Bitcoin developers use a special type of software called a client to interact with the blockchain. This client runs on personal computers and allows users to send BTC transactions. A BIP is a formal proposal to make modifications to the client’s source code. These modifications are proposed by a developer and reviewed by peers within the Bitcoin community. Once approved, the modification becomes part of the next version of the client.
The Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP) process involves several stages of review, including pre-proposals, comments, reviews, and votes. Each stage is designed to increase the likelihood that the change being proposed will actually become part of the main chain.
Once a BIP passes all stages it is submitted to the mailing list for discussion. If there are no objections, it is merged into the master branch of the repository.
After merging, the author must wait for another round of peer review before submitting the change to the next release.
What is a Bitcoin improvement proposal?
Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency that does not require a central authority like banks do. Instead, it uses peer-to-peer technology to operate without a single administrator. This allows transactions to take place directly between users, without the need for middlemen such as payment processors or financial institutions.
The system works because people trust each other to follow certain rules. In return, people receive a reward in Bitcoins when others follow those same rules.
This trust mechanism is built into every transaction and enables the entire system to function.
A Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIPs), sometimes called “soft fork” upgrades, are documents used to propose changes to the Bitcoin protocol. These proposals aim to improve the security, performance, usability and functionality of the Bitcoin protocol.
According to GitHub, there are over 2,500 open source projects hosted on the site. Of these, around 400 are active and about 200 of those are forks of existing repositories.
How are Bitcoin improvement proposals (BIPs) created?
Usually, BIPs are generated by informal meetings, forum chats, or social media engagement, especially on CryptoTwitter.
In cases where a proposal has already been submitted or the idea does not meet the general development standards, preempting an idea in forums and chats is a great way to save time for the ideator and the community.
In order to be accepted, every BIP proposal should be submitted with the intention of being accepted, which is why BIP authors need to be extremely cautious when submitting a proposal. The chances of a proposal being rejected are greatly reduced by asking the community first.
As a BIP champion, anyone from the community can write a proposal in BIP format, promote the idea, and discuss it in relevant forums to build consensus.
BIPs should be for significant additions or changes to the Bitcoin protocol. Little changes, bugs, and patches need not be turned into BIPs; they can simply follow the standard development process.
Who can propose changes to Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is an open and decentralized network. Anyone can propose changes to it as long as they have enough technical skills to do so. However, there are some rules that must be followed. For example, you cannot make changes to the code without having access to the source code. You cannot make changes to the consensus algorithm unless you are part of the majority group of nodes. And you cannot make changes to how transactions are validated unless you are part of a majority group of mining nodes.
The process of proposing changes to the Bitcoin protocol requires a lot of dedication and effort. A person needs to know what he/she wants to achieve and why such a change is necessary. Then, the developer has to write down his idea into a proposal document, test it in a sandbox environment and finally submit it to the community for review. If approved, the developer can start working on implementing the proposed feature. Once done, he/she can release a soft fork to the entire network. This is where the real work begins.
A soft fork is a backwards compatible upgrade to the protocol. In other words, everyone running older versions of the software will continue to use the old version while the newer one takes effect. Therefore, the community needs to vote on whether they approve the proposed change or not. Afterward, developers have to ensure that the implementation works correctly and does not introduce bugs. Finally, once everything goes well, the developer releases another hard fork to the entire network, making sure that no one runs both versions of the software at the same time.
How do Bitcoin improvement proposals (BIPs) work?
Before becoming a formal BIP – short for “Bitcoin Improvement Proposal” – the proposal is communicated via e-mail or other communication channels like Slacker, where initial feedback is given by the community. Once the proposal receives significant backing, the author can move it to the next stage where he/she turns it into a BIP and provides a concise technical specification and justification for the change. The BIP champion is tasked with promoting the idea and building support among the community.
The BIP itself needs to be written in BIP form and follow a certain structure. It should contain a succinct description of what the proposed changes are, why they are needed, and how they will improve the network. It should also include a link to the original discussion thread in the mailing list archives. Finally, the BIP should explain how the implementation works, including references to relevant code.
Once the BIP is ready, the author submits it to the BIP list and the process begins again. An editor reviews it and gives it a number. This allows the author to assign the BIP a unique ID and publish it to the Bitcoin Core Git repo.
How are BIPs approved?
Gathering significant consensus within the community has been the first step of the approval process since the beginning of the project. Some proposals require several iterations before reaching consensus. Other times, it takes years before a proposal is accepted or rejected because the community cannot find an agreement. In those cases, once a BIP is submitted, the proposal gets reviewed transparently so that everyone could see its progress and testing outcome.
Once a BIP is submitted to the BIP repository, the proposal gets reviewed by a team of volunteers called “reviewers.” These reviewers look into the technical aspects of the proposal and try to understand why it makes sense. They also test the proposal to make sure that it works correctly. If the reviewer finds no flaws, he/she submits a report to the author of the proposal, which gives him/her feedback about what needs to be improved.
The author then tries to improve his/her proposal based on the review and feedback received. After multiple revisions, the author submits a pull request to the BIP repository. This pull request contains the latest version of the proposal. When enough people approve the change, the author receives a notification. He/she then publishes the final version of the proposal on the BIP repository.
In case of a controversial topic, such as SegWit2x, the authors of the proposal have to reach consensus among themselves before submitting the final version of the document to the community. For example, there was a disagreement over whether a hard fork or soft fork was better for the network. The community had to decide whether to implement SegWit2x as a soft fork or hard fork.
Once the community approves the proposal, the miners start signaling whether they agree with the change or not. Miners must hash their block headers with the proposed solution before broadcasting their block to the rest of the network. A miner who does not sign his block header with the correct solution will lose out on transaction fees and potential rewards.
If the number of miners supporting the change exceeds the required percentage, the change becomes active. All nodes running bitcoin software update automatically. Users do not need to download or install anything.
What are the types of Bitcoin improvement proposals (BIPs)?
There are three main kinds of Bitcoin Improvement Proposals (BIP). Standard BIPs are ones that change the protocol itself. Informational BIPs provide information about how the network works. Consensus BIPs are those that require agreement among miners.
Standard BIPs
Bitcoin Improvement Proposals (BIP) are documents submitted to the Bitcoin network that propose changes to the way it works. Some proposals are small tweaks while others are major changes to the system. All BIPs must go through a process called “consensus”, where people vote on whether to accept them into the codebase. This usually happens every six months.
The most recent round of consensus took place in May 2018, and there are now over 200 proposed changes waiting to be implemented. These include things like adding support for SegWit, which makes transactions smaller and faster, or implementing Schnorr signatures, which make it easier to verify bitcoin payments.
Informational BIPs
The term “BIP” stands for best practices guide. Informational BIPs are guides that provide information about how to use a particular tool or technique. These guides don’t add anything new to the community; they simply explain what a certain tool does and how it works.
For example, you might find a list of 10 different ways to format text on Twitter, each one accompanied by a screenshot showing where the formatting options are located. This type of informational BIP doesn’t require consensus because there isn’t a change being introduced. Instead, it provides useful information that helps people learn about a topic.
Consensus BIPs
Bitcoin Improvement Proposals (BIP), sometimes referred to as “consensus BIPs,” are proposals to modify the Bitcoin protocol itself. They are submitted by developers and reviewed by the entire Bitcoin development team. Once approved, they become part of the next version of the software, which is released every six months. These upgrades allow the Bitcoin protocol to evolve over time while keeping it secure and decentralized.
The goal of BIPs is to make sure that the code is always safe and reliable. This is done by making sure that everyone agrees on the rules of the game. In short, consensus makes the rules clear and the same for everyone.
