Welcome all, to this final installment of Chasing Bitcoin! As we reach the present-day in the Bitcoin story, we realize that things are just beginning to get interesting. As the world’s leading cryptocurrency grows, so will the news cycle around it.
Bitcoin continued to trade in a range this week as the price has dropped a trivial 0.6% in the last seven days. Prices of most assets, crypto and otherwise, are uncertain right now as investors watch for Fed actions and the increasing omicron variant case count. Bitcoin natives hope that the Taproot upgrade made to the network at the end of 2021 will increase its adoption by improving the network’s real-world use case in these unsure times.
The Taproot upgrade, implemented this past November, was the first major upgrade made to the blockchain since 2017. The most significant improvement made by Taproot is the smart contract functionality. Schnoor signatures are digital signatures proposed by Claus Schnoor and added to Bitcoin during the upgrade. These signatures allow Bitcoin developers to more easily create robust smart contracts on Bitcoin.
Improved smart contract functionality allows Bitcoin to be more useable for emerging industries like DeFi. The taproot will also make Bitcoin transactions cheaper and more private. This is done through multi-signature transactions becoming more standard and using fewer data overall.
The Bitcoin story is a long, winding, unfinished rollercoaster. Just as things seem to be reaching a high, in comes the drop. But at Token Metrics, we love rollercoasters, and we would much rather be on this wild ride than be watching from the sidelines. Thank you for reading Chasing Bitcoin. Never forget, the moon is not the limit, to the moon and beyond!
