What is SegWit?
Segregated Witness (SegWit) is a protocol upgrade developed in 2015. The concept was introduced as a solution to the scalability problem that blockchain networks were and are still facing today.

On average, the Bitcoin network validates a new block every 10 minutes, each containing several transactions. As such, the block size affects the number of transactions that can be confirmed in each block. Currently, the Bitcoin blockchain can process around 7 transactions per second.
SegWit’s main idea is to reorganize block data so that signatures are no longer placed along with transaction data. In other words, the SegWit upgrade consists of segregating the witnesses (signatures) from transaction data. This allows for more transactions to be stored in a single block, increasing the transaction throughput of the network.

By only being able to process about 7 transactions per second, a Bitcoin transaction can sometimes take a long time to go through. That's a lot slower when compared to conventional payment solutions and financial networks, which can process thousands of transactions per second.

SegWit was developed in 2015 by Bitcoin developer Pieter Wuille, along with other Bitcoin Core contributors. In August 2017, the SegWit upgrade was implemented as a soft fork on the Bitcoin network.
Today, several cryptocurrency projects are using SegWit, including Bitcoin and Litecoin. The protocol upgrade brought up many benefits, such as improved transaction speed and block capacity. Also, SegWit solved the so-called transaction malleability bug (discussed below).

What are the main benefits of SegWit?
Capacity increase
One of the biggest benefits of SegWit is the increase in block capacity. By removing the signature data from the transaction input, more transactions can be stored within a single block.

Transactions consist of two main components: inputs and outputs. Essentially, an input contains the sender's public address, while the output contains the public address of the recipient. However, the sender must prove that they have the funds being transferred, and they do so with a digital signature.
Without SegWit, the signature data can take up to 65% of a block. With SegWit, the signature data is moved away from the transaction's input. This causes the effective block size to increase from 1 MB to about 4 MB.

Note that SegWit is not an actual block size increase. Instead, it is an engineering solution to increase the effective block size without having to increase the block size limit (which would require a hard fork). To be more specific, the actual block size is still 1 MB, but the effective block size limit is 4 MB.

Also, SegWit introduced the idea of block weight. We may consider block weight as a concept that replaces the idea of block size. Essentially, block weight is a measure that includes all block data, including transaction data (1 MB) and the signature data (up to 3 MB), which is no longer part of the input field.

Transaction speed increase
With a block that can store more transactions, SegWit also has the ability to increase transaction speed, since there can be a larger amount of transactions moving through the blockchain. Even though a block may take the same amount of time to mine, more transactions are being processed in it, so the TPS rate is higher.
Increased transaction speed has also helped reduce transaction costs in the Bitcoin network. Before SegWit, it wasn't uncommon to spend over $30 per transaction. However, SegWit has dropped that cost dramatically to less than $1 per transaction.

Transaction malleability fix
A major issue with Bitcoin was the ability to potentially tamper with transaction signatures. If a signature is altered, it could result in a transaction between two parties being corrupte :-Xd. Since the data stored on blockchains are virtually immutable, invalid transactions could be permanently stored on the blockchain.

With SegWit, signatures are no longer a part of the transaction data, which removes the possibility of altering this data. This fix has allowed further innovation within the blockchain community, including second-layer protocols and smart contracts.

SegWit and the Lightning Network
The development of second-layer protocols was partially enabled by fixing the transaction malleability bug. Simply put, second-layer protocols are new platforms or products that are built on top of a blockchain, such as Bitcoin. One of the more popular second-layer protocols is the Lightning Network, an off-chain micropayment network.

The Lightning Network is a second-layer protocol that operates on top of the Bitcoin network. The Lightning Network's main purpose is to allow more transactions to be confirmed in a shorter amount of time, resulting in faster transactions for users. Transactions are collected off-chain and effectively buffered for the Bitcoin network to eventually process.

The Lightning Network was originally developed for Bitcoin. However, several other cryptocurrency and blockchain projects are working on implementing the technology for their networks. This will not only reduce the confirmation time transactions but also foster the development of new solutions to the scalability problem.


SegWit vs. SegWit2x
SegWit is a soft fork upgrade, meaning that it is backward-compatible. In other words, Bitcoin nodes that are not updated to include SegWit are still able to process transactions. However, there was another proposed SegWit implementation called SegWit2x (S2X), which would require a hard fork upgrade.
The key difference between SegWit and SegWit2x is that the latter would have not just included a change in transaction batching, but also an increase in the block size (from 1MB to 2MB). Still, a larger block size would increase the burden on node operators and miners, as there would be more data to be handled.

