Bitfinex now supports Bitcoin (BTC) bech32 – Details

Bitfinex supports Bitcoin bech32

Crypto exchange Bitfinex now supports Bitcoin (BTC) bech32 addresses generation and deposits to bech32 addresses. After the launch of Bitcoin withdrawals on bech32 addresses on October 29th, Bitfinex officially announced on November 4th that the exchange now also supports Bitcoin deposits to bech32.

A bech32 Bitcoin address is a Segregated Witness (SegWit) address format specified by Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP) 0173. The address also called “bc1 addresses,” bech32 format starts with the alphanumeric characters bc1 and consists only of lowercase letters, making each address not case-sensitive.

This address format provides better protection against typing errors and thus fixes transaction malleability. Also, SegWit increases the maximum block size limit, effectively increasing transaction capacity and lowering fees.

According to Bitfinex, the introduction of bech32 addresses shows its commitment to speeding up the adoption of SegWit and developing and scaling Bitcoin.

Also the firm stated that because bech32 format is not supported by all the exchanges, Bitfinex’s traders will have the option to use either the original Pay to Script Hash (P2SH) SegWit deposit address or native SegWit bech32 address.

Bitfinex also hinted at adding support of the Lightning Network (LN) soon. Bitfinex’s CTO Paolo Ardoino referenced LN as a “Little Nice” thing in a tweet on November 4th thus :

“Now there is only one Little Nice thing left for us to develop…”

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