<s>
The	O
Bitcoin	B-Protocol
scalability	I-Protocol
problem	I-Protocol
refers	O
to	O
the	O
limited	O
capability	O
of	O
the	O
Bitcoin	B-Protocol
network	O
to	O
handle	O
large	O
amounts	O
of	O
transaction	O
data	O
on	O
its	O
platform	O
in	O
a	O
short	O
span	O
of	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
related	O
to	O
the	O
fact	O
that	O
records	O
(	O
known	O
as	O
blocks	O
)	O
in	O
the	O
Bitcoin	B-Protocol
blockchain	O
are	O
limited	O
in	O
size	O
and	O
frequency	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Bitcoin	B-Protocol
's	O
blocks	O
contain	O
the	O
transactions	O
on	O
the	O
bitcoin	B-Protocol
network	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
on-chain	O
transaction	O
processing	O
capacity	O
of	O
the	O
bitcoin	B-Protocol
network	O
is	O
limited	O
by	O
the	O
average	O
block	O
creation	O
time	O
of	O
10	O
minutes	O
and	O
the	O
original	O
block	O
size	O
limit	O
of	O
1	O
megabyte	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
block	O
size	O
limit	O
,	O
in	O
concert	O
with	O
the	O
proof-of-work	O
difficulty	O
adjustment	O
settings	O
of	O
bitcoin	B-Protocol
's	O
consensus	O
protocol	O
,	O
constitutes	O
a	O
bottleneck	O
in	O
bitcoin	B-Protocol
's	O
transaction	O
processing	O
capacity	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Various	O
proposals	O
have	O
come	O
forth	O
on	O
how	O
to	O
scale	O
bitcoin	B-Protocol
,	O
and	O
a	O
contentious	O
debate	O
has	O
resulted	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Business	O
Insider	O
in	O
2017	O
characterized	O
this	O
debate	O
as	O
an	O
"	O
ideological	O
battle	O
over	O
bitcoin	B-Protocol
's	O
future.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
Increasing	O
the	O
network	O
's	O
transaction	O
processing	O
limit	O
requires	O
making	O
changes	O
to	O
the	O
technical	O
workings	O
of	O
bitcoin	B-Protocol
,	O
in	O
a	O
process	O
known	O
as	O
a	O
fork	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Bitcoin	B-Protocol
Cash	I-Protocol
(	O
"	O
BCH	O
"	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
hard	O
fork	O
of	O
bitcoin	B-Protocol
increasing	O
the	O
maximum	O
block	O
size	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Bitcoin	B-Protocol
XT	I-Protocol
,	O
Bitcoin	B-Protocol
Classic	I-Protocol
and	O
Bitcoin	B-Application
Unlimited	I-Application
each	O
supported	O
an	O
increase	O
to	O
the	O
maximum	O
block	O
size	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
1	O
August	O
2017	O
,	O
the	O
day	O
when	O
BTC	O
forked	O
,	O
the	O
BTC	O
blockchain	O
split	O
into	O
two	O
separate	O
blockchains	O
:	O
one	O
maintained	O
in	O
accordance	O
with	O
the	O
rules	O
currently	O
valid	O
for	O
Bitcoin	B-Protocol
,	O
and	O
the	O
other	O
maintained	O
in	O
accordance	O
with	O
the	O
rules	O
currently	O
valid	O
for	O
Bitcoin	B-Protocol
Cash	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
one	O
had	O
coins	O
on	O
the	O
Bitcoin	B-Protocol
chain	O
prior	O
to	O
the	O
fork	O
and	O
has	O
not	O
yet	O
moved	O
them	O
,	O
one	O
could	O
move	O
them	O
on	O
one	O
or	O
the	O
other	O
or	O
both	O
chains	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Thus	O
,	O
all	O
holders	O
of	O
Bitcoin	B-Protocol
also	O
became	O
holders	O
of	O
Bitcoin	B-Protocol
Cash	I-Protocol
at	O
the	O
time	O
of	O
the	O
split	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Henceforth	O
Bitcoin	B-Protocol
and	O
Bitcoin	B-Protocol
Cash	I-Protocol
are	O
separate	O
and	O
trade	O
at	O
entirely	O
independent	O
valuations	O
relative	O
