According to an official publication from Gemini, the firm has now introduced Segregated Witness (SegWit) addresses with full support for all its users.

The firm which is a private digital currency exchange founded by the Winklevoss twins and with headquarters in New York, has delivered this upgrade to improve its services but also make the Bitcoin blockchain more proficient.

Gemini’s Drive for Continuous Upgrades

The article, composed by Gemini’s software engineer – Brian KimJohnson – explains that Gemini has always sought to move along with the current market situations at any given time and according to the publication, this is what drove the firm to move on from what was built as a safe and secure wallet back in 2014.

As the entire sector evolved, there was a need to do more with their products and its general security and that began the firm’s year-long journey in making new creations.

Entering into an official collaboration with Chris Stewart, a Bitcoin engineer, Gemini was able to officially support a few cryptos on its platform including Zcash, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash.

According to the post, finishing this put the firm back in the sights of Bitcoin and they then began to work on improving their support for Bitcoin which resulted in the SegWit support.

About SegWit

Becoming fully activated in the last few months of 2017, SegWit was created to improve on the processes and transactions of the Bitcoin blockchain. More specifically, it is employed to make transactions lighter on the blockchain and this is one of the reasons Gemini opted to incorporate the protocol.

Explaining this, the publication said:

“SegWit allows digital signature information to be stored separately (or segregated) from its transaction data. Without signatures, Bitcoin transactions weigh around 30–40 percent less, thus taking up less “block space” on the network and reducing the transaction fee.”

When there is a considerable reduction in how much space Bitcoin transactions take up, then more transactions can be processed on the blockchain, increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of the entire network.

Benefits of Integrating SegWit

The post explains that SegWit is the best “step forward for crypto and the broader future of money.” If SegWit experiences much wider adoption especially with usage and support, it will consequently improve wait times, considerably help to decongest the network and ultimate reduce transaction fees significantly.

KimJohnson also believes that SegWit will “lay the groundwork for more advanced technologies.”

Gemini now advises all of their users to start using SegWit addresses to not only help the general adoption of the protocol but also to create a safer and cheaper process for the entire network.

Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Ripple (XRP)