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- Taproot upgrade is ready to begin its installation near November 14, 2021
- The lock-in stage of the Taproot upgrade is entirely completed with 90% of the miner’s approval
- Slush Pool is the first supporter of the upgrade among others earlier ones like Ant Pool and F2Pool
- The upgrade is significant for the privacy and speed of the transactions
- Taproot could be a game-changer for the smart contracts
Bitcoin Taproot is the first upgrade of the blockchain over the last four years, which the miners have recently approved. Such upgrade approval is a rare moment among the stakeholders and experts in the cryptosphere. Notably, it is considered to be a great deal of the world’s most popular crypto asset. However, Taproot was able to achieve the first significant milestone on road activation.
Bitcoin Taproot lock-in stage is complete
90% of the Bitcoin mining hash rate has signaled for the protocol enhancement. Indeed, Bitcoin Taproot is ready to be installed within the current complicated epoch. The Taproot.watch is created by Hampus Sjoberg, a Bitcoin developer, which shows the data regarding the lock-in stage.
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Notably, the data from the Taproot.watch has confirmed that the lock-in stage has been completed. Indeed, all the recognized mining pools signaled for the upgrade.
Mining pools that supported the upgrade
It is known that Slush Pool is the first among others to have signaled the enhancement approval. The first pool has mined block 687285, which sealed the Taproot lock-in. On the other side, Ant Pool and F2Pool were also found to be some of the earliest supporters of Bitcoin Taproot among the miners.
Why is the upgrade in November?
Pieter Wullie, a Bitcoin developer, had a conversation with Cointelegraph where he explained the steps for activation of the Bitcoin Taproot update. Wullie explained that once the lock-in stage completes, the activation gets automatic at block height 709632 as per the BIP341. Notably, it is expected the block will reach the marked height on November 14, 2021.
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According to Jason Deane, a Quantum Economics analyst, Upgrades allow possibilities of a bug entering the system. Indeed, such possibilities could destroy the entire crypto ecosystem. Following this fact, upgrade processes are carefully tested, rested, and vetted several times. Hence, the time gap till November will help developers do a lot of testing and ensure that nothing will go wrong during the upgrade.
Significance of the upgrade for the blockchain
The Bitcoin Taproot upgrade will bring greater transaction privacy and efficiency. In contrast, it will unlock several potentials of the smart contracts, which is a crucial feature of its underlying technology. Ultimately, the event will eliminate the need for mediators from even the most challenging transactions.
According to Wuille, the Taproot upgrade will extend the script capabilities of BTC. And this factor will make specific things cheaper than ever. Primarily, more challenging applications like multisig and layer-2 things will get cheaper. Notably, the upgrade will complete the transaction more privately by hiding the exact spending rules.
According to Alyse Killeen, founder of Stillmark, the Taproot upgrade matters. And the significant part of the upgrade is that it brings a broader range of opportunities for entrepreneurs interested in expanding the utility of the flagship cryptocurrency.
Killeen also highlighted that Taproot is unlike the August 2017 upgrade of the blockchain, which was referred to as the “last civil war.” And explained that the difference is the contentious ideological divide separating adherents. Hence, the upcoming upgrade has near-universal support because these changes are fairly incremental enhancements to the logic.
What changes should Bitcoiners expect?
The first effect of the Taproot makeover has everything with the digital signatures of every transaction. In the current scenario, crypto assets are using something called the Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm. Indeed, such signatures are created via private key, ensuring that the right person is making the spend.
According to Alejandro De La Torre, vice president of Poolin, Bitcoin Taproot upgrade will switch the algorithm with another known as “Schnorr signatures.” Ultimately, the multi-signature transactions will become unreadable, which means greater privacy and anonymity of users.
Smart contracts with tremendous potential
The change in the signature creation algorithm will be a game-changer for smart contracts. This means the smart contracts will be used for any transactions. Such a mechanism can be created on both BTC’s core protocol and the Lightning Network (LN) in the current scenario.
According to Killeen, the upcoming upgrade will make smart contracts cheaper and smaller in terms of size. Notably, such improvements in the functionality and efficiency of smart contracts will offer amazing potential. Ultimately as more programmers will create smart contracts in BTC, the potential of BTC will surge to be more of a player in the DeFi industry.
