Taproot is the Bitcoin soft fork that activated at block 709,632 on November 14, 2021. It is three BIPs: BIP 340 (Schnorr signatures), BIP 341 (Taproot spending rules, SegWit version 1) and BIP 342 (Tapscript).

What does Taproot do for users?

Complex spending conditions, such as multisig or timelocks, can look like an ordinary single-signature payment when everyone agrees, which saves block space and improves privacy. Unused script branches are never revealed.

How was Taproot activated?

With Speedy Trial: miners signaled on version bit 2, and 90% of the blocks in one 2,016-block period had to signal. That threshold was reached and Taproot locked in at block 687,284 in June 2021; it activated at block 709,632.

What is a Taproot address?

A SegWit version 1 address that starts with bc1p, encoded in Bech32m (BIP 350).

Did Taproot enable Ordinals?

Indirectly. Taproot removed the size limit on individual scripts in Tapscript, and in 2023 Ordinals inscriptions used that to store data in the witness. That debate led to proposals such as BIP 110.

Taproot explained

Bitcoin's 2021 upgrade, in plain English: what it changed, the three BIPs behind it, and how miners switched it on.

Taproot in one paragraph

Taproot lets a Bitcoin output be spent two ways: by a single key, which can stand in for a group that agrees, or by revealing one branch of a tree of scripts. When everyone cooperates, a ten-person multisig spends with one 64-byte Schnorr signature and looks like any other payment. When they do not, only the branch actually used is published. Less data on chain, more privacy, and room for new contract types.

The three BIPs

BIP 340 · Schnorr signatures: A 64-byte signature scheme over secp256k1. Signatures can be aggregated off-chain (MuSig2), which is what makes many-key spends look like one. Source
BIP 341 · Taproot: The SegWit version 1 output type and its spending rules: key path or script path through a Merkle tree of scripts (MAST). Requires BIP 340. Source
BIP 342 · Tapscript: The script rules inside Taproot: CHECKSIGADD for multisig, Schnorr checks, and room for future upgrades through OP_SUCCESS opcodes. Requires 340 and 341. Source

How miners activated it

Taproot was the first soft fork activated with Speedy Trial: a short, three-month signaling window using version bits. Miners set bit 2 in the block header; if 90% of blocks in any 2,016-block retarget period signaled, the change would lock in. The threshold was met in the period ending at block 687,284 in June 2021, and the new rules became active at block 709,632, on November 14, 2021, giving node operators five months to upgrade.

For miners, signaling is cheap and the risk is in the details: a pool that signals but runs old software can mine an invalid block once rules are active. Taproot went through without a split.

Taproot timeline

Date	Event
Jan 2018	Greg Maxwell describes Taproot on the bitcoin-dev mailing list
May 2019	Pieter Wuille posts the Taproot proposal; BIP drafts follow
Jan 2020	BIPs 340, 341 and 342 are assigned numbers
May 2021	Signaling window opens (Bitcoin Core 0.21.1 ships Speedy Trial)
Jun 2021	90% threshold reached; locked in at block 687,284
Nov 14, 2021	Active at block 709,632

Questions

What is Taproot?: Taproot is the Bitcoin soft fork that activated at block 709,632 on November 14, 2021. It is three BIPs: BIP 340 (Schnorr signatures), BIP 341 (Taproot spending rules, SegWit version 1) and BIP 342 (Tapscript).
What does Taproot do for users?: Complex spending conditions, such as multisig or timelocks, can look like an ordinary single-signature payment when everyone agrees, which saves block space and improves privacy. Unused script branches are never revealed.
How was Taproot activated?: With Speedy Trial: miners signaled on version bit 2, and 90% of the blocks in one 2,016-block period had to signal. That threshold was reached and Taproot locked in at block 687,284 in June 2021; it activated at block 709,632.
What is a Taproot address?: A SegWit version 1 address that starts with bc1p, encoded in Bech32m (BIP 350).
Did Taproot enable Ordinals?: Indirectly. Taproot removed the size limit on individual scripts in Tapscript, and in 2023 Ordinals inscriptions used that to store data in the witness. That debate led to proposals such as BIP 110.

Sources

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