Bitcoin network gets a most ambitious upgrade in years with Taproot!
The time has come! The most ambitious update in years, Taproot, has been confirmed for activation on the Bitcoin network! Taproot focuses first and foremost on optimizations in the data protection area and user-friendliness.
On 11 June 2021, a sufficient number of supporting blocks (at least 1,815) was reached in the Bitcoin network. The “Speedy Trial” signaling period began last month. However, Taproot is not scheduled to be fully activated until block 709,632. This places the upgrade in November 2021.
Taproot for bitcoin at a glance
Taproot is an upgrade for the Bitcoin network. It will be used to improve scripting capability and privacy. This will enable “Merklized Alternative Scripted Trees” (MAST). Hash trees store conditions specified by the user here. These conditions are a prerequisite for issuing debited BTC. Using a hash tree, the transaction conditions can be set without revealing other information on the blockchain.
Smart contracts would thus become more private and efficient because only the information relevant to the transaction is disclosed.
Taproot is the name of the next major update for Bitcoin Core, the underlying reference implementation of the world’s oldest and best-known cryptocurrency. There is consensus in the Bitcoin community to adopt the new update, but the mining pools still have to agree. With Taproot also comes renewed hopes for smart contracts based on the world’s most secure blockchain network.
Taproot is expected to make the Bitcoin network more efficient, making transactions faster and cheaper for users. This is to be done primarily with a new type of cryptography, namely the so-called Schnorr signatures, replacing the old form of ECDSA. Thus, transactions from several users can be combined within a so-called “MulitSig” and treated like a simple transaction.
This saves space and fees on the blockchain. Another advantage of the update would be that Taproot would enable smart contracts on the Bitcoin network. A leaner, more efficient, and faster Bitcoin network, possibly even with smart contracts? That’s like music to many, many ears.
