Bitcoin Taproot Upgrade Has Been "Locked In," Set to Officially Launch This November
What Is the Bitcoin Taproot Upgrade
Taproot is not actually a new topic that emerged recently. It is a Bitcoin improvement proposal that was first introduced in 2018 by Gregory Maxwell, a developer of Bitcoin Core (Bitcoin Core). Put simply, the Bitcoin Taproot upgrade is a protocol upgrade proposal aimed at enhancing Bitcoin's privacy and flexibility. This upgrade is regarded as a highly significant milestone by the Bitcoin community. As we know, over Bitcoin's 12-year history, there has never been a single serious security incident — a testament to the nearly flawless underlying system designed by Nakamoto, which balances security, privacy, and efficiency. This advantage has also become an important foundation for Bitcoin's growing recognition and acceptance among investors and mainstream society. The Bitcoin Taproot upgrade discussed today follows the same philosophy, and within the industry, this upgrade is expected to be the most significant Bitcoin upgrade since 2017.
In recent years, compared to technology upgrades on emerging public chains like Ethereum, Cosmos, and Polkadot, market attention toward Bitcoin network upgrades has been comparatively lower. The most直观对比 can be seen in the fact that when the EIP-1559 proposal aimed at improving Ethereum trading fee mechanisms was introduced, it sparked prolonged industry discussions. In contrast, since the Bitcoin Taproot upgrade was proposed, industry discussion has been relatively quiet. However, even after Bitcoin has been running stably for over a decade, Bitcoin community developers have never stopped working. According to statistics on Github, whether in terms of commits in the past 90 days or total commits, Bitcoin leads ahead of Ethereum and other competitors.
Bitcoin Github data overview, source qkl123
Ethereum Github data overview, source qkl123
Comparing the two charts above, we can see that the Bitcoin community has 802 developers with a total of 29,629 Github commits; the Ethereum community has 620 developers with a total of 12,690 commits. This simple comparison gives us even more reason to look forward to the Bitcoin Taproot upgrade.
What Exactly Does the Bitcoin Taproot Upgrade Include?
The Bitcoin Taproot upgrade is essentially a Bitcoin network soft fork, primarily introducing new features and information to Bitcoin in the form of Bitcoin Improvement Proposals (BIPs). This process is actually quite similar to Ethereum's upcoming London upgrade. The Ethereum London upgrade has been confirmed to include 5 EIPs, and the Bitcoin Taproot upgrade is an integrated "upgraded version" of three BIPs — meaning the Taproot upgrade comprises three parts: Schnorr Signatures (BIP-340), Taproot (BIP-341), and Tapscript (BIP-342). Let's briefly analyze each of these three BIPs below.
First is BIP-340, which is Schnorr Signatures. It should be noted that Schnorr Signatures is a digital signature algorithm named after German mathematician and cryptographer Claus-Peter Schnorr. Because the algorithm was under patent protection before 2008, Nakamoto did not use this signature algorithm when designing the Bitcoin protocol, choosing instead the open-source Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) that was available at the time. However, Bitcoin Core developers discovered in subsequent practice that Schnorr Signatures can aggregate multiple keys from complex Bitcoin transactions and produce a single unique signature, and its simplicity and efficiency in generating short signatures are clearly superior. This means that when multiple signatures are involved, they can be "aggregated" into a single signature — an aggregate signature. Therefore, an increasing number of developers believe that Schnorr Signatures is the future of Bitcoin, and integrating Schnorr Signatures into the Bitcoin network has long been on many Bitcoin developers' wish lists.
Next is BIP-341, which is the focal point of this upgrade — Taproot. Taproot is a solution built on Schnorr Signatures. What problem does it aim to solve? As we all know, the Bitcoin network is composed of code. When user Alice makes a transfer, the BTC she sends is actually associated with a script, and the instructions under this script tell the network what Alice can do with the BTC. This is the simplest transfer process — providing a signature via private key to prove that user Alice can control those BTC.
