Cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex has added support for native bitcoin SegWit addresses on withdrawals, which will enable cheaper transactions when removing funds from the platform. 

According to the announcement made Oct. 29, the exchange has added support for native SegWit (Bech32) addresses on bitcoin withdrawals. The Bech32 is a SegWit address format specified by BIP 0173, which applies to addresses beginning with the characters bc1. These addresses only contain lowercase letters and are therefore not case-sensitive, which improves upon the mistake of typing errors. 

The exchange has previously been supporting BTC withdrawals on Pay To Script Hash (P2SH) wrapped addresses, which are formatted to begin with the number 3. Compared to P2SH, Bech32 SegWit addresses are more weight-efficient and will provide lower transaction fees for users removing funds from the exchange. Bech 32 addresses are also unique to bitcoin’s network, preventing any possibility of cross-chain mix-ups. 

In addition to announcing native SegWit support, Bitfinex’s update includes new charting tools for derivatives trading and the ability for clients to connect their accounts to Twitter. 

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