The Bitcoin (BTC) has now activated the so-called Bitcoin taproot upgrade after reaching block 709,632. This is one of the most important milestones (aside from price) reached by the Bitcoin blockchain in recent years. In addition, this is the first upgrade to Bitcoin since Swgwit’s implementation back in 2017. 

Bitcoin Taproot Is Now Active

Bitcoin Taproot is now active after several months waiting for the network upgrade. The Bitcoin blockchain is now running with the Bitcoin Taproot upgrade that has been activated through a soft fork at block 709,632. 

This milestone is very important for the Bitcoin community. It is worth considering that every single time that there is a proposed upgrade for the Bitcoin network, it is necessary for the whole ecosystem and community to discuss it. Moreover, it requires a majority approval from network participants, meaning that every single new improvement requires an almost unanimous consensus from the network. 

With this new upgrade, the Bitcoin network becomes more privacy for those transactions that require multiple signatures, known as multi-sig transactions. Moreover, there might be a possibility for the Bitcoin network to run more advanced smart contracts in the future. Better and more advanced smart contracts means that it might be possible to unleash a new set of functionalities for Bitcoin. 

Alyse Killeen, the founder and managing partner of the Bitcoin-focused venture firm Stillmark, explains that Taproot is a very important upgrade that opens new opportunities for entrepreneurs and investors around the world. 

On the matter, Mrs Killeen stated:

“Taproot matters, because it opens a breadth of opportunity for entrepreneurs interested in expanding Bitcoin’s utility.”

This is something that can already be reflected in Bitcoin’s price. The virtual currency registered almost 5% gains in the last seven days, according to data shared by CoinGecko. At the time of writing this article, Bitcoin is being traded close to $64,400 and it has a market valuation of over $1.20 trillion. 

Bitcoin has been in a bull trend throughout 2021. The most popular virtual currency started moving higher right after the COVID-19 crisis hit the markets in March 2020. Since that moment, BTC has been in a bull trend or in consolidation periods. 

Additionally, there has been a larger interest from companies and institutional investors that wanted to be part of the crypto market. Nowadays, several firms from different countries are holding Bitcoin and could increase their holdings in the coming years. Moreover, El Salvador was the first country that made Bitcoin legal tender alongside the U.S. Dollar (USD).