Bitcoin Network Welcomes Taproot Soft Fork Upgrade

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The Bitcoin Network (BTC) successfully activated the Taproot soft fork following a consensus of 90% lockdown of miners and mining pools between blocks 709,488 and 709,632. This milestone marks Bitcoin’s first major upgrade since August 2017, which saw the launch of Bitcoin’s leading layer two solution, the Lightning Network and Segregated Witness (SegWit).

The Taproot upgrade aims to improve the scripting capabilities and privacy of the Bitcoin network. To do this, the soft fork introduces the concept of Merkelized Abstract Syntax Tree (MAST). According to a dedicated Taproot website run by prominent Bitcoin developer Hampus Sjöberg:

“[MAST] can help make smart contracts more efficient and private by revealing only the relevant parts of the contract when spending.

Speaking to Cointelegraph, Sjöberg pointed out that activating Taproot shows that Bitcoin can once again perform network upgrades, which is extremely important for the longevity of the Bitcoin network. “I think this is the biggest victory,” he added.

Sjöberg, who is also a developer of a Bitcoin Lightning Blixt Wallet, believes that the Taproot upgrade allows for exploring off-chain capabilities, so as not to put too much strain on the network’s Bitcoin nodes.

The taproot is a 100 year old softfork.

Merging each contract and use case under a single “Pay to the taproot” transaction type will produce a more fungible and robust blockchain in the long run.

This is how you do it. This is how you design a blockchain.

– Hampus Sjöberg @ (@hampus_s) June 3, 2021

In addition, Sjöberg believes that MAST can also help improve the privacy of the old Lightning Network “if Lightning implementations choose to adopt Taproot.” The developers of the various Lightning Network node implementations met in Zurich, Switzerland just a few weeks ago at the LN Summit 2021 to discuss possible upgrade paths:

“One of the things that was discussed at the meeting was whether it was better to upgrade Lightning in small iterations or to do it in one big package.”

Additionally, Sjöberg explained how payment channels under normal circumstances can be made indistinguishable from normal transactions by using Taproot for the Lightning Network:

“It’s not possible to tell if a Taproot transaction is just a regular payment or if it belongs to a Lightning channel. This is important for the fungibility and therefore the censorship resistance of Bitcoin. “

The successful activation of Taproot is attributed to Speedy Trial, a soft fork deployment method that requires 90% of miners to report the upgrade deployment. As Sjöberg explains, “The signaling method works by block periods of 2016, which means that in a block period of 2016, 90%, or 1,815 of the blocks of 2016 must report their readiness. “.

In June 2021, Bitcoin miners first reached 90% consensus and Sjöberg tweeted the announcement:

WE HAVE CLOSED! #Bitcoin #Taproot

Video from: @TheGuySwann! Https: //t.co/rCUp5VNCBX pic.twitter.com/YFLMTenWW0

– Hampus Sjöberg ⚡ (@hampus_s) June 12, 2021

However, upgrading Taproot also marks the end of Speedy Trial deployments, and future Bitcoin network upgrades will require new methods of soft fork deployment. “Taproot opens up a world of possibilities, but the first thing I personally would like to see is a ‘MuSig 2’ transaction. Sharing advice for other Bitcoin developers, Sjöberg said:

“While we shouldn’t take anything for granted in Bitcoin, I would personally like to eventually see ‘cross-entry signature aggregation’ as a future soft fork for Bitcoin. “

Related: Bitcoin Lightning Nodes and Channels Hit All-Time Highs

In Bitcoin’s nearly 13 years of existence, the Bitcoin network has undergone many community-run hard and soft forks. While the Taproot upgrade has yet to prove its worth in the time to come, the Lightning Network continues to reach new heights.

On September 28, the Lightning Network saw a 160% increase in the number of nodes in the space of 12 months, in addition to a 170% jump in the number of channels since January 2021.

As of November 11, Bitcoin’s network capacity before the Taproot soft fork reached an all-time high of 3,220 BTC, or nearly $ 210 million.

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