Thread: the Schnorr/Taproot update is coming up very soon, and it's a big deal for #bitcoin . Let's take a look at what it means. 1/ https://bit.ly/2Ygiukt 

So what is Schnorr/Taproot? In short: a huge improvement. To expand, it’s actually three Bitcoin Improvement Proposals that have been years in the making. Schnoor and Taproot are the names of the big two. 2/

Schnoor essentially allows what are called “Schnoor signatures,” an efficient way of processing multisig transactions like single signature transactions, to the protocol. Taproot builds on these signatures. 3/

It does this by utilizing the approach of Schnoor signatures on other types of complex transactions. We go more into detail on this in the post. What we want to focus on here is what you and developers gain from it. 4/

For the everyday user, Schnorr/Taproot increases the fungibility and privacy of #Bitcoin . For it to be fungible, every unit needs to be valued the same as every other unit. Take the US dollar: a dollar is a dollar no matter what it was used for. 5/

Currently with #Bitcoin , transactions are publicly broadcasted on the blockchain. And being able to identify the past use of certain coins has the potential to ‘taint’ them and make them less valuable than ‘clean’ coins. 6/

With Schnorr signatures and Taproot, all transactions appear to be of the same kind on the blockchain. Privacy is increased in a very similar way. 7/

For developers and exchanges, the benefits of this upgrade come in the form of efficiency. Developers can write more complex smart contracts on top of #bitcoin without heavily burdening the blockchain. And exchanges can run complex smart contracts much cheaper. 8/

There's a lot of testing needed for a change this big, so it has yet to be activated. And once activated, it needs to be implemented in order to be functional. It's cooperation toward adoption. And it's very exciting. 9/

Again, the post goes into much more detail. If you're excited about big #bitcoin developments, you'll want to read every detail. Let us know what you think! /end