Bitfinex Adopts SegWit

Bitfinex Now Supports SegWit for Lower BTC Fees & Faster Processing Times

Today Bitfinex is delighted to announce support for bitcoin deposit and withdrawals using P2SH Segregated Witness (SegWit) addresses. SegWit is a Bitcoin protocol improvement that facilitates scaling. The SegWit implementation means Bitfinex users can benefit from lower BTC withdrawal fees (approximately 15%) and improved processing times on transactions across the Bitcoin network.

SegWit is the process of increasing block size limits by separating signature data from transactional data in bitcoin transactions. In addition to increasing capacity, SegWit will also effectively fix transaction malleability, a potential attack based around the modification of transaction IDs prior to network confirmation. SegWit also lays the foundation for future Bitcoin development efforts, including the implementation of Lightning Network, which will allow the network to process millions of transactions per second.

“As a premier exchange, Bitfinex is committed to improving its market-leading offering for our loyal and discerning customers. SegWit provides not only an immediate benefit for users, but also a foundation for future Bitcoin development. By supporting SegWit addresses, Bitfinex is tackling three of the biggest crypto-enthusiast concerns: transaction fees, transaction speed, and total network capacity. We are delighted that through this implementation we can provide our customers with bitcoin withdrawal fees that are up to 20 percent lower, as well as faster-than-ever transaction speeds.” - Paolo Ardoino, Bitfinex CTO

Bitfinex users have been provided with SegWit-enabled bitcoin wallets which can be used to send and receive BTC. To begin, users will need to generate a new deposit address from their Bitcoin deposit page to receive a SegWit-enabled address, which will start with 3.

Please note: SegWit is implemented for Bitcoin only — not Bitcoin Cash. Do not mistakenly send Bitcoin Cash to a Bitcoin deposit address. Bitcoin Cash sent to a SegWit address will be lost. If you are uncertain as to whether an address is SegWit-enabled, please take care in confirming your actions prior to proceeding, or visit the Bitfinex Support Center.