However, in reality, people can conduct more complex transactions on the Bitcoin network (such as smart contracts, or code defining agreements between sender and receiver), or require multiple signatures before using tokens, or impose a waiting period known as a "time lock." When this BTC is ultimately spent, these scripts become publicly visible on the Bitcoin blockchain. As a result, this adds a significant amount of data to an already large Bitcoin network, while potentially exposing details about the parties involved in the transaction and compromising their privacy.
Taproot can encapsulate complex transaction conditions and fund usage details, then re-encrypt all of this content and publish it as a new fund usage condition on the Bitcoin network. This process largely relies on Schnorr Signatures' aggregate signatures to complete, providing users with an additional layer of protection when spending BTC — specifically, the ability to choose between a complex arbitrary script and a simple payment to a public key. Additionally, since multisignature outputs, single-signature outputs, and other complex smart contracts all look identical on the blockchain, much blockchain analysis will no longer be applicable, maximizing the privacy protection for Bitcoin network users.
Finally, there is BIP-342, Tapscript. This proposal adds and updates several opcodes, which are part of the machine language instructions that specify operations to be executed. These new scripts facilitate the verification of Taproot spending and Schnorr Signatures, collectively known as Tapscript, maximizing the flexibility of P2TR spending and benefiting future upgrades. To understand it in simpler terms, it improves script functionality and privacy by only revealing the relevant parts of a contract at the time of spending, making smart contracts more efficient and private.
In short, the core of the Taproot upgrade lies in Schnorr Signatures. Built on the Schnorr signature algorithm, Taproot can bring entirely new combinations and possibilities to Bitcoin in terms of performance, privacy, and even smart contracts. As the founder of Coin Swap stated, "This architecture will provide the maximum possible anonymity settings for fixed-party smart contracts, making them look like the simplest payment methods."
What Is the Current Status of Taproot?
As Bitcoin's audience continues to expand, Bitcoin has become a super project with tens of millions of stakeholders worldwide, including developers, miners, institutions, and individuals. Therefore, substantial changes like the Taproot upgrade must gain broad consensus before they can be implemented. For this upgrade to proceed smoothly, it requires support from more than 90% of miners within a specified timeframe. According to data from Taproot.watch, as of June 12, 2021, BIP-341 had already received support "signals" from more than 90% of miners, and Bitcoin enthusiasts even made videos to celebrate.
Screenshot of video made by Bitcoin enthusiasts celebrating the "lock-in" of the Taproot upgrade proposal, source taproot.watch
What Happens Next?
Since the current Taproot upgrade has successfully been "locked in" with support from over 90% of miners, the next activation phase is essentially a 5-month waiting period. That means from June 12 onward until November when BIP-341 is formally deployed, miners and every Bitcoin node will have ample opportunity to update their software to the latest version of Bitcoin Core, which includes the Taproot soft fork activation logic along with several other improvements.
Then, in November, when Bitcoin reaches the designated block height of 709,632, Taproot will be formally activated. At that time, all upgraded nodes and devices will be able to recognize and accept transactions using the upgrade protocol.
After Taproot is officially activated, developers in the Bitcoin ecosystem will leverage the suite of tools brought by Taproot — particularly Schnorr Signatures — to replace Bitcoin's current Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA).
Conclusion
In the long run, Taproot's tooling and encoding improvements will drive overall Bitcoin performance enhancements, deliver better user experience, and introduce privacy improvements for multisignature technology, privacy software, and even scaling technologies like the Lightning Network. With Taproot, all parties in a transaction can cooperate — they combine multiple public keys to create a new public key, and with Schnorr Signatures, combine their signatures to create a new signature, making what was originally a complex transaction appear as a standard peer-to-peer transaction. For certain types of complex transactions, Taproot will strengthen privacy while reducing the amount of data required for transactions, thereby lowering transaction costs that are approaching historical highs due to Bitcoin's growing popularity.
