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While segregated witness ‘SegWit’ adoption dipped after mid-March, the utilization of the protocol upgrade on the Bitcoin network is on the rise. Some industry pundits say time is running out for the declining set of non-adopters to embrace SegWit.
Bitcoin SegWit Utilization Now Above 65%
According to data from Transactionfee, about 65% of daily Bitcoin payments utilize SegWit. This figure indicates an almost 200% increase in SegWit utilization since the release of the Bitcoin Core SegWit.
Despite the significant growth in the proportion of Bitcoin SegWit payments, the actual adoption appears to be on the decline. Data from Woolbull chart shows BTC SegWit adoption at 48% down from its all-time high of 57% achieved back in January 2020.
Tweeting on the matter on Monday, Bitcoin proponent Aliste Milne remarked that wallets and exchanges that are yet to embrace SegWit would soon be forced to do so or experience growth declines. According to Milne, the frequent instance of higher fees put SegWit wallets at an advantage.
#Bitcoin SegWit adoption continues to march higher
Higher fees give an incentive to switch to SegWit wallets
Eventually bad actors like @blockchain will see their growth reverse and be forced to enable pic.twitter.com/PCdcPSTL8y— Alistair Milne (@alistairmilne) August 17, 2020
Indeed, protocol upgrades like batching and SegWit have helped to decongest the Bitcoin mempool, especially after the 2017 bull market saw fees climb as high as $50. However, the rate of adoption of both upgrades has not been uniform across the industry, with companies like Blockchain.com still utilizing legacy addresses.
Litecoin Still Trumps Bitcoin in SegWit Adoption
Meanwhile, SegWit adoption on Litecoin (LTC) is still far ahead of Bitcoin. According to a tweet by Litecoin creator Charlie Lee, the “silver to BTC’s gold” has seen its SegWit adoption rise to about 80%.
Litecoin SegWit usage has reached 80%, whereas Bitcoin is only at 50%. This is mainly because https://t.co/F5bBLhmo3s still has not implemented SegWit. pic.twitter.com/3JjdMhEtTm
— Charlie Lee [LTC⚡] (@SatoshiLite) August 16, 2020
Litecoin enabled SegWit back in 2017 and, in doing so, put an end to the fears held by some Bitcoin proponents about the protocol upgrade. At the time, critics of SegWit said the move will lead to “anyone can spend” failures cropping up across the blockchain.
Apart from growing SegWit adoption, Litecoin is also the subject of some interest, especially amid the ongoing bullish sentiments in the crypto space. As previously reported by CryptoPotato, the Mimblewimble protocol upgrade is still set for its Septemeber testnet schedule.
Mimblewimble technology will bring anonymity to the Litecoin network with its shielded transactions. The move may constitute a coup for Litecoin, especially given its recent price resurgence. However, anonymous transactions might put Litecoin in the crosshairs of government regulators over fears of criminals taking advantage of the system for illegal financial activities.