The Bitcoin Core has received an upgrade. The new update- Bitcoin Core 0.12.1 will soon be incorporated by all the mining pools. Unlike other updates, the Bitcoin Core 0.12.1 is more focused towards improving the scalability of the Bitcoin network. Some of the main features of this new update include support for four different Bitcoin Improvement Proposals – BIP 9, BBIP 68, BIP 112 and BIP 113.
The inclusion of these new BIPs makes Bitcoin Core more compatible to soft forks and the implementation of Lightning Network, the purported solution for block size and transaction backlog issues. Released on 15th April 2016, the new version of Bitcoin Core can be downloaded from the following link on Bitcoin.org website. According to the website, the new version of Bitcoin Core will set the block version number to 0x20000001 between 0000 hrs. on May 1, 2016, and 0000 hrs. of May 1, 2017, making it readily deployable. The implementation of BIP 9 makes it possible for the inclusion of other BIP soft forks over time.
Some of the features that can be readily integrated into the new Bitcoin Core version includes sequence locks for relative locktime as prescribed by BIP 68 . This feature will enable the user to deem a signed transaction invalid for a specific period of time, one the corresponding outpoint is defined. This can act as an on chain escrow where the funds are parked on the blockchain instead of a third party.
Building upon BIP 68, BIP 112 soft fork allows the implementation of OP_CHECKSEQUENCEVERIFY opcode to redefine the existing OP_NOP3 to restrict scripts /transactions from being executed before the set time period has passed. This will help verify the desired minimum age of output that is being spent and blocks such attempts until the predefined relative age has passed. […]
