--->>> Super Guide To Understand Bitcoin/Blockchain/HF's/SF's/UASF/Scaling/Segwit/Segwit2x

Welcome Steemians to the Super Guide To Understand All Things Bitcoin.
Thought i'd start with this little gem, it's a great way to introduce newcomers to the 'Crypto Space' whether it be your parents, siblings, neighbours, friends or just yourself wanting to have a crack at a new journey in life - but don't really know where to begin, look no further my friends

• A Gentle Introduction To Digital Tokens is the name of this little beauty, it is created by BraveNewCoin (BNC), covering the bare basics, the platform to build your blocks of knowledge on (You'll get that joke later, its pretty dry haha)

• This one is also by BNC it's called Bitcoin 101 , it's another fantastic little tool for introduction. They have even included an amazing GLOSSARY! which is an amazing tool when trying to decipher all the jargon like ASIC or BIP - These are important things to know when reading up on your bitcoin news and for the coming August 1st. I'll get into this later

Here is a Step By Step Guide to finding the glossary and getting your way around Bitcoin 101 -

1. Click the hyperlinked text above highlighted as blue 'Bitcoin 101'
2. Once the page is opened, scroll halfway down the page below the 'blue subscribe bar' this will be displayed
   
3. In this bar displayed above, click the tabs moving to your right, for all the information and glossary at the end

Throughout those guides you would have seen or covered 'blockchain'. For those who haven't quite got the grips on what it is, here is my super simple explanation :)

• Blockchains are a public ledger shared by all the nodes (computers giving and receiving info) involved in the network. Anyone can view/see this ledger meaning it's transparent, and every transaction that is made is placed into 'blocks' and these blocks form a chain of blocks - forming the 'blockchain'

Awesome Steemians, you have come a long way to reach this point, thanking you for sticking around and hope you have enjoyed it so far! If you would like to take a break and come back in 5, stretch your legs, pour another coffee. This will be your time to do so because we are stepping up the depth and covering all things forks!

All Things Forks - We're going to kick this one off with a simple explanation of what a 'Fork' is in terms of Bitcoin because this is most current and relative, with a great article of course explaining it more and at the bottom I will talk a touch on Ethereum -

Simply put a 'fork' is either a split in the blockchain meaning you would have for example 'Bitcoin classic' - (the original) and 'Bitcoin Network' (the new chain from the split) or a 'fork' is a new implementation of a 'rule' or sets of 'rules' or an 'upgrade' and it must get consensus from the network on yay or nay for the new implementation.

• This article is by CoinDesk and it's called a A Short Guide To Bitcoin Forks, this guide explains it so well and will give you a better understanding so you to can contribute to the great world of Crypto!
  FYI - CoinDesk also have a lot of great articles and links to help you navigate the volatile Crypto Space and I'll be linking a few to get your nerd on!!

Awesome, so we now know what a Hard Fork (HF), Soft Fork (SF), User Activated Soft Fork (UASF) are, now we can get into 'Scaling'. What is scaling you might be asking? Well scaling is quite literally 'How do we get bigger' because the problem Bitcoin faces is the fact that it's so popular and has so much volume of transactions that it's getting bogged down with higher fees, along with longer transaction times.

This sucks because we can swipe our card through a machine and it's within seconds that transaction is processed and if Bitcoin is going to contend then it needs to be quick. In order to make it quick there are 'Scaling proposals'. Scaling proposals like segwit, Segwit2x and to get there they must enforce changes through the 'forks' discussed earlier.
The links below will give you a solid understanding of the scaling proposals and specifically BIP148, BIP91, Segwit2x

• This article here gives you a great explanation of Segwit (segregated witness)

• Moving forward with Segwit now explained in definition and detail. This article by CoinDesk explains BIP148 and goes onto talk about BIP149 The Scaling Debate

• Another fantastic article from CoinDesk provides a great idea of a flow chart to put this info you have learned into perspective, this is Visual Guide To Scaling Outcomes

• Now to the big bad wolf himself and the most talked about in the history of Bitcoins short life Segwitx2

• This little guy BIP91 is somewhat the middle man for some would say BIP91 could potentially stop a split. Article by CoinDesk called How BIP91 Enacts Segwit While Avoiding Bitcoin Split

One last piece before I say hooray (Aussie slang for goodbye) this is a timeline guide for all the proposals and when they are likely to be activated so you can see where your new found information will show you for the future you :)

• Key Dates To Keep An Eye On by Bitcoin Magazine

• This is just for a recap if you wish How it could finally happen

Unreal Steemians, WHAT a journey right! Thank you so much for your time, I know it was long and a lot of coffee and probably a save thing and come back, but please leave your comments and feedback I would love to hear from all you followers and Steemians alike :) :)