The most significant update in four years to the computer software that underpins the world’s largest digital token was approved this past weekend with little fanfare.
While the main advance makes the network easier to use for certain big embedded applications called smart contracts, the so-called Taproot update could also let more people use privacy wallets and services that make it harder to figure out who paid whom.
Taproot won’t quite make Bitcoin a direct competitor to the most used crypto network; Ethereum has more developer activity and features, and is easier to use.
“It will honestly take years for the developers to figure out how they are going to implement these new transaction types,” said Nic Carter, general partner at Castle Island Ventures.
One key feature is so-called aggregated public key multi-signature, which effectively hides some of the complexities of a transaction posted to the Bitcoin network.
“Taproot has little impact on the traceability of Bitcoin,” said Tom Robinson, co-founder of Elliptic.