Coinbase Allows Bitcoin Transactions to Taproot Addresses

Coinbase has announced a major update for its users, which will allow them to send bitcoin to Taproot addresses on October 8.

This integration expands Taproot's accessibility, improving privacy, scalability, and security. With the latest support, Coinbase has joined prominent crypto exchanges such as Binance, OKX, and Kraken.

in your x.com/CoinbaseAssets/status/1843712761391399318″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener” data-wpel-link=”external”>tweetdeclared the crypto exchange,

“We are excited to announce that Coinbase․com users can now send bitcoin to Taproot addresses, creating access to more on-chain destinations.”

bitcoin developer Greg Maxwell initially introduced the Taproot proposal in 2018. bitcoin developer Pieter Wuille later coded the update.

Activated in November 2021 with 90% approval from bitcoin miners, the Taproot upgrade is a soft fork that maintains backward compatibility with older bitcoin software, avoiding the disruption of a hard fork. This update includes three bitcoin improvement proposals: BIP340 (Schnorr Signatures), BIP341 (Taproot), and BIP342 (Tapscript), designed to increase privacy, efficiency, and smart contract capabilities on the bitcoin network.

Although its adoption curve has been slow, CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju noted a significant increase in January, with Taproot usage jumping from 1% to 39% in a year.

In addition to making transactions more efficient, Taproot's support for advanced smart contracts has enabled innovations like BRC-20 and Runes, native bitcoin tokens. He also played a crucial role in the emergence of Ordinals, a protocol that allows unique data inscriptions on bitcoin, just like nfts on other blockchains.

bitcoin transaction costs surpassed those of ethereum in November 2023, largely due to the influence of bitcoin Ordinals. BitInfoChart data btc–eth.html#3m” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener” data-wpel-link=”external”>revealed that the average bitcoin transaction fee was $10.34, reversing ethereum's average fee of $8.43 on November 20.

The update further fueled the emergence of Taproot-based startups such as Taproot Wizards and Tap Protocol, which specialize in developing the bitcoin Ordinals ecosystem.

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