Another notable difference is that the SegWit proposal was supported and enforced by the Bitcoin community. The episode gave birth to the concept of UASF, which stands for user-activated soft fork.
On the other hand, the SegWit2x proposed a substantial change to one of the fundamental rules governing Bitcoin. But since developers were unable to come to a consensus on its adoption and implementation, the SegWit2x movement was ultimately suspended.

Nested SegWit vs. Native SegWit (bech32)
In short, Native SegWit (also known as bech32) is an updated version of the Nested SegWit. The bech32 format offers increased transaction speed, better error-detection mechanisms, and even lower transaction fees. Also, bech32 addresses are lowercase, making them easier to read.

Note that blockchain transactions between non-SegWit (Legacy), Nested SegWit, and Native SegWit (bech32) addresses are fully compatible. However, not all exchanges and crypto wallets support SegWit, so you might not be able to withdraw funds directly to a SegWit address.

Closing Thoughts
The implementation of SegWit marked the biggest protocol upgrade of Bitcoin, and the fact that it was supported and implemented by the decentralized community makes it even more interesting.
The introduction of SegWit was a major step forward in solving many problems related to Bitcoin and other blockchain networks - especially in regards to scalability. Through the combination of SegWit and the second-layer protocols, blockchain networks can handle a larger number of transactions, with more efficiency and lower costs.

Despite being a powerful and innovative solution, SegWit is yet to be fully adopted. Currently, the percentage of Bitcoin addresses using SegWit is around 53%.

The term Bitcoin whales refers to the large holders of BTC. They are people, institutions, or platforms with a tremendous amount of money in their wallets in the form of cryptocurrency.

How many bitcoin whales exist, and how many BTCs they have
It is possible to quantify the whales of BTC; to do so, just consult Bitinfocharts.

The chart tells us that:
The top 100 wealthy hold 15.02% of the total bitcoin supply, or 2.8 million BTC for $133 billion;
The top 10 addresses have 6.04% of the wealth,
The top 100 addresses have 15.02% of the wealth;
There are over 2 million addresses that have at least $10,000 in bitcoin.

Who are the whales
Although bitcoin provides pseudo-anonymity, it is possible to trace the identity of some of these whales.

1. Exchanges
Again, Bitinfocharts comes to our rescue, showing us that some of the largest BTC addresses holders are the exchanges. Specifically, the richest is the Binance cold wallet, with over 288,000 BTC (equal to $13 billion). It is followed at a distance by the Bitfinex cold wallet, where more than 178,000 BTC are contained. In fifth and sixth place are two cold wallets belonging to OkEX, with over 80,000 BTC each. Also in the top 10 (9th place) is Huobi’s cold wallet with 73,000 BTC.

2. Individuals
Then there are a few individuals who have accumulated an enormous amount of BTC to boast the definition of “whales.”

The first whale in Bitcoin history is Satoshi Nakamoto. He is said to have mined 1 million BTC in the cryptocurrency’s early days. But these BTCs are reportedly stationary in several wallets, suggesting that the mysterious bitcoin creator is dead. It happens that some of these dormant wallets wake up, but there are not enough clues to prove that it is really Satoshi making the moves ten years after his last public appearance.

The whales also include the Winklevoss twins. They owe their fortune to a maxi compensation obtained by Mark Zuckerberg at the time of the lawsuit that saw them opposed to the creation of Facebook. They invested part of that fortune in BTC. It was 2013. They made the right choice. Today, the value of those cryptocurrencies bought in unsuspected times would make the CEO of Facebook pale, and he is certainly not doing badly.

Investopedia also counts Tim Draper and Barry Silbert among the whales.
Tim Draper is considered one of the first “institutional” investors in Bitcoin. He bought 42,000 BTC that he lost with the hack of MT. Gox hack. Then he purchased 30,000 BTC in a judicial auction related to the failure of the first major cryptocurrency exchange.
Today he is convinced that BTC can be worth $250,000 by early 2023. And this justifies his maxi investment.

Berry Silbert is the founder of Digital Currency Group and a member of Grayscale and Coindesk. He has obviously made a business out of cryptocurrencies. Like Tim Draper, he bought 48,000 BTC at the Mt. Gox auction.

3. Institutions
Among the institutions, we can mention one above all: Microstrategy. It made its first Bitcoin purchase in August 2020. Today it has more than 105,000 bitcoins in its portfolio, while its subsidiary MacroStrategy LCC, in turn, has 92,000 BTC. Michael Saylor’s idea so far has been a winner: make bitcoin the company’s primary reserve.

Whales and the market
But what happens when whales break into the market with their full weight? Technically, whales can manipulate the market. If a whale decides to make large bitcoin purchases, it can drag the market upward, causing FOMO to increase.
Conversely, if it decides to convert its BTC to cash, it can place large sell orders and increase the pressure. That triggers a chain of sales that drives the price of bitcoin down.

