Could this one be the last?
As we speak a new signaling period for SegWit has just started. So far 100% of the blocks have indicated that miners are in support of SegWit.
If at least 95% of blocks during this 2,016 block period signal that they are in support for the change, it will lock in on the Bitcoin network.
A lock-in would mean that the new code would be activated.
What is SegWit?
I am sure you have heard the term SegWit thrown around quite a bit recently, but what exactly is SegWit?
Broken down, SegWit literally means segregate and witnesses. Segregate means to separate and Witnesses are the signatures to transactions, so basically SegWit means to separate transaction signatures.
It was originally formulated by Dr. Pieter Wuille in 2015.
According to Investopedia, SegWit can be defined as follows:
"The process by which the block size limit on a blockchain is increased by removing signature data from Bitcoin transactions. When certain parts of a transaction are removed, this frees up space or capacity to add more transactions to the chain."
I am sure you can already guess why that might be important to Bitcoin, as the block size limit has been at the heart of the scaling debate ever since it first came up in 2014.
How much will it help?
In a given transaction the digital signature accounts for 65% of the space. SegWit will ignore the data attached to a signature by stripping off the signature from within the input and move it to a structure towards the end of a transaction.
In doing so, the block size limit would get increased from 1 MB to just under 4 MB, although this number is subject to debate as others claim that it wouldn't increase the block size limit to more than 2 MB.
Another benefit?
Not only would this increase the block size limit (the actual amount is up for debate) but it would also remove the ability of a receiver to intercept and modify a sender's transaction ID in order to get more coins from the sender than was originally intended.
The reason for this is because the digital signature would no longer be attached to the input.
More about this can be read here:
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/segwit-segregated-witness.asp
So, in effect, it would clean up the network and make things harder to game for unscrupulous individuals.
How long will it take to implement?
As long as the miners continue to signal above that 95% threshold, SegWit would lock-in about 2 weeks from now.
Specifically, SegWit would lock-in at block 479,808, which would be around August 8th.
You can check this link out for a more in depth look at the scaling issues and possible solutions:
https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-scaling-watch-news-guides-navigate-coming-clash-code/
Stay informed my friends!
Sources:
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/segwit-segregated-witness.asp
https://www.coindesk.com/new-segwit-signaling-period-started-mining-pools-signaling/
Image Sources:
https://www.cryptocompare.com/coins/guides/what-is-segwit/
https://decentralize.today/litecoiners-expect-segwit-for-january-2017-8b5300636a56
https://www.coindesk.com/new-segwit-signaling-period-started-mining-pools-signaling/
Follow me: @jrcornel