Bitcoin Miners Finally Approve Taproot Proposal

Bitcoin is about to get a significant upgrade. A proposal called Taproot finally received the 90% approval rating it needed to start the Speedy Trial phase before officially joining the Bitcoin Core software at the heart of the cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin Core developer Gregory Maxwell proposed Taproot in January 2018 in a bid to make Bitcoin transactions more efficient, private, and scalable via smart contracts. (More information about the proposal is available via the Bitcoin Optech website.)

Marathon Mining CEO Mark Thiel told CNBC that improved smart contracts are “the primary driver of innovation on the ethereum network.” He said improving support for them should allow more complex apps and businesses to be built using Bitcoin.

Taproot’s activation code is available now via Bitcoin Core 0.21.1, which can be downloaded from the Bitcoin Core website.

Nathaniel Mott
Freelance News & Features Writer

Nathaniel Mott is a freelance news and features writer for Tom's Hardware US, covering breaking news, security, and the silliest aspects of the tech industry.