Segwit Reading Assignment

Blockchain and Bitcoin 101
#3774
  1. A proposed alternative to segwit was to expand the block size to two mB. which ultimately became bitcoin cash.
  2. Segwit solved malleability by removing the signature from the transaction, making it impossible to change the transaction id which would change the hash but not the content of each transaction.
  3. The Lightning network takes small frequent transaction off chain until they are ready to be solved by the users
  4. No one is forced to use Segwit thus creating Bitcoin Cash
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#3775
  1. What was a proposed alternative to Segwit?
    To increase the block size limit
  2. What did Segwit solve more than just the scaling issue?
    Solved the TX malleability
  3. How is Segwit and the Lightning network connected?
    Segwit allows lightning network and other layer 2 protocols to build on top.
  4. Are people, wallets and other services forced to use Segwit?
    no
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#3776

Reading Assignment: SegWit

  1. What was a proposed alternative to Segwit?

Increasing the block size limit

  1. What did Segwit solve more than just the scaling issue?

The transaction malleability flaw

  1. How are Segwit and the Lightning network connected?

SegWit and Lightning network connected in 2 ways:
A. SegWit made unconfirmed transactions (which lightning network uses) easier and less risky.
B. Lightning network boosts SegWit enabled transactions as it further reduces transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain by processing small, frequent transactions off-chain and settling on the main chain when necessary.

  1. Are people, wallets and other services forced to use Segwit?

Everyone is encouraged to use Segwit for network efficiency but no one is forced to do so.

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#3777
  1. To increase the block size to 2 MB
  2. This update solves the transaction malleability issue and lowers the fees too.
  3. Segwit make Lightning network possible.
  4. No.
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#3778
  1. Increase block size limit
  2. Tx Malleability
  3. Segwit supports 2nd layer protocol development such as Lightning Network
  4. No
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#3779
  1. Increasing the block size. However increasing the block size would lead to a less centralized network as smaller nodes would be phased out because they may not be able to afford the more expensive hardware need to propagate a larger block. A larger block size is also only a temporary solution because what happens when 2mB blocks are too small, another increase is needed. Finally increasing the block size leads to longer possibly more expensive transactions.
  2. Segwits original intention was to solve the problem of transaction malleability, which occurs when a recipient is able to maliciously change the transaction signature without changing the data within the transaction. This is now impossible with Segwit placing the transaction signature outside of the trasaction.
  3. Segwit’s protocol upgrade allows for 2nd layer solutions such as the Lightning Network.
  4. No, when the article was written in 2018 not all wallets had switched over to the new protocol yet
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#3780
  1. What was a proposed alternative to Segwit?
    Bitcoin Cash
  2. What did Segwit solve more than just the scaling issue?
    By segregating witness data from the main transaction block
  3. How is Segwit and the Lightning network connected?
    Lightening is a protocol on top of Bitcoin
  4. Are people, wallets and other services forced to use Segwit?
    No
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#3781
  1. What was a proposed alternative to Segwit?

Changing the blocksize from 1MB to 2MB.

  1. What did Segwit solve more than just the scaling issue?

Segwit solved the transaction mallibility issue. By removing the signature outside of the datastructure, this meant that the signatures no longer are part of the hash within a block. Changing the signature now, wont affect the transaction id anymore. Transaction signature is now separate from the rest of the transaction.

  1. How is Segwit and the Lightning network connected?

Segwit supports the development of second layer protocols, such as lightning network.

  1. Are people, wallets and other services forced to use Segwit?

No. Soft Forks doesnt require everyone to use it.

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#3782

  1. What was a proposed alternative to Segwit?
    a. Increasing the size of the blocks

  2. What did Segwit solve more than just the scaling issue?
    b. TX malleability.

  3. How is Segwit and the Lightning network connected?
    c. Segwit supports the development of second layer protocols, like the lightning network, that will allow faster TXs and smart contracts.

  4. Are people, wallets and other services forced to use Segwit?
    d. No. this is why we have a currency split called bitcoin cash, similar creature just a larger block.

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#3783

  1. The proposed alternative to Segwit was for the block size limit to be increased to 2mb.

  2. Segwit solved the problem with transaction malleability.

  3. Segwit is a precursor to the lightning network which is second layer network that enables super fast, low-fee transactions to occur off-chain.