Disclaimer
This article may contain product-related content that does not apply to your region. This article is intended to provide general information only and does not accept responsibility for any factual errors or omissions. This article represents the author's personal views only and does not represent OKX 's views. This article is not intended to provide any advice, including but not limited to: (i) investment advice or investment recommendations; (ii) offers or solicitations to buy, sell, or hold digital assets; or (iii) financial, accounting, legal, or tax advice. Holding digital assets (including stablecoins) involves a high degree of risk, may fluctuate significantly, and may even become worthless. You should carefully consider whether trading or holding digital assets is appropriate for you based on your financial situation. For questions specific to your circumstances, please consult your legal/tax/investment professional. The information contained in this article (including market data and statistics, if any) is provided for general reference purposes only. While we have taken all reasonable precautions in preparing such data and charts, we do not accept any responsibility for factual errors or omissions expressed herein. © 2025 OKX. This article may be reproduced or distributed in its entirety, or excerpts of 100 words or less may be used, provided that such use is non-commercial in nature. Any reproduction or distribution of the full article must prominently state: "This article is copyrighted © 2025 OKX, used with permission." Permitted excerpts must cite the article title and include attribution, for example "Article title, [author name (if applicable)], © 2025 OKX." Some content may have been generated or assisted by artificial intelligence (AI) tools. Derivative works and other uses of this article are not permitted.
Show More
Recommended Reading
OKX Pay: Ushering in the Next Generation of Crypto Payments
Trusted by tens of millions of users. Register with OKX for an exceptional trading experience and a wide range of wealth management products. A letter from OKX CEO Star: Today, we are officially launching the first version of OKX Pay to over 100 million global users. As the industry's first payment application to truly achieve a fusion of non-custodial and compliant services, OKX Pay will be embedded within the OKX App and is currently available in select markets, with full
March 22, 2026
A New Chapter: Building the Next Generation of Financial Infrastructure Together
The partnership between OKX and the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) represents a significant milestone for OKX and holds equally profound meaning for the evolution of the entire digital assets market. ICE operates and maintains some of the world's most critical financial infrastructure, including the New York Stock Exchange and global derivatives and clearing platforms. This investment in OKX by ICE Select and their joining our Board of Directors reflects our shared conviction that digital assets technology will
March 10, 2026
Reflecting on Another Year of Building
As OKX's CEO and a builder who stays true to the original mission, I am proud to look back on the extraordinary growth and progress OKX has achieved this year. Despite formidable challenges, 2024 was a year defined by focus, innovation, and resilience. We not only expanded and optimized our products, but also made significant strides in launching transparent and regulation-compliant localized businesses, while further strengthening our global management team. It is worth noting that after
January 29, 2026
2025: Steady Progress Toward Financial Freedom
— An End-of-Year Letter to Global Users from Star, Founder and CEO of OKX "Financial freedom" is often misunderstood. It does not mean the absence of rules, but rather having the freedom to choose even when rules exist — and when the system is truly put to the test, it remains reliable and effective. This is precisely what we remained focused on throughout 2025. First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to our global customers, partners, and regulators for
January 16, 2026
OKX Officially Launches in Germany and Poland
By Erald Ghoos, CEO of OKX Europe Today is a significant day for OKX — and for crypto users across Europe. We have officially launched a fully compliant centralized cryptocurrency trading platform in Germany and Poland! For us, this is not just a geographic expansion, but a commitment to building the future of cryptocurrency the right way: safe, transparent, and tailored to local needs. If you are in Germany
October 21, 2025
Partnership Upgrade! OKX and Standard Chartered Expand Into Europe
On October 15, Erald Ghoos, CEO of OKX Europe, stated that OKX is expanding its strategic partnership with Standard Chartered into the European Economic Area (EEA). Earlier this year, OKX and Standard Chartered first joined forces in the UAE, launching the collateral mirroring initiative — a
October 15, 2025
