What Is BIP (Bitcoin Improvement Proposal)?
Also known as: Bitcoin Improvement Proposal, BIPs, BIP Process
In short
A BIP (Bitcoin Improvement Proposal) is a technical design document describing proposed changes to the Bitcoin protocol, software or ecosystem standards. It is an established process the community uses to discuss and document proposals.
The BIP process was defined in 2011 by BIP-1, written by Amir Taaki, and was inspired by the Python programming language's PEP process. A developer first shares their idea with the community for discussion, then prepares a document following a specific template. The document is numbered by editors and added to the public BIP repository. BIPs are grouped as standards track, informational and process proposals.
Some BIPs have been milestones in Bitcoin's development. BIP-32 defines hierarchical deterministic (HD) wallets, and BIP-39 defines the word lists used as recovery phrases. BIP-141 introduced SegWit, and BIP-340, 341 and 342 introduced Schnorr signatures and the Taproot upgrade. Many of these standards are used not only in Bitcoin but also in other cryptocurrency wallets.
The publication of a BIP does not mean the change will be added to Bitcoin. Proposals that change consensus rules take effect through a soft fork or hard fork only when broad agreement is reached among node operators, miners and developers. Although this cautious process is seen as important for Bitcoin's stability, it can cause changes to take years. Its counterpart in Ethereum is the EIP.
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