  4. No. Segwit is a softfork and people are not unilaterally incentivized to implement it.

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#3784
  1. A proposed alternative to SegWit was an increase in block size which also lead to a hard fork,
    E.G. Bitcoin Cash.
    2. SegWit solves the transaction malleability and lower fees along with supporting a second layer solution.
    3. SegWit supports the second layer solution which is the lightning network.
    4. No, it is a soft fork, however, wallets are adding SegWit support.
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#3785

  1. A proposed alternative to Segwit was to increase the block size limit to 2MB which resulted in the Bitcoin cash fork.

  2. Segwit also solved the transaction malleability problem by removing the signatures from the main block and storing them separately thus preventing alterations from changing the hash of the block and Tx Id.

  3. Segwit made 2nd layer solutions like Lightning easier to design and less risky by resolving the malleability issue.

  4. People were not forced to adopt Segwit and adoption moved slowly at first but then picked up steam.

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#3786

  1. What was a proposed alternative to Segwit?
    Increasing the block size, which turned out to to cause a hard fork.

  2. What did Segwit solve more than just the scaling issue?
    SegWit fixed the problem with transaction malleability, lowering fees. This supports the development of second layer protocols such as lightening network and others.

  3. How is Segwit and the Lightning network connected?
    The lightening network is a second layer protocol that increases the scalability of the bitcoin’s blockchain. It furthers its capacity by keeping frequent, small transaction off chain and settling them on the blockchain only when the users are ready. This feature was not possible without changes made by the SegWit update.

  4. Are people, wallets and other services forced to use Segwit?
    Since the SegWit is a soft fork it is compatible with the previous protocol. It does not affect the network’s operability. It is expected that the number of nodes adopting SegWit will increase, since it allows the use of the Lightning network.

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#3787

1. What was a proposed alternative to Segwit? Bitcoin cash which is a fork of the bitcoin network which chose to implement a larger block size limit rather than rely on a new transaction structure.

2. What did Segwit solve more than just the scaling issue? 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.

3. How is Segwit and the Lightning network connected? The lightning network is a layer 2 protocol for Bitcoin which further boosts bitcoin’s transaction capacity by taking frequent, small transactions off-chain, only settling on the bitcoin blockchain when the users are ready.

4. Are people, wallets and other services forced to use Segwit? No, it’s a soft fork.

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#3788

  1. A proposed alternative was using a larger blocksize limit.

  2. Segwit solved Transaction ID Malleability which prevented development of more complex features such as second-layer protocols & smart contracts.

  3. Segwit supports development of second layer protocols such as the Lightning network.

  4. No, as a soft fork it is not forced compliance, however, as adoption increases it may be a necessary technical option in the future.

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#3789

  1. The proposed alternative was to increase the maximum block size, which resulted in the bitcoin cash fork since not everyone agreed with the segwit solution.

  2. Yes, Segwit not only solved the scaling issue, but also solve the malleability issue concerning the changeable signature that generates a different hash and thus a different transaction after receiving UTXO.

  3. The lightning network is a layer-2 solution on the bitcoin blockchain. Since the malleability issues was resolved by segwit, it allows transactions that happened on the lightning network to be a lot more secure as users dont need to be concerned about their transactions becoming invalid due to changed signatures on the bitcoin layer-1 blockchain.

  4. No, people and wallets aren’t forced to use Segwit, but since doing so would lower the transaction fees, people are incentivized to use it and wallet developers are aware of the benefits segwit has to prioritize its deployment.

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#3790

  1. To change the blocksize from 1mB to 2mB

  2. The Malleability issue

  3. The lightning network is an extra layer on the bitcoin network which enables people to transact with each other without miners (no transaction fees…) and without propagating every tx to the whole network. Without the segwit update these lightning channels would have been to risky to use because of the malleability problem

  4. No it was a soft fork but unupdated nodes get/got “confused”

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#3791

1. What was a proposed alternative to Segwit?
Bitcoin Cash was and became an alternative. It offered a larger block size.
2. What did Segwit solve more than just the scaling issue?
It supported a second layer solution like the lightning network and made smart contracts possible by allowing small changes to a transaction.
3. How is Segwit and the Lightning network connected?
The Lightning Network allowed for unconfirmed transactions to take place off of the blockchain until all parties are ready to settle up, greatly increasing efficiency of the BTC network.
4. Are people, wallets and other services forced to use Segwit?
No, at the time of this article, because it was a soft fork.

#3792

So even now in 2021, Segwit has not been fully adopted?

#3793
  1. What was a proposed alternative to Segwit?
    To increase the block size limit.
  2. What did Segwit solve more than just the scaling issue?
    A security flaw called transaction malleability.
  3. How is Segwit and the Lightning network connected?
    Segwit supports the development of second layer protocols such as the lightning network, which enabled smaller transactions to be taken off-chain.
  4. Are people, wallets and other services forced to use Segwit?
    Not forced to use, they all could use the pre-segwit method too if they prefer.
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