BIP158 stands for Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 158. It is a proposal for a new method of compact block filtering in the Bitcoin network. This method uses Golomb-Coded Sets (GCS) to efficiently communicate information about the contents of a block without needing to relay the entire block.
By employing BIP158, nodes in the Bitcoin network can filter blocks based on a pre-set filter of items they are interested in, reducing the amount of data that needs to be transmitted and stored. This can lead to faster block propagation times and increased network efficiency.
The BIP158 proposal aims to improve the scalability and performance of the Bitcoin network by reducing the amount of redundant data that needs to be processed by nodes. It enables more efficient ways of filtering and handling blocks, making the overall network more robust and responsive.
Overall, BIP158 is a proposed improvement to the Bitcoin network that can enhance its performance and scalability by streamlining the way block data is filtered and processed.