to	O
each	O
other	O
,	O
fiat	O
currencies	O
,	O
and	O
other	O
assets	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Bitcoin	B-Protocol
SV	O
(	O
"	O
BSV	O
"	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
hard	O
fork	O
of	O
Bitcoin	B-Protocol
Cash	I-Protocol
and	O
offers	O
a	O
competing	O
implementation	O
of	O
the	O
Bitcoin	B-Protocol
protocol	O
that	O
aims	O
to	O
solve	O
the	O
Bitcoin	B-Protocol
scalability	I-Protocol
problem	I-Protocol
by	O
implementing	O
an	O
unbounded	O
block	O
cap	O
size	O
,	O
enabling	O
the	O
network	O
to	O
produce	O
blocks	O
of	O
unlimited	O
size	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Technical	O
optimizations	O
may	O
decrease	O
the	O
amount	O
of	O
computing	O
resources	O
required	O
to	O
receive	O
,	O
process	O
and	O
record	O
bitcoin	B-Protocol
transactions	O
,	O
allowing	O
increased	O
throughput	O
without	O
placing	O
extra	O
demand	O
on	O
the	O
bitcoin	B-Protocol
network	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
modifications	O
can	O
be	O
to	O
either	O
the	O
network	O
,	O
in	O
which	O
case	O
a	O
fork	O
is	O
required	O
,	O
or	O
to	O
individual	O
node	O
software	O
(	O
such	O
as	O
Bitcoin	B-Language
Core	I-Language
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Schnorr	B-Algorithm
signatures	I-Algorithm
have	O
been	O
proposed	O
as	O
a	O
scaling	O
solution	O
by	O
long-time	O
developer	O
and	O
Blockstream	O
co-founder	O
Pieter	O
Wuille	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Merkelized	O
Abstract	O
Syntax	O
Trees	O
(	O
MAST	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
proposal	O
by	O
Johnson	O
Lau	O
which	O
reduces	O
the	O
size	O
of	O
smart	B-Application
contracts	I-Application
(	O
complex	O
scripts	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
increases	O
their	O
privacy	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Lightning	B-Protocol
Network	I-Protocol
(	O
LN	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
protocol	O
that	O
aims	O
to	O
improve	O
bitcoin	B-Protocol
's	O
scalability	O
and	O
speed	O
without	O
sacrificing	O
trustless	O
operation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Lightning	B-Protocol
Network	I-Protocol
requires	O
putting	O
a	O
funding	O
transaction	O
on	O
the	O
blockchain	O
to	O
open	O
a	O
payment	O
channel	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
15	O
March	O
2018	O
,	O
Lightning	O
Labs	O
released	O
the	O
beta	O
version	O
of	O
its	O
lnd	O
Lightning	B-Protocol
Network	I-Protocol
implementation	O
for	O
bitcoin	B-Protocol
mainnet	O
,	O
and	O
on	O
28	O
March	O
2018	O
,	O
ACINQ	O
released	O
a	O
mainnet	O
beta	O
of	O
its	O
eclair	O
implementation	O
and	O
desktop	O
application	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
January	O
2019	O
the	O
online	O
retailer	O
Bitrefill	O
announced	O
that	O
it	O
receives	O
more	O
payments	O
in	O
Bitcoin	B-Protocol
via	O
the	O
lightning	B-Protocol
network	I-Protocol
than	O
any	O
other	O
cryptocurrency	O
they	O
accept	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
June	O
2021	O
,	O
the	O
Legislative	O
Assembly	O
of	O
El	O
Salvador	O
voted	O
legislation	O
to	O
make	O
Bitcoin	B-Protocol
legal	O
tender	O
in	O
El	O
Salvador	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
decision	O
was	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
success	O
of	O
the	O
Bitcoin	B-Protocol
Beach	O
ecosystem	O
in	O
El	O
Zonte	O
that	O
used	O
a	O
LN	O
based	O
wallet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
