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Taproot Activation

#709632 · 2021/11/14 · Technical

Taproot, Bitcoin's most significant upgrade since SegWit, activated. It introduced Schnorr signatures, improved privacy, enabled more complex smart contracts, and reduced transaction fees.

This event is part of Bitcoin history — See the full Bitcoin timeline

Bitcoin's Next Evolution

On November 14, 2021, Taproot was activated at block #709632. This was Bitcoin's most significant protocol upgrade since SegWit in 2017. Taproot introduced three key improvements through BIPs 340, 341, and 342: Schnorr signatures, Taproot outputs, and Tapscript.

Schnorr signatures replace ECDSA, offering multiple benefits: they are more efficient, enable signature aggregation (making multi-signature transactions look like regular ones), and improve privacy. Taproot makes complex smart contracts indistinguishable from simple payments on the blockchain.

Technical Advances

Upgrade Type

Soft Fork

Activation Block

#709632

Key BIPs

340 (Schnorr), 341 (Taproot), 342 (Tapscript)

Privacy Impact

Complex scripts look like simple payments

Fee Reduction

~10-25% for multi-sig

Taproot also laid the groundwork for more advanced use cases on Bitcoin, including Ordinals (inscriptions), enhanced multi-signature wallets, and more sophisticated smart contracts — all while maintaining Bitcoin's core principles of security and decentralization.