Bitcoin Just Got A Major Security Upgrade: Here’s What You Need To Know

The first major security update since 2017 comes after the world’s biggest cryptocurrency hit a record high.

It’s now safer than ever to trade in Bitcoin, the world’s largest and most popular cryptocurrency.

Citing The Block, Inside Hook reports that the Bitcoin network has added a long awaited “Taproot” code. The new feature “introduces signatures that make more complex transactions—such as those from multi-signature wallets—look like just any other transaction.”

Taproot will make it harder for would-be Bitcoin thieves to see when an unusually large transaction is taking place, which should translate to more overall privacy and security.

Taproot’s arrival marks Bitcoin’s first major security upgrade since 2017. It’s been in the works since July, during which time the code was tested to ensure nothing goes wrong.

“Upgrades allow the – extremely remote – possibility of a bug entering the system, which would destroy confidence in the whole cryptocurrency system, effectively wiping it out – a ‘self-inflicted wound’ if you like,” Jason Deane, an analyst at Quantum Economics, told CNBC.

Assuming there are no Taproot-caused issues, it will have been worth the wait to avoid the sort of temporary catastrophe that occurred in 2013, when an erroneous update accidentally caused Bitcoin’s value to be halved.

Bitcoin is one of many major cryptocurrencies that recently hit all-time highs. At the time of publication, BTC was trading at $69,909, surpassing the $67,582 record it posted in early November.