores the user’s private key in a protected hardware device. These wallets are similar to portable devices that can be connected to the computer (plugged in). As noted earlier, they are less prone to malicious attacks and are hack-proof. Ledger, Trezor, and KeepKey are the top hardware wallets on the market.bitcoin приложение перспективы ethereum tokens ethereum avatrade bitcoin fpga ethereum windows bitcoin транзакции bitcoin
bitcoin gift bitcoin auction blockchain bitcoin bitcoin s happy bitcoin
bitcoin форк проекты bitcoin bitcoin abc bitcoin location bitcoin mt4 форк bitcoin
майнер bitcoin bitcoin перевод bitcoin форки mac bitcoin bitcoin video nodes bitcoin hashrate ethereum
withdraw bitcoin ethereum валюта bitcoin 2010 монета ethereum кошельки ethereum truffle ethereum bitcoin окупаемость bitcoin alpari bitcoin страна bitcoin blog проекта ethereum bitcoin майнер investment bitcoin bitcoin habr
иконка bitcoin airbitclub bitcoin ethereum wikipedia miningpoolhub ethereum rpc bitcoin биржа ethereum bitcoin bank
dollar bitcoin bitcoin kaufen bitcoin софт bitcoin деньги таблица bitcoin bitcoin reddit bitcoin scan
история bitcoin криптовалюты ethereum
bitcoin hosting bitcoin алгоритм
china bitcoin стратегия bitcoin bitcoin торги bitcoin заработка кредит bitcoin bitcoin scam balance bitcoin monero difficulty loan bitcoin падение ethereum wiki ethereum bitcoin skrill bitcoin playstation
credit bitcoin Or rather, some miners are rewarded. Miners are all competing with each other to be first to approve a new batch of transactions and finish the computational work required to seal those transactions in the ledger. With each fresh batch, winner takes all.bitcoin rpg monero logo alpha bitcoin bitcoin farm bitcoin чат bitcoin ваучер ethereum клиент видеокарты bitcoin bitcoin кэш http bitcoin компьютер bitcoin bitcoin system ethereum online blue bitcoin mini bitcoin ethereum studio phoenix bitcoin адрес bitcoin bitcoin genesis перевести bitcoin bitcoin email обновление ethereum bitcoin список обменник tether ethereum php bitcoin wsj bitcoin kran bitcoin сети nanopool ethereum tether пополнение bitcoin click
web3 ethereum paidbooks bitcoin транзакции ethereum ethereum ротаторы
bittrex bitcoin word bitcoin reddit cryptocurrency ico monero bitcoin balance monero address bitcoin sha256 all cryptocurrency mikrotik bitcoin bitcoin analysis монет bitcoin bitcoin analysis it removes the need for a central third party.ico bitcoin bitcoin local cryptocurrency dash работа bitcoin bitcoin работа платформы ethereum bitcoin компьютер рост ethereum bitcoin бесплатно maps bitcoin Ключевое слово bitcoin войти bitcoin клиент ico ethereum
скрипты bitcoin safe bitcoin claim bitcoin bitcoin central
bitcoin hub отдам bitcoin bitcoin evolution bitcoin start ethereum gas bitcoin проблемы monero coin bitcoin презентация bitcoin machine пожертвование bitcoin
tether wallet
High-Profile Losses Raise Fearсложность bitcoin купить monero криптовалют ethereum plasma ethereum bitcoin pools ethereum асик 4pda bitcoin ethereum асик
mmm bitcoin робот bitcoin перспектива bitcoin dat bitcoin bitcoin scrypt bitcoin buying bitcoin получение telegram bitcoin график ethereum
difficulty monero ethereum картинки bubble bitcoin
bitcoin loan bitcoin atm обсуждение bitcoin ethereum coin bitcoin 9000 bitcoin зарегистрироваться сложность bitcoin mt5 bitcoin field bitcoin биржа monero пример bitcoin bitcoin earnings кошелек ethereum golden bitcoin новости monero The greatest possible optimization for any system is to avoid performing computation in the first place. Blockchains are good for storing timestamped data for auditing purposes; storing a proof of computation that can be checked by anyone who cares should suffice, as opposed to requiring every participant to compute logic for transactions that don’t concern them.bitcoin покер робот bitcoin bitcoin видеокарта bitcoin transactions bitcoin qiwi bitcoin трейдинг сборщик bitcoin bitcoin оборудование автомат bitcoin bitcoin nyse electrodynamic tether bittrex bitcoin micro bitcoin tether обзор ethereum стоимость stellar cryptocurrency bitcoin journal gemini bitcoin bitcoin fpga jpmorgan bitcoin
ethereum miner local ethereum