The future of the Bitcoin network remains rather uncertain. Despite more mining power coming online every year, the world’s leading cryptocurrency isn’t becoming more popular on a global scale. One positive sign of growth comes in the form of SegWit use. Although one would expect the numbers to be much higher by now, the number of SegWit-spending payments has risen to just over 50% for the very first time.
SegWit Divides the Community
Quite some time ago, the Bitcoin community was seemingly divided when it came to Segregated Witness. Although it was seen as a viable solution to make Bitcoin’s ecosystem more viable in the long run, it also triggered a split among enthusiasts. In the end, that split resulted in the creation of Bitcoin Cash. While that spin-off is not even close to a competitor to the real Bitcoin, it created a certain tone in the Bitcoin world. That tone indicated a lot of people weren’t too amused by what SegWit brought to the table.
Even today, there are plenty of people who want nothing to do with Bitcoin’s SegWit. The reason for that negative attitude is somewhat unclear. While this is not the best solution to take Bitcoin to a whole new level, it can still serve as a viable stepping stone. Unfortunately, it appears most of the users decided not to take advantage of what this technology brought to the table. The initial adoption of SegWit payments was pretty abysmal, although there has been a slow and steady increase ever since.
The Ongoing SegWit Growth
Statistics provided by TransactionFee paint a very intriguing picture as far as SegWit payments are concerned. Despite a rough start in April of 2018, the adoption rate jumped to 40% in the first few months. Far from the “majority” that would be needed to deem this solution a success, but still an interesting turn of events regardless. Unfortunately, the progress started to stagnate shortly after, despite some small rises in temporary SegWit-spending payments.
Fast forward to today, and it seems a more meaningful breakthrough has occurred at last. For the first time in history, the amount of SegWit-spending payments has surpassed the 50% threshold. This officially confirms Segregated Witness adoption is still increasing, even though it is going a lot slower than most people would have liked to see by now. That being said, achieving such an important milestone is a positive sign across the board, even though there is still plenty of room for further improvements in the months and years to come.
What Comes Next?
With the amount of SegWit-spending payments on the rise, one has to wonder how much growth can be unlocked in the near future. It took nearly a year and a half to rise from 30% all the way to 50%. That is far too long for a project which aims to become the internet of money. Unfortunately, it is up to individual users and service providers to ensure this growth continues. Only time will tell if anything will be done to ensure that is the case or not.
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