Crypto exchange platforms Coinbase and Bitfinex both announced yesterday, Feb. 20, that they are now ready to implement the Segregated Witness (SegWit) scalability upgrade for Bitcoin (BTC).
Coinbase tweeted the announcement that it has finished the final testing stages of SegWit for Bitcoin on the platform and is aiming for a 100 percent launch to all customer by mid-next week. Bitfinex announced an already functioning rollout of SegWit to all customers trading in BTC.
Our engineering team has finished testing of SegWit for Bitcoin on Coinbase.
We will be starting a phased launch to customers over the next few days and are targeting a 100% launch to all customers by mid next week.
— Coinbase (@coinbase) February 20, 2018
Coinbase had first announced the SegWit upgrade in December 2017, and posted an update at the beginning of February, 2018 as they entered the final stages of testing.
The SegWit upgrade aims to reduce transaction times and fees for transacting in Bitcoin, something that crypto investors have long awaited during the recent period of rising fees and slow transaction rates plaguing Bitcoin users globally.
Coinbase users even started a petition urging the exchange to implement SegWit that garnered over 12,000 signatures.
Hong Kong-based Bitfinex currently ranks #4 amongst crypto exchanges globally by trade volume, trading a total of about $1.6 bln in the past 24 hours to press time. Bitfinex CTO Paolo Ardoino was quoted in the exchange’s announcement of their SegWit upgrade saying:
“SegWit provides not only an immediate benefit for users, but also a foundation for future Bitcoin development. By supporting SegWit addresses, Bitfinex is tackling three of the biggest crypto-enthusiast concerns: transaction fees, transaction speed, and total network capacity. We are delighted that through this implementation we can provide our customers with bitcoin withdrawal fees that are up to 20 percent lower, as well as faster-than-ever transaction speeds.”
In addition, the latest Bitcoin Core client version 0.16.0 just released for public editing on Feb. 15 has also added the full SegWit upgrade.
Cointelegraph contributor Joseph Young tweeted his positive views about Coinbase’s SegWit announcement today, Feb. 21, calling it “good stuff!” and noting its significance for overall SegWit adoption on the Bitcoin network:
SegWit adoption on the Bitcoin network will see significant growth with Coinbase’s SegWit integration, which will be ready in a few days.
Strong momentum, price increasing, SegWit in place, good stuff!https://t.co/9bao6FJmhk
— Joseph Young (@iamjosephyoung) February 20, 2018
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