What Is Taproot and How Might It Benefit Bitcoin?

From the Binance Academy.

TL;DR

Along with Schnorr signatures, Taproot is one of the most anticipated technological upgrades to Bitcoin since the introduction of SegWit. Taproot’s goal is to change the way Bitcoin’s scripts operate to improve privacy, scalability, and security. This and more will be made possible by combining Taproot with a related upgrade called Schnorr signatures.

Anyone familiar with the cryptocurrency community knows that privacy, scalability, and security are major concerns. While Bitcoin is the most popular cryptocurrency in the world, these issues still need to be addressed. Taproot aims to do just that.

How will Taproot benefit Bitcoin?

As we’ve already discussed, Taproot will bring major improvements to Bitcoin’s privacy. When combined with Schnorr signatures, Taproot may also boost efficiency when performing transactions. Besides enhanced privacy, other potential benefits include:

• Reduced amount of data to be transferred and stored on the blockchain.
• More transactions per block (higher TPS rate).
• Lower transaction fees.

Another benefit to Taproot is the fact that signatures will no longer be malleable, which is a known security risk in the Bitcoin network. Simply put, signature malleability means that it’s technically possible to alter the signature of a transaction before it gets confirmed. By doing this, the attack would make it appear as if the transaction never happened. This leaves Bitcoin exposed to the infamous double-spending problem, which could ruin the integrity of the distributed ledger.

Closing thoughts

Taproot is a highly anticipated and widely supported upgrade to Bitcoin. If it gets implemented along with Schnorr signatures, we will see significant improvements in terms of privacy, scalability, security, and more. These upgrades can also generate more interest around the Lightning Network and encourage multisig to be more of an industry standard.

Regardless of your involvement in the Bitcoin community, the added benefits of improved privacy, efficiency, and security will likely impact your experience using Bitcoin.

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