Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP)

A Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP) is a documented suggestion for changing or enhancing Bitcoin, whether through technical upgrades or the introduction of new standards. Developers, researchers, or community members submit BIPs to propose significant improvements or to set guidelines that can be adopted by various Bitcoin projects. Major features like SegWit, hierarchical deterministic (HD) wallets, and Partially Signed Bitcoin Transactions (PSBT) originated as BIPs and went through a process of review and public discussion before implementation. Not all BIPs directly modify Bitcoin's code—some, like BIP 39’s mnemonic phrase standard, provide frameworks or best practices. Routine changes such as bug fixes or minor optimizations are handled outside the BIP process and are submitted straight to the code repository.