The initial stage of the procedure entails gaining broad community consensus. Even the most useful initiatives can take years to be accepted or rejected because the community is unable to come to an agreement.

A BIP is evaluated and worked on in a transparent manner after it is posted as a draft to the BIP GitHub, allowing everyone to see its development and the results of any further testing. Since the Bitcoin network is built on code, any protocol modifications must be reflected in the code, and miners must include a reference to their hashed block to indicate whether they agree or disagree with the implementation.

A change to the code must be approved by a large majority—roughly 95 percent—unless a good reason is provided for a lower threshold. This is due to the serious consequences some changes may have for miners.

When users (node operators) decide which version of Bitcoin Core to download and run a node that reflects that update, the final and formal approval of a BIP occurs automatically. The improved protocol is then recognized and accepted by all upgraded nodes.

Here are the primary steps in the approval process, in brief:

•To alter the Bitcoin core, anyone may submit a BIP;
•Editors need to pass the BIP;
•At least 95% of miners must consent to the BIP;
•The new software version must be adopted by the community.