Ultimately, their role is by no means marginal. Especially with the continued entry of institutional investors, it is likely that the whales will play a significant role, even acting as “sharks,” taking advantage of the declines to make further purchases and increase their wealth.

President Buhari this week warned that the "war on terror" is not over, but is shifting to Africa. In a writing in the Financial Times, Buhari argued that more than U.S. military aid, Africa needs investments to defeat terrorism.

"We must not complacently assume that military means alone can defeat the terrorists. If Afghanistan has taught us a lesson, it is that although sheer force can blunt terror, its removal can cause the threat to return."

An enterprising brother-sister team in a North Dallas suburb are pulling down as much as $32,000 a month by eschewing the lemonade stand and focusing instead on mining Ethereum.

Ishaan Thakur, 14, and his sister Aanya, 9, have seen their college fund swell this year after they began mining in March with an old gaming computer.

That first month, they made $1,000, reports the Dallas Morning News. The numbers have soared since then.

With interest spurred after hearing their father talk about the rise of cryptocurrencies, the pair initially wanted to invest in crypto, but it was already too expensive, so with the help of YouTube and their father, the ninth-grader and fourth-grader learned how to mine. They’ve reinvested their earnings to buy additional equipment, signing up for supply updates (generally graphics cards) from nearby electronics stores to fight this summer’s chip shortage.

They currently have 94 processors mining—making about 9 billion guesses per second at codes. When they get it right, they’re rewarded with crypto.

Their business, which they named Flifer Technologies, was initially housed in their garage, but as it has grown, they moved most of their rigs to an air-conditioned data center in downtown Dallas. They keep 30 cards in the garage setup, however.

Between the two locations, they spend about $2,500 a month on energy bills. While they’ve sold some Ethereum to cover expenses like the hardware, power bill, and rent at the data center, they’re hanging onto the majority of it, hoping it continues to grow in value.

Ethereum has been on a tear this year, increasing in value by 334% since the start of the year, according to CoinDesk.

1. What I Think of Bitcoin
2. A Look at the Path for Bitcoin If It Is to Become an Alternative Storehold of Wealth
3.Bitcoin's Dramatic Rally Is Reigniting Discussion Around Its Viability as a Storehold of Wealth
4. Finite Supply Makes Bitcoin Especially Attractive at a Time When Central Banks Are Printing Aggressively
5. Bitcoin Is Globally Accessible and Easily Portable-Useful Attributes for a Storehold of Wealth
6. Remains Unclear If Bitcoin Will Provide Diversification When Portfolios Need It Most
7. Bitcoin Institutional Acceptance Slowed by Volatility, Regulatory Uncertainty, and Still-Immature Infrastructure
8. Regulatory Outlook for Bitcoin Highly Uncertain; Creates Two-Way Risk
9. Structural and Operational Challenges Remain for Large Institutions That Want to Hold Bitcoin

The Deputy Governor, Corporate Services Department of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Edward Adamu, has attributed the depreciation in the value of the Naira to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy.

Adamu stated this at an interactive session with the House Committee on Finance on the 2022-2024 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework/Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP) on Monday, in Abuja.

He explained that the exchange rate was determined by the forces of demand and supply and that there were three main avenues by which Nigeria got its foreign exchange.

“We have proceeds from the sale of crude oil, we have foreign portfolio inflows and remittances; those are the three major ways that we get forex.

“Crude oil sale has not been as high as we all will want it to be and obviously in the aftermath of COVID-19, the global economy grounded to a halt and the use of crude oil was also halted.

“To the extent that sometimes in April last year, we had crude oil selling at a negative, which means that people were being paid to store what they bought and so that the avenue for forex inflows was significantly reduced.

“You go on to foreign portfolio inflows, you notice that investors also settled their affairs on the side of caution and so, once COVID-19 outbreak occurred, they moved out about $120 billion dollars from emerging markets to safe havens in America and Nigeria is one of those countries from where monies were withdrawn.

“On the side of remittances, once our brothers and sisters abroad were not working because of the situation they found themselves; they had very little to send to us here and so, we also saw remittances reduced.

“On the demand side, we saw speculative demand on the side of Nigerians, if you needed a truck of goods, because you are not sure of the uncertainties of COVID, you wanted to get three trucks.

“All these pressures on both the demand and supply side, the availability of dollar became more difficult and we had a decline or depreciation in the value of the naira,’’ he said.

Adamu, however, said that a lot of efforts within the CBN and the recovering global economy were helping oil prices and remittances to recover.

”This is why we are happy that the exchange rate has stabilised somewhat; it is a moving target, but it has stabilised in the import and export window for a while”, he added.

However, the Chairman of the committee, Rep. James Faleke (APC-Lagos) directed the CBN to present its audited account to the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) for scrutiny.

