![bitcoinupgrade.jpg](https://images.hive.blog/DQmSnG8WcX4fngjKTaeyqRgVvVXHQbxyJgDDy6GWzopEvs7/bitcoin-upgrade.jpg)

This came out of left field for me so I expect it's news to many of you. Bitcoin blockchain actually just got an upgrade. After four years bitcoins blockchain has been upgraded!

To me that blows my mind since they said they would never really update the chain and remain as is. Lets take a dive into what this update means and how these changes could actually make it start to compete with Ethereum again.

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# How A Update Happens on Bitcoin

In order for any upgrade to be approved on the network a large enough group of those mining the coin need to approve and adopt the new chain. With thousands possibly millions of unique people doing this it can lead to inaction. however bitcoins mining power really comes down to a select few pools in which only the pools need to agree.

<center> ![miningbtcpools.jpg](https://images.hive.blog/DQmRpeqJiirn6BqQnSyedjhdAC8KzjfShW1UyPGSBSx3pgN/mining-btc-pools.jpg) </center>

As we can see by the distribution there's only about 5 or 6 pools that need to agree as they hold majority stake. Get them to approve and you're on your way to now forcing everyone else to have to update otherwise you guessed it. HARD FORK which is what happened in the case of Bitcoin Cash.

Because of this possible hard fork which everyone seems to still expect upon upgrades we normally see a massive buy in before it happens and a hold till the fork is complete. This is because there's a possibility to earn a new token at a 1:1 ratio on the forked chain. 

This used to be big a few years back however I don't see it happening much anymore if at all.

<center> ![leoline.png](https://images.hive.blog/DQme4vCL2sTMxzjXkzPSorxj8ajWScVciDjtCMjK1D3mAhw/leo-line.png) </center>

# What's In The Bitcoin Upgrade?

In short more privacy and a big F you to governments lol This is what I like seeing as this is why bitcoin was created in the first place.

- More Privacy

At the moment Bitcoin uses a digital signature called "Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm" it creates a private key that controls the bitcoin wallet and ensures that bitcoin can only be spent by the rightful owner.

This update introduces Schnorr Signatures. It means that multi-signature transactions now become unreadable. It means increased privacy as your keys will be less espoused to the blockchain itself.

- Faster and cheaper smart contracts

Smart contracts are all the rage right now due to DeFi and other really awesome features that continue to roll out from them. This update when introduced will reduce the size of smart contracts helping to remove the clutter that happens within the block allowing for more transactions to take place. It also makes it cheaper to now complete the smart contract.

This is also starting to lead to massive development on the lightning network in preparation of when the update will happen.

<center> ![leoline.png](https://images.hive.blog/DQme4vCL2sTMxzjXkzPSorxj8ajWScVciDjtCMjK1D3mAhw/leo-line.png) </center>

# When will the upgrade happen?

At the moment it's looking like not till November. These upgrades especially on the worlds largest and most trusted blockchain are slow changes. Much testing needs to be done to make sure no bugs enter the system. With new code means new testing and possibilities of failure it's why bitcoin never really wanted to upgrade but is almost forced to due to competition. 

Posted Using [LeoFinance <sup>Beta</sup>](https://leofinance.io/@bitcoinflood/just-when-i-though-bitcoin-would-never-be-upgraded)