What Is a Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP)?

If you’ve spent any time around Bitcoin, you’ve probably seen terms like BIP-39 or BIP-32 mentioned.But what exactly is a BIP—and why does it matter?

What does BIP stand for?

BIP stands for Bitcoin Improvement Proposal.

At a high level, a BIP is a formal way to propose changes, standards, or documentation related to Bitcoin. It’s how Bitcoin evolves—without any central authority.

But a BIP is not automatically a change to Bitcoin itself.

Who Can Propose a BIP?

One of the most important things to understand about Bitcoin is that anyone can propose a BIP.

That includes:

• Independent developers

• Bitcoin Core contributors

• Researchers and cryptographers

• Wallet developers

• Miners or node operators

• Even non-developers

  
  

You do not need permission.You do not need to work for Bitcoin Core.

Bitcoin is open-source, and proposing improvements is open to everyone.

How a BIP Is Proposed (High-Level Overview)

The BIP process is intentionally transparent and public. At a high level, it looks like this:

1. Someone identifies a problem or potential improvement

2. They write a proposal following the BIP-1 format

3. The proposal is discussed publicly

   • Mailing lists

   • GitHub

   • IRC

   • Forums

     
     

4. The proposal is revised based on feedback

5. If it meets the standards, it is assigned a BIP number

6. The BIP may be:

   • Accepted

   • Rejected

   • Deferred

   • Withdrawn

     
     

Important Reminder

Writing a BIP does NOT mean Bitcoin changes.

A BIP is just a proposal. Nothing more.

Who Decides If a BIP Is Accepted?

There is no single decision-maker in Bitcoin.

Acceptance happens through a combination of:

• Rough consensus among developers

• Implementation in Bitcoin Core (or other clients)

• Adoption by the economic majority (nodes choosing to run the code)

For consensus changes specifically:

• Miners signal readiness

• Nodes enforce the rules

  
  

If users don’t run the code, the BIP fails—no matter who proposed it.

Nodes ultimately decide what Bitcoin is.

How Many BIPs Have There Been?

As of now, there have been just under 400 Bitcoin Improvement Proposals.

Roughly 390–400 BIPs have been assigned numbers throughout Bitcoin’s history. This includes:

• Drafts

• Withdrawn proposals

• Informational documents

• Process changes

• Technical standards

  
  

Only a small fraction of these actually change Bitcoin’s consensus rules.

Important Clarification: BIPs ≠ Protocol Changes

This is a common misunderstanding.

• BIPs do not automatically change Bitcoin

• Many BIPs are documentation or standards

  • Example: BIP-39 (seed phrases)

  • Wallet standards

  • Process rules

Only a small subset of BIPs become consensus changes adopted by the network.

Roughly:

• 80–100 BIPs have been accepted or widely implemented

• Far fewer have actually altered Bitcoin’s consensus rules (like SegWit or Taproot)

  
  

Major BIPs That Were Accepted

Here are some of the most important BIPs in Bitcoin’s history:

1. BIP-16 (2012) – Pay to Script Hash (P2SH)

• Enabled complex scripts behind simple addresses

• Made multisig and smart scripts practical

• Massive usability upgrade

  
  

2. BIP-32 (2012) – Hierarchical Deterministic (HD) Wallets

• Introduced master keys and child keys

• One seed, unlimited addresses

• Foundation of modern Bitcoin wallets

  
  

3. BIP-34 (2013) – Block Height in Coinbase

• Added block height to coinbase transactions

• Enabled future soft forks safely

• Infrastructure-level change

  
  

4. BIP-39 (2013) – Mnemonic Seed Phrases

• Introduced 12- and 24-word seed phrases

• Human-readable wallet backups

• Now universal across wallets

  
  

5. BIP-44 (2014) – Multi-Account Wallet Structure

• Standardized how wallets organize coins

• Enabled multi-account and multi-coin wallets

• Still widely used today

  
  

6. BIP-66 (2015) – Strict DER Signatures

• Fixed signature malleability issues

• Improved transaction reliability

• Critical groundwork for later upgrades

  
  

7. BIP-141 (2017) – Segregated Witness (SegWit)

• Increased effective block capacity

• Fixed transaction malleability

• Enabled the Lightning Network

• One of Bitcoin’s biggest upgrades

  
  

8. BIP-143 (2017) – New Signature Hash for SegWit

• Improved performance and security

• Reduced hardware wallet vulnerabilities

• Part of the SegWit upgrade

  
  

9. BIP-340 (2021) – Schnorr Signatures

• More efficient and private signatures

• Enabled signature aggregation

• Part of Taproot

  
  

10. BIP-341 (2021) – Taproot

• Made complex scripts look like simple transactions

• Improved privacy, efficiency, and flexibility

• Major long-term upgrade

  
  

What About the First BIP?

BIP-1 (2011) was authored by Amir Taaki.

• It did not change Bitcoin’s protocol

• It defined how BIPs themselves work

• Created the formal structure for proposing improvements

Without BIP-1, there would be no standardized way to evolve Bitcoin.

Why BIPs Matter

BIPs are how Bitcoin evolves without central control.

Key takeaways:

• Anyone can propose a BIP

• Nobody can force one through

• Most BIPs don’t change Bitcoin’s rules

• Users opt in by running the code

• Miners signal, but nodes enforce

• If users don’t upgrade, the BIP fails

  
  

Bitcoin ran for three years before its first major upgrade.Some of Bitcoin’s most important features weren’t in the original whitepaper.And every major upgrade was controversial before it was accepted.

Final Thoughts

That’s a high-level overview of what BIPs are and how Bitcoin evolves.

If you learned something new, feel free to check out my website atarongoulah.com

You can also follow me on social media at@AronGoulah

Bitcoin is slow by design—and that’s exactly why it works.