Version Bits
btc · upgrade
A Bitcoin soft-fork signaling mechanism where miners set bits in the block version field to show readiness.
Version bits, described by BIP9, lets miners signal support for several soft-fork deployments at once by setting specific bits in a block's version field. Nodes count signaling over defined windows.
If signaling crosses the required threshold before timeout, the upgrade can lock in and later activate. Version bits is a coordination tool; it does not by itself decide whether a rule change is desirable.
Related terms
Soft Fork
→A backward-compatible protocol change where upgraded nodes enforce stricter rules without splitting the network.
governance · consensus
Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP)
→A published proposal or information document for Bitcoin protocols, applications, or community processes.
governance · technology
SegWit
→A Bitcoin upgrade that moved signatures into witness data, fixing third-party malleability and changing block capacity.
scaling · btc