MAST – Bitcoin’s greatest improvement so far

While the cryptocurrency market seems to have stabilized, the value of Bitcoin is constantly argued about, especially after its value took a huge dip in January 2018 falling from what was $20,000 in December, to less than $7,000 at one point in January.

The Bitcoin community, however, seems to be more united than ever. Now, the new improvements of the “people’s currency” include something known as MAST, or the Merkelized Abstract Syntax Tree. According to BTCManager, this newly devised protocol is a “high-tech” mixture of Merkle trees and the Abstract Syntax Trees algorithms. What these Merkle trees allow miners to do with Bitcoin is reduce the size of the data within each block that comprises the coin. Essentially, data will be verifiable without the need to extract and download all the data contained in the block itself. Verification becomes much easier and compact.

On the other hand, Abstract Syntax Trees (ASTs) represent a type of algorithm that parts the functioning program in two so that categorization and processing of data is much easier. Speed is also improved through these Trees. The combination of Merkle trees and ASTs make it possible for more complex data sets to be added to transactions within the Bitcoin blockchain while still allowing for smaller transaction data due to the use of Merkle proofs, reported BTCManager.

The new improvement in the protocol of Bitcoin has several important advantages. First, more scalability and better speed are possible with the combination of ASTs and Merkle trees. The “crunch-ability” and complexity of data becomes heavier, yet technically, this load is not “perceived” by the block and transactions. Because of this, more complex data can be interwined within the block than before, while accounting for higher speed and efficiency.

More importantly, MAST is the first improvement in the Bitcoin protocol that preserves and improves efficiency, complexity and ease of data processing and privacy.

While the innovation is not yet put into action, and the Bitcoin protocol does not take advantage of MAST, the advantages and technical “ease” that MAST offers is expected to boost Bitcoin “holders” confidence and hence, the long-term price of the digital currency. The fact is that while many claim Bitcoin will go to zero or close to zero, including a Harvard professor just recently, the value of the technical part of Bitcoin is undeniable.

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