First Bitcoin upgrade in four years gains developer consensus

Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) is on the verge of its first significant software update in over four years, with grassroots support emerging for two key Bitcoin Improvement Proposals (BIPs): BIP 119 and BIP 348.

These proposals, which focus on enhancing Bitcoin script capabilities, have gained explicit support from numerous developers and could significantly improve Bitcoin's self-custody, fee management, and existing technologies like the Lightning Network.

The process for implementing these changes involves a soft fork, which requires support from stakeholders including developers, custodians, investors, and miners.

Miners play a crucial role by signaling their support for changes in the blocks they mine.

Typically, Bitcoin Core requires 95% of blocks over a period to signal for the change before locking it in for activation.

BIP 119, also known as OP_CHECKTEMPLATEVERIFY (CTV), and BIP 348, known as OP_CHECKSIGFROMSTACK (CSFS), propose new ways of writing Bitcoin scripts.

These proposals enable "covenants," which restrict how a wallet can spend Bitcoin in future transactions, potentially enhancing self-custody and fee management.

Developers consider these proposals "narrowly defined," meaning they have a low risk of being exploited for unintended uses.

The Bitcoin community has historically been cautious about changes, but recent advocacy for other proposals has shifted the landscape, making CTV and CSFS appear more conservative by comparison.

The path forward involves continued discussion among developers, with several technical conferences scheduled to facilitate consensus-building.

Once a rough consensus is formed, the activation process will move to miners, the community, and investors.

As Jeremy Rubin, the proposer of CTV, noted, these changes have been years in the making.

Despite initial pushback, recent developments have framed these proposals as more acceptable within the community.

At the time of reporting, the Bitcoin (BTC) price was $83,246.83.