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What is Taproot?
Taproot is a Bitcoin upgrade, activated in 2021, that added a new output type using Schnorr signatures. A coin can be locked to one key while also carrying hidden backup spending rules that are revealed only if used, so most spends look like ordinary single-signature payments.
What it means for you
When a Taproot coin is spent through its main key, the spend reveals neither the backup conditions nor whether several people's keys stood behind the signature, which keeps more of your security setup private on a public ledger. If a backup rule is used instead, only that one rule is revealed, not the others.
How it works
BIP-341 defines a SegWit version 1 output whose 32-byte witness program is a public key. It can be spent two ways. The key path needs a single Schnorr signature (BIP-340: 64-byte signatures and 32-byte public keys on the secp256k1 curve). The script path reveals one script from a Merkle tree of alternative scripts, plus proof that it belongs to the tree; the other branches stay hidden. Schnorr signatures are linear, so several parties can produce one signature valid for the sum of their public keys. Taproot activated at block height 709,632.
Sources: BIP-341: Taproot: SegWit version 1 spending rules, BIP-340: Schnorr Signatures for secp256k1 · checked 4 October 2026
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