How to Enable Segregated Witness in Bitcoin Core: A Step-by-Step Guide
Starting with Bitcoin Core version 13.1, the popular cryptocurrency management tool for Windows and macOS has made significant progress with its implementation of Segregated Witness (segwit) via a soft fork. In this article, we will walk you through the process of enabling Segwit in Bitcoin Core.
What is Segregated Witness?
Segregated Witness, or “segwit,” is a soft fork that allows transaction production software to be more efficient and secure. It was introduced as a way to improve Bitcoin’s performance and scalability while preserving its cryptographic security. By separating the signing process from the block creation process, Segwit aims to reduce network congestion and increase overall transaction throughput.
How to Enable Segregated Witness in Bitcoin Core – A Step-by-Step Guide
To enable SegWit in Bitcoin Core 13.1, follow these steps:
Method 1: Using the Command Line
- Open a Command Prompt or Terminal – Make sure you have opened a command line interface on your system.
- Go to the bitcoin-core directory – Use the
cd
command to navigate to theC:\Program Files\Bitcoin\bin
directory (on Windows) or the/usr/local/bin/bitcoin
directory (on macOS).
- Update blockchain data: Run the following command to update the blockchain data:
bitcoin-core --update
- Configure segwit: To enable segwit, you need to create a
segsigconfig.dat
file and add the following configuration parameters to it:
[segwitness]
softfork=1
softfork-block=1234567890abcdef
softfork-transaction=1234567890abcdef
- Create a segsigconfig.dat file: Create a new file called
segsigconfig.dat
and add the above configuration parameters to it.
- Start Bitcoin Core: Start Bitcoin Core with the following command:
bitcoin-core --start --max-blocksize=1000000
- Verify segwit: Run the following command to verify that segwit is enabled:
bitcoin-cli getblockinfo 1234567890abcdef | grep "segwitness"
Method 2: Using the GUI (optional)
If you prefer not to use the command line or prefer a graphical user interface, you can also enable segwit using Bitcoin Core’s built-in GUI tool, Wallet.
- Start Wallet: Open Wallet and click the “Options” button.
- Select Wallet Settings: Click the “Wallet Settings” button in the left menu.
- Edit the wallet configuration file
: Click the “File” menu and select “Edit” to edit the
wallet.conf
file.
- Update segwit configuration: Add the following lines to the end of the
wallet.conf
file:
[segwitness]
softfork=1
softfork-block=1234567890abcdef
softfork-transaction=1234567890abcdef
- Save and restart the wallet
: Save the changes to the
wallet.conf
file and then restart the wallet.
Additional notes
- Make sure your wallet software is up to date to ensure compatibility with Bitcoin Core’s segwit implementation.
- If you experience any issues or errors when enabling segwit, please refer to the official Bitcoin documentation for troubleshooting and workaround information.
By following these steps, you will be able to successfully enable Segwit on Bitcoin Core 13.1, improving its performance and scalability capabilities.