SegWit
I think all big players will support SegWit this year, due to LN:
Lightning Network ⚡️
I'm curious if LN really works as expected. I have my reservations. If it works it will be a very good year and the rise will continue. On the other hand, if the LN does not work it could also be catastrophic.
Privacy features
I like privacy coins and their features, but I don't want bitcoin using them. If you are into privacy you have a lot of alternatives to BTC. I could see governments have problems with these privacy coins due to AML and stuff like that. And that's why I think it would be smart for BTC not using any such features. This can make it more "legal". A lot of people still think it's the silk road coin, why feeding them with adding a privacy feature if you can use other coins for such putposes?
Sidechains (RSK)
Didn't look into it. I have an opinion but I don't want to publish it as long as I don't understand everything.
Schnorr-Signature
No downsides and it helps bitcoin to scale and it is a spam protection. Great!
Atomic swaps
The future. This is essential. Not only to do atomic swaps between BTC, LTC, VTC and other BTC forks. The future is to do it with other blockchains like Ethereum. One big thing TenX is developing is the COMIT network. This is a project I'm very bullish on.
Hopefully this will be a big market change. I'm in the camp that what's good for one crypto is good for all. The more useful and cutting edge this tech can get, the more appetite the market will have for new investors.
I agree