Bitcoin SegWit2x Will be Released Tomorrow, December 28th

| Updated
by Bhushan Akolkar · 3 min read
Bitcoin SegWit2x Will be Released Tomorrow, December 28th
Photo: NPS CulturalLandscapes / Flickr

Founders of the SegWit2x hard fork have revealed the roadmap to bring new functional features solving issues of scalability and privacy.

Finally, after all the debate and discussion, the Bitcoin community has agreed to come on one common platform and has given a go-ahead to the much-awaited Segwit2x hard fork which will see the light of the day tomorrow. The hard fork was previously scheduled during last month of November but was canceled at the last moment owing to internal differences between the members of the community.

Project founder and Lead Developer – Jaap Terlouw – has said that the fork will occur at block 501451 and the confirmed the same in the project’s roadmap on the official website. It reads: “Commission and transaction speed within the Bitcoin network has reached extraordinary values. It is almost impossible to use it as a means of payment. Our team will carry out the Bitcoin hard fork, which was planned for mid-November.”

One of the major issues that the Bitcoin network is facing off lately is the reduction in transaction speeds due to the smaller block size. With millions of users transacting on daily basis, the block size is now falling short to meet the demand. Terlouw said: “In the last month, the average commission of the network was 15 US dollars! While Bitcoin turns into a digital analog of gold, it is simply impossible to use it as a payment tool.” As a result, many investors and developers are now shifting their focus on the first Bitcoin derivative – Bitcoin Cash – which was created by the first hard fork in Bitcoin network.

The SegWit2x hard fork is also expected to solve this scalability issue. In addition to implementing the Segregated Witness, the team has already implemented other features like:

  • Block size increased up to 4 MB;
  • The high production rate of the block is 2.5 minutes;
  • Unique address format;
  • Recalculation of complexity after each block;
  • Protection against repeated transactions;
  • Using the X11 encryption algorithm;

Project founder Jaap Terlouw has also promised for additional incentives to traders. He says that in addition to getting Bitcoin-equivalent balances of the new coin B2X, they would also receive “a proportional number of Satoshi Nakamoto’s Bitcoins as a reward for their commitment to progress.”

Moreover, the website also mentions that in addition to the features implemented, there are more in the pipeline according to the Roadmap. These features include:

  • Offline codes
  • Support for Lightning Network, instant transactions
  • ZkSnark
  • Ethereum smart contracts
  • Anonymous Transactions

A total of eight exchanges have been listed as official supporters to the SegWit2x. The website mentions one popular exchange HitBTC as one of the eight. While speaking about the existing features of SegWit2x, Terlouw is quoted saying “At the same time, trading of its [SegWit2x] futures has been carried out on some exchanges for a long time. HitBTC is among them.”

However, in addition to HitBTC other websites like Binance, GDax, and BTCC have confirmed their support of the fork. This is for the fifth time that Bitcoin network will be forked to solve the issue privacy, scalability and mining centralization solutions. Previously, Bitcoin has been forked four times giving offshoots like  Bitcoin Cash in August, Bitcoin Gold in November, and Bitcoin Diamond and Super Bitcoin in December.

Altcoin News, Bitcoin News, Cryptocurrency News, News
Related Articles