The Bitcoin BIP-119 Soft Fork, proposed by Bitcoin developer Jeremy Rubin, seeks to make changes to the existing Bitcoin structure, and has attracted a lot of heat from the community.
Dubbed "CheckTemplateVerify (CTV)," or "BIP-119," Rubin has proposed an incremental change in Bitcoin's base coding, a fork proposal that intends to bring a new change to Bitcoin's existing networking infrastructure. It would be the next major Bitcoin upgrade following the Bitcoin Taproot release.
However, this proposed change has not had a fully positive response from Bitcoin holders. Let's take a look at what this controversial BIP-119 update is all about?
What Is The Bitcoin BIP-119 Soft Fork Proposal?
Rubin's BIP-119 proposal is a soft fork proposal that intends to bring forth multiple use cases for Bitcoin. The update includes introducing a new covenant or 'smart contract' into Bitcoin's coding that would enable users to enforce a predetermined condition on the way Bitcoins within the wallet will be transferred in near future.
Until now, Bitcoin's base coding was limited to performing basic transactions. A programmer could simply make use of the Bitcoin script to restrict how a transaction proceeds. But by introducing the BIP-119 fork update which incorporates a "covenant," a program can modify more serious changes. These include controlling the way Bitcoins can be spent in the future.
Jeremy Rubin's proposal states that the alterations brought by the BIP-119 update comprise normal and basic changes. However, many Bitcoin experts have dubbed these changes as something that could potentially harm the Bitcoin network at large.
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Why Is the BIP-119 Update So Controversial?
By the activation of the BIP-119 code update, users will be able to set up what is known as "covenanted wallets". Here, accumulated BTC could only be spent if it adheres to the pre-established covenant conditions.
Various concerns have been voiced by prominent Bitcoin experts including Adam Back, Jimmy Song, Rodolfo Novak, and Andreas Antonopoulos. For instance, these experts have opposed BIP-119's speedy trial uttering concerns over its security audit.
Antonopoulos has voiced a concern stating that the new update could bring in "recursive covenants" that can deteriorate the network. A recursive covenant can be described as when a programmer restricts a transaction, but he does so in a way that it restricts another transaction after that and so on.
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