government	O
will	O
be	O
introducing	O
a	O
wallet	O
utilising	O
the	O
Lightning	B-Protocol
Network	I-Protocol
protocol	O
while	O
giving	O
the	O
freedom	O
for	O
citizens	O
to	O
use	O
other	O
Bitcoin	B-Protocol
Lightning	O
wallets	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Bitcoin	B-Protocol
's	O
transaction	O
throughput	O
is	O
limited	O
by	O
two	O
parameters	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Bitcoin	B-Protocol
has	O
a	O
block	O
time	O
of	O
10	O
minutes	O
and	O
a	O
block	O
size	O
of	O
1MB	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Various	O
increases	O
to	O
this	O
limit	O
,	O
and	O
proposals	O
to	O
remove	O
it	O
completely	O
,	O
have	O
been	O
proposed	O
over	O
bitcoin	B-Protocol
's	O
history	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Litecoin	B-Protocol
produces	O
blocks	O
four	O
times	O
faster	O
than	O
Bitcoin	B-Protocol
which	O
leads	O
to	O
a	O
4x	O
improvement	O
in	O
throughput	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Bitcoin	B-Protocol
Cash	I-Protocol
has	O
a	O
block	O
size	O
of	O
32	O
MB	O
and	O
hence	O
32x	O
more	O
throughput	O
than	O
Bitcoin	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Bitcoin	B-Protocol
SV	O
removed	O
the	O
block	O
size	O
limit	O
altogether	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Bitcoin	B-Protocol
XT	I-Protocol
was	O
proposed	O
in	O
2015	O
to	O
increase	O
the	O
transaction	O
processing	O
capacity	O
of	O
bitcoin	B-Protocol
by	O
increasing	O
the	O
block	O
size	O
limit	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Bitcoin	B-Protocol
Classic	I-Protocol
was	O
proposed	O
in	O
2016	O
to	O
increase	O
the	O
transaction	O
processing	O
capacity	O
of	O
bitcoin	B-Protocol
by	O
increasing	O
the	O
block	O
size	O
limit	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
"	O
The	O
Hong	O
Kong	O
Agreement	O
"	O
was	O
a	O
2016	O
agreement	O
of	O
some	O
miners	O
and	O
developers	O
that	O
contained	O
a	O
timetable	O
that	O
would	O
see	O
both	O
the	O
activation	O
of	O
the	O
Segregated	O
Witness	O
(	O
SegWit	O
)	O
proposal	O
established	O
in	O
December	O
2015	O
by	O
Bitcoin	B-Language
Core	I-Language
developers	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
development	O
of	O
a	O
block	O
size	O
limit	O
increased	O
to	O
2	O
MB	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SegWit2x	O
was	O
a	O
proposed	O
hard	O
fork	O
of	O
the	O
cryptocurrency	O
bitcoin	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Bitcoin	B-Application
Unlimited	I-Application
advocated	O
for	O
miner	O
flexibility	O
to	O
increase	O
the	O
block	O
size	O
limit	O
and	O
is	O
supported	O
by	O
mining	O
pools	O
ViaBTC	O
,	O
AntPool	O
and	O
investor	O
Roger	O
Ver	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Bitcoin	B-Application
Unlimited	I-Application
's	O
proposal	O
is	O
different	O
from	O
Bitcoin	B-Language
Core	I-Language
in	O
that	O
the	O
block	O
size	O
parameter	O
is	O
not	O
hard-coded	O
,	O
and	O
rather	O
the	O
nodes	O
and	O
miners	O
flag	O
support	O
for	O
the	O
size	O
that	O
they	O
want	O
,	O
using	O
an	O
idea	O
they	O
refer	O
to	O
as	O
'	O
emergent	O
consensus	O
 '	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Those	O
behind	O
Bitcoin	B-Application
Unlimited	I-Application
proposal	O
argue	O
that	O
from	O
an	O
ideological	O
standpoint	O
the	O
miners	O
should	O
decide	O
about	O
the	O
scaling	O
solution	O
since	O
they	O
are	O
the	O
ones	O
whose	O
hardware	O
secure	O
the	O
network	O
.	O
</s>