Faleke said that information available to the committee showed that the apex bank was yet to turn in its audited accounts since 2010 and about N800 billion was yet to be remitted to the Federal Government.

Adamu responded by saying the apex bank would interface with the OAGF and reconcile any difference there was and report to the committee in two weeks, through the Minister of Finance.

Just as the Bitcoin utility continues to expand in the market, so does the layer 2 scaling solution of the Bitcoin Lightning Network. Just as the BTC price, the Bitcoin Lightning Network has shown strong growth over the last year.

The number of nodes in the Bitcoin Lightning Network has surged from 7.5K to 14K, as per the stats provided by LookIntoBitcoin. At the same time, the amount of BTC in circulation on the Lightning Network has also doubled.

As the mainstream adoption of Bitcoin continues among retail as well as institutional players, we believe the use of Lightning Network will also grow. U.S.-based Lightning Labs is the brainchild behind the Lightning Network.

Three years, back, Lightning Labs raised $2.5 million for further development. It has also received substantial backup from industry leaders like Jack Dorsey. Digital Asset manager CoinShares recently shared a report last month wherein it writes:

Lightning enables users to amortize the cost of a bitcoin transaction across many payments over time. We see lightning as a critical technology that could evolve bitcoin’s usefulness in payments beyond its stigma as an investment vehicle.

The Lightning Network can send payments as instantaneously as an email. Thus, it brings a major real-time use case for Bitcoin. However, the current Bitcoin demand for on-chain space isn’t much saturated as well.

It will be interesting to see further developments in the Bitcoin Lightning Network as the market progresses. However, widescale adoption will only be possible if it can provide solutions at par with giants like Visa and Mastercard.
As of press time, Bitcoin (BTC) is trading 1.66% up at a price of $47,478 and a market cap of $891 billion.

Me na bounty make sense pass, because one sure bounty fit give u rabbas were three years signature campaign no fit give u.
E depends sha if you get big account you go sure benefit from any job because ur payment go make sense but small account like us, na to dey hustle to rank up be our own for now.

The first Dogecoin (DOGE) festival is officially happening this October 2021. This is one of the interesting efforts to bring the Dogecoin community together.

The festival is an “all-around global celebration and movement of: Do Only Good Everyday (DOGE)”. The official website of Dogepalooza noted that they will eventually bring the community-driven Dogecoin Festival in multiple cities and countries across the world.

The first event of the festival has been currently scheduled for October 9, 2021, in Sugarland, Texas. The official lineup of the festival has to be yet announced. However, legendary singer Dione Warwick has confirmed her presence as a headliner. Joining her will be Grammy award winner Damon Elliot and classical pianist Chloe Flower.

Apart from the live music event, the Dogepalooza event will also include food, drinks, merchandise, vendors, and charities. Besides, it will also feature an educational event for learning more about how to use, accept, and understand Dogecoin.

Dogecoin’s Rise to Fame
The meme cryptocurrency has gained immense popularity over the last few years. This comes as DOGE has received solid backing from billionaires like Elon Musk.

Earlier this year, Dogecoin made its way into the top ten cryptocurrencies of the world with the support of its raging fans. DOGE is currently the seventh-largest cryptocurrency by market.

At press time, Dogecoin (DOGE) is trading 7% up at a price of $0.28 and a market cap of $37.6 billion. Over the last week itself, DOGE price is up by 37%. Earlier this year, DOGE has hit an all-time high of $0.74.

Back in June this year, Elon Musk also extended his support for the dogecoin Music Festival.

I believe sey na this thread https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5231446.msg57685837#msg57685837 you dey refer to, ba? Well, the thing even sweet my belle sey dem tag owa hangout as one of d boards wey dey for local. Dat thread go even drag theymos attention enta there. Make we continue wetin we dey do. In d voice Mr Macaroni "We are doing well!"

I had no one and I was so determined to find my ways around and here are the costs

1. In 2017 there are many new altcoins mostly PoW coin and I was so hooked to finding the next big thing another projects that will be like BTC and ETH so I started mining every new coins I saw, as time goes by 95% of those coins end up worthless, I was just luck that few ones survived ( havven protocol, electroneum, Loki)

2. I don't know that with underclocking and overclocking can make you safe power consumption on rigs, I just insert GPU in motherboard and start mining , sadly I did this for two years

3. I never knew that some GPUs are better than the other, I went out to computer store nearby and buying whatever I could get my hands on, HD7770, HD6950, GTX 660 etc

4. I even store my coins on wallets like Free wallet which is a very bad one, never knew about centralised and decentralized wallets, I ended losing 1 million doge coin to Free wallet

If I had a teacher in 2017 maybe I would have escape some of this mistakes? but I had no one and thankful here I am today still standing strong