Bitcoin’s Biggest Network Update in Years Improves Privacy and Scalability, Introduces Smart Contracts

The Bitcoin network has received a major technical upgrade known as Taproot, which is the network's most significant update since 2017. The latest version went live on November 14 and will let developers to implement new features that will improve the Bitcoin network's privacy, scalability, and security. Since June, when over 90% of miners elected to "signal" their support, the update has been anticipated.

Between the lock-in and the activation date, a waiting time was established. This time period has allowed node operators to update to the most recent version of Bitcoin Core, 21.1, which includes the merged code for Taproot. The update is the first substantial change to the network's code since the introduction of Segregated Witness, or SegWit, in 2017, which addressed network scaling difficulties. Taproot is the culmination of a series of technological advances over the years bundled into one significant overhaul, which has received widespread community support since its conception.