Segregated Witness (Segwit) Of Bitcoin Simplified
What is Segwit? Segwit means in the blockchain terms, "Segregated Witness". This can be defined as 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.
Bitcoin is a promising cryptocurrency that is continuously developing. More and more people have started using bitcoin meaning that transaction confirmation requires more time and transaction fees are rising. The load is growing every second, and the existing Bitcoin blockchain cannot handle the increasing demand and needs to be improved seriously. That's how the Segwit issue arises.
However the Bitcoin Community has come up with different proposals on how to deal with the blockchain scaling problem to solve the load issue. It’s quite likely that one of these initiatives — SegWit — will be launched on August 1. It aims to improve the database structure by clearing half of the space in the block and thus increasing its capacity two-fold, that's "Bitcoin half split".
There are also plans to increase the bitcoin block size to further double its capacity . However, there is an unlikely risk that the bitcoin could be divided into 2 types (different block / transaction chains) if the Bitcoin Community fails to find a common solution.
We should note that each proposal regarding bitcoin scaling aims to develop it. Whatever decision is made in the end, it will undoubtedly be in the best interest of bitcoin users.
The possibility of a split in the bitcoin blockchain on August 1st is now very unrealistic. Miners are seemingly activating segwit before that date and via another way (BIP 91). Activation of BIP 91 increases the chance of brief netwerk instability.
However should bitcoin be divided into 2 types ,even though we believe it’s highly improbable, for safety reasons, it is recommended safekeeping your bitcoins with your computer wallet like Electrum to prevent your money from being stolen.
