SegWit - BIP148

The move to the SegWit - Segregated Witness protocol following Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 148 begins on August 1 at 1:00 am GMT +1. Major disruptions to the underlying network of the famous Cryptomonas are already feared.

The community that maintains the site bitcoin.org warns that "every bitcoin received after this date may disappear from your wallet or be of a type that other network nodes will not accept. "

The transition to SegWit following BIP148 poses a problem of "economic majority" within the Bitcoin ecosystem. The success of the process depends on the adherence of the majority of network nodes - users, portfolio managers, etc. - but above all the "vote" of the mining stations.

In the event that a majority of mining stations adhere to BIP 148, the transition will be smooth. The backward compatibility of these new rules ensures that transactions in the new format - let's call them the BIP148 bitcoins - are included in all nodes whether they have updated or not. Only transactions that are formatted as old will be rejected by up-to-date nodes.

However, the current figures seem to confirm the opposite trend if we keep to the data of the indicator segwit.co. This means that as of August 1st, there will be a division of the Bitcoin network in at least two sets: on one side, the BIP148 nodes and on the other, their counterparts not updated.

There is a balance of power that is difficult to foresee when the Bitcoin community comes out. There should indeed be a real consensus for a return to normalcy.

In the meantime, the community that maintains the site bitcoin.org prescribes to avoid initiating any transaction - sending and receiving - 12 hours before August 1 at 1 am GMT +1. A 48-hour margin is even recommended - July 30 at 1 am - for more caution.

Holders of funds in different portfolios will also need to ensure that they allow them to back up their private keys. Obviously, under such conditions the bitcoin will be subject to large fluctuations. It is therefore advisable to keep only the bare necessities in his portfolio.