Bitcoin’s long-awaited Taproot upgrade, which is said to be the cryptocurrency’s biggest upgrade in four years, went live when the blockchain reached block 709,623 at 5:15 UTC on Sunday. The upgrade brings greater transaction privacy and efficiency.
Taproot introduces Schnorr signatures that can make more complex transactions on Bitcoin, such as those from multi-signature wallets, look like simple transactions. In practice, this will mean greater privacy for users, as they won’t have as much exposure on the blockchain.
The upgrade also brings in smart contracts, which are self-executing agreements that live on the blockchain. Speaking to CNBC Fred Thiel, CEO of crypto mining firm Marathon Digital Holdings, said the most important thing about the upgrade are these smart contracts. Thiel added:
“It’s already the primary driver of innovation on the ethereum network. Smart contracts essentially give you the opportunity to really build applications and businesses on the blockchain.”
Taproot introduces a new script type called Pay-to-Taproot (P2TR) which unites the functionality of P2PKH and P2SH scripts. As more programmers build on top of the Bitcoin blockchain, its usability grows.
Source: https://www.cryptocompare.com/email-updates/daily/2021/nov/15/
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