In this blog post, you will learn what SegWit is and what our support for native SegWit means for you as a Relai user.
What is SegWit?
SegWit (Segregated Witness) was an update to the Bitcoin code that removed signature data from blocks to free up space on the Bitcoin blockchain to reduce transaction costs and increase confirmation speeds.
The soft fork was activated in 2017 and implemented by bitcoin wallet providers and exchanges since then in an attempt to help scale the Bitcoin network.
Relai implemented SegWit in June 2021 to reduce transaction costs for users that want to send money to third-party wallets or bitcoin service providers.
How Does Relai’s SegWit Support Affect Users?
Since implementing native SegWit support into the Relai app, we have received several questions from our community about what the new update means for them.
Here are answers to the most common questions we have received from our community.
How do you distinguish native SegWit addresses from non-native ones?
Native SegWit wallet addresses start with bc1.
Aside from lower on-chain transaction fees, why did you implement SegWit?
The implementation of native SegWit addresses opens the door for Lightning Network integration in the future.
Can you still send bitcoin to and receive bitcoin from other wallet address formats?
Yes!
Bitcoin can be sent from non-SegWit wallets to SegWit wallets without any issues.
Why were there transactions out and into my Relai wallet?
As part of the move onto native SegWit addresses, all bitcoin in your “old” wallet addresses were moved onto your native SegWit wallet following your first transaction after the June 10th upgrade.
So, if you have bought bitcoin after you have updated the app in June 2021, a new transaction was created within your Relai app to transfer the amount of bitcoin out of your “old” wallet and another transaction to send the coins into your new native SegWit wallet.
The amount of bitcoin (BTC) you hold with Relai has not changed as part of the change onto native SegWit wallet addresses.
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