Taproot (2021) lets complex Bitcoin spending conditions look like ordinary payments, using Schnorr signatures and hidden script branches. Learn how.
The idea
Most of the time, everyone involved in a complex contract agrees. Taproot makes that common case look like a simple single-signature payment, and only reveals the complex conditions if they're actually needed.
Two ways to spend
- Key path: a single Schnorr signature for the output key. With MuSig2, that key can represent many people agreeing.
- Script path: reveal one branch of a tree of scripts (a merkle tree, sometimes called MAST) plus a proof that it was committed to. The other branches stay hidden forever.
Benefits
- Privacy: multisig, timelocks and Lightning channels can look like ordinary payments.
- Efficiency: 64-byte signatures, and only the used branch goes on-chain.
- Flexibility: Tapscript, the updated Script for script paths, makes future upgrades easier.
Details
- Activated at block 709,632 in November 2021 as a soft fork (BIPs 340, 341, 342).
- Output type P2TR; addresses start with bc1p and use Bech32m.
A simple analogy
Think of a safe with a front door and some emergency side doors. Usually everyone agrees and uses the front door (one signature), and nobody ever learns the side doors existed. Only if someone needs a side door (a script branch) is that one door revealed, and the others stay secret.
Should my wallet use Taproot?
If your wallet supports bc1p addresses, using them is a good default: spending is cheap, and every Taproot user makes the others harder to tell apart.
Key takeaways
- Taproot outputs can be spent with one signature or one hidden script branch.
- It uses Schnorr signatures and Bech32m bc1p addresses.
- Complex contracts can look like normal payments.
Common questions
Should I use a Taproot address?
If your wallet supports it, yes. It's efficient and good for privacy. Native SegWit is also fine.
Is Taproot more private for single-key wallets?
Mostly it's about blending in: the more people use Taproot, the less any one spend stands out.
When did Taproot activate?
At block 709,632 in November 2021.
Can all wallets send to Taproot addresses?
Most modern wallets and exchanges can. A few older services may not yet.