DigiByte’s recent Taproot activation – rolled out via a BIP9 soft fork in early 2025 – marks a significant leap forward for the blockchain. Taproot is a suite of upgrades (originally implemented in Bitcoin in 2021) that introduces Schnorr signatures, Pay-to-Taproot (P2TR), and Merkelized Alternative Script Trees (MAST) to the network. By adopting Taproot, DigiByte aims to enhance its scalability, privacy, smart contract flexibility, and overall network efficiency, keeping the network at the cutting edge of blockchain technology. Below, we explore each of these areas and compare DigiByte’s Taproot benefits to Bitcoin’s, along with community and developer insights behind this upgrade.

Scalability Improvements

Taproot brings notable scalability improvements to DigiByte. By using Schnorr signatures and MAST, complex transactions can be “compressed” and combined, resulting in smaller transaction sizes and less data per transaction. Multiple signatures in a multi-signature (multisig) transaction can be aggregated into a single Schnorr signature, rather than each signature being recorded separately. This means that more transactions or complex scripts can fit into a block without bloating it, effectively increasing throughput. In practical terms, the Taproot upgrade cuts down on the resources needed to process data, which translates to reduced costs for users due to lower transaction fees. DigiByte has always prided itself on fast block times and high throughput, and Taproot further supports this by reducing the blockchain’s memory usage and making transaction processing more efficient. In short, Taproot helps DigiByte handle higher volume and complex transactions more smoothly and cheaply, improving scalability and fee efficiency across the network.

Privacy Enhancements

One of Taproot’s most celebrated benefits is improved privacy, which DigiByte now inherits. With P2TR and MAST, DigiByte can handle complex smart contracts while keeping them disguised as simple transactions. In practice, this means that a Taproot output doesn’t reveal whether it was a simple one-to-one payment, a multisig transaction, or a complex conditional script – they all look the same on-chain. Complex spending conditions that were hashed in a MAST are only made public if they are used, and even then only that single branch is revealed, keeping other conditions private.

Enhanced Smart Contract Functionality

Taproot significantly expands DigiByte’s smart contract capabilities within the UTXO model. By introducing MAST (Merkelized Alternative Script Trees), Taproot allows multiple complex spending conditions to be committed in a single output, but only the fulfilled condition needs to be revealed when the coins are spent. This means DigiByte can support more sophisticated scripts without cluttering the blockchain or exposing all conditions. Essentially, DigiByte inherits the same upgrade Bitcoin got: the ability to host contracts with many possible outcomes or signers while retaining the efficiency of a single-signature transaction.

Overall Network Efficiency and Security

Beyond scalability, Taproot also improves network efficiency and security for DigiByte. Schnorr signatures (BIP340), which are part of Taproot, are faster, more secure, and less data-intensive than the older ECDSA signatures DigiByte previously used. Faster signature verification means nodes can validate blocks and transactions with slightly less computational work, and batch verification of Schnorr signatures can improve efficiency when many signatures are present.

Comparison with Bitcoin’s Taproot

Since Taproot was first deployed on Bitcoin, DigiByte’s activation naturally mirrors many of the same benefits, with a few differences in implementation and context. Functionally, Taproot on DigiByte works very similarly to Taproot on Bitcoin. Both networks see lower fees due to reduced transaction sizes and the ability to combine multiple actions into one output.

Community and Developer Insights

The decision to activate Taproot on DigiByte was driven by a desire to keep the blockchain technologically on par with Bitcoin, and it was met with broad support and careful planning. DigiByte’s miner community showed strong support for the upgrade. The DigiByte community has been overwhelmingly positive about Taproot. The successful activation – with no disruptions – was seen as a major milestone that sets new standards in blockchain technology for DigiByte, reinforcing its reputation as one of the fastest and most forward-thinking UTXO blockchains.

Just The Beginning! 

The activation of Taproot on DigiByte is a pivotal upgrade that enhances the network on multiple fronts. By improving scalability, boosting privacy, expanding smart contract functionality, and increasing efficiency and security, Taproot positions DigiByte for future growth and innovation. DigiByte’s adoption of Bitcoin’s proven upgrade helps maintain its competitiveness while preserving its core values of decentralization and technological advancement.

Bibliography

1. DigiByte Foundation (2025). Official Taproot Activation Announcement.

2. Bitcoin Core Developers (2021). Taproot BIP Documentation.

3. DigiByte Developers (2025). Taproot Deployment and Testing Updates.

4. Community Discussions on DigiByte Discord and Twitter.

5. Jared Tate (2025). Insights on Taproot and Network Scalability.