> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://startower.gitbook.io/star-tower-chain/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://startower.gitbook.io/star-tower-chain/btc-wallet/what-is-taproot.md).

# What is Taproot?

Bitcoin Taproot is an important upgrade to the Bitcoin protocol that aims to improve Bitcoin's privacy, security, and scalability. It was activated in November 2021 and is another important upgrade for Bitcoin since the SegWit upgrade in 2017.

The main goal of the Taproot upgrade is to improve the privacy of Bitcoin. Traditional Bitcoin transactions are public, which means that they can be seen by everyone, including information such as transaction inputs, outputs, and transaction amounts. This public transaction method may expose users' private information, such as the flow of funds in the transaction, holders, and other information. The Taproot upgrade uses a new scripting language and transaction signing method, which can merge multiple transactions into a single transaction, making transactions more private. In this way, the input and output information of the transaction can be hidden, and only the final result of the transaction will be made public, thereby improving the privacy of Bitcoin.

In addition, the Taproot upgrade can also improve the security of Bitcoin. The new scripting language can support more transaction types, including multi-signature and time lock transactions, thereby improving the security of Bitcoin. At the same time, this upgrade can also reduce transaction fees and transaction confirmation time, and improve the scalability of Bitcoin.

In short, Bitcoin Taproot is an important upgrade of the Bitcoin protocol, which aims to improve the privacy, security and scalability of Bitcoin. Its activation lays a more solid foundation for the future development of Bitcoin.