What is SegWit?

[Silentsweeper]

I am a Newbie and need your help as I want to know what Segwit is?
How do I get a Segwit address.
What do I need to do?

[AdolfinWolf]

I am a Newbie and need your help as I want to know what Segwit is?
How do I get a Segwit address.
What do I need to do?

Segwit is basically a way of sending bitcoins while using less space then "normal" transactions, by replacing/removing (mostly) signature data, thus making them cheaper.

How do I get a Segwit address.

You can download Electrum, and once launched it will prompt you to either create a "Standard" or "Segwit" wallet, choose segwit, and voila, there you have it.

What do I need to do?

Other then generating the wallet, nothing.

[Thefrolly]

In simple terms you can think of it as something that removes the not so important data from your transaction which helps in reducing the size of your transaction, it helps in reducing the fees that you pay for the transaction. The Electrum wallet supports segwit.

[wasanthawsj]

SegWit = Segregate Witness
Segregate means to separate, and Witnesses are the transaction signatures. So that, Segregated Witness in short, means to separate transaction signatures. SegWit is the process by which the block size limit on a blockchain is increased by removing signature data from Bitcoin transactions. When certain parts of a transaction are removed, this frees up space or capacity to add more transactions to the chain.

[MintDice]

Welcome to the crypto-world! Just some extra info: Make sure you use wallets and exchanges that are segwit-compatible. In terms of hardware wallets, look into the ledger nano s and the trezor. For mobile/desktop wallets, you can download Electrum-as another poster said-as well as Greenbits. I'm not sure what exchange you are using but there has been recent good news in the crypto world as Coinbase (a very popular exchange platform for beginners) has recently adopted Segwit!

Cheers!

[daviejoneslocker]

Segwit also increases the amount of information (and size) of the data in the blockchain. This is why many people are against the use of segwit.

The problem of a larger amount of information sent in each transaction means that the blockchain grows larger at a faster rate. This may not be a problem now, but in 10 years, if somebody wants to have an offline wallet they will need to download the entire blockchain which will be huge.

[jseverson]

This may not be a problem now, but in 10 years, if somebody wants to have an offline wallet they will need to download the entire blockchain which will be huge.

You don't need to download the entire blockchain to create an offline wallet. Electrum, for one, can double as a cold storage without any additional downloads necessary.

[Silentsweeper]

I successfully created my Segwit address.
I'm humbled and grateful for all your assistance.
I appreciate your support, and generosity.
Thanks for being there for me.

[lukita10]

How to use the Segwit and what is the deffernce with segwit2x

[jseverson]

How to use the Segwit and what is the deffernce with segwit2x

The posters above already detailed how to get a Segwit address. This is just about the most concise explanation you can get on the matter:

You can download Electrum, and once launched it will prompt you to either create a "Standard" or "Segwit" wallet, choose segwit, and voila, there you have it.

What do I need to do?

Other then generating the wallet, nothing.

Segwit2x was a controversial planned hard fork that didn't come to fruition because of lack of support. It aimed to combine Segwit with a block size increase. There was another Segwit2x project that was launched recently if I remember correctly, but it has nothing to do with the original. Neither of them has anything to do with Bitcoin.

[Velkro]

You can download Electrum, and once launched it will prompt you to either create a "Standard" or "Segwit" wallet, choose segwit, and voila, there you have it.

What do I need to do?

Other then generating the wallet, nothing.

To add to that, you need to send ur bitcoins from old wallet to new segwit one (or just segwit address).

[Loveboard]

Segwit also increases the amount of information (and size) of the data in the blockchain. This is why many people are against the use of segwit.

The problem of a larger amount of information sent in each transaction means that the blockchain grows larger at a faster rate. This may not be a problem now, but in 10 years, if somebody wants to have an offline wallet they will need to download the entire blockchain which will be huge.

This thread turned out to be pretty informational. I didn't know there was a separate segwit address. I thought after btc voted to adopt segwit, all addresses became segwit addresses.

BUT now I'm curious. Why does segwit take up more space?

[jseverson]

BUT now I'm curious. Why does segwit take up more space?

A simplistic explanation would be that Segwit isolates transaction witness data; only the actual transaction data is counted towards the original 1MB limit, so 1MB + witness data could result in blocks bigger than 1MB. The "true" block size limit is now 4MB including witness data.

[Loveboard]

BUT now I'm curious. Why does segwit take up more space?

A simplistic explanation would be that Segwit isolates transaction witness data; only the actual transaction data is counted towards the original 1MB limit, so 1MB + witness data could result in blocks bigger than 1MB. The "true" block size limit is now 4MB including witness data.

Ohhh, so segwit actually duplicates data that's already there in order to separate out the transaction data without the extraneous signature data or whatever extra data. So it actually causes redundant data that would screw the blockchain's exponentially as it grows...

[Geljames28]

Segregated witness or in short 'segwit'. It means that the witness, or signature data is separated from the transaction in order to make it smalker in size. It will still be transmitted, but it will not be included inside of the transaction.

[Darerando]

In addition, segwit is the process by which the block size limit on a block chain is increased by removing signature data from bitcoin transactions.

[bill gator]

I'm surprised I haven't seen anybody link to this thread yet : https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2347427.0 , within it is pretty extensive information with many questions and answers to go along with it. The thread was started by a staff member and was responded to by reputable and knowledgeable members. This is, of course in addition to everything that everyone else has already said. I just feel like this thread takes a more serious dive into the subject.

You could also take a quick peek at this thread : https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2729467.0

Normally usage of the search bar will enable you to avoid creating a thread on your own, because chances are somebody has already popped the same question that is on your mind and it has been sufficiently explained/responded to.