Chill Guy is a viral meme illustration that took social media by storm before a crypto project used the meme to launch a Solana-based token. Learn more here.

What started as a simple illustration of a laid-back dog has become a global meme sensation, with the cartoon character known as Chill Guy dominating both social media trends and cryptocurrency markets. Created by artist Phillip Banks in October 2023, the easygoing canine character sparked a viral movement that has attracted major brands worldwide.

This article follows Chill Guy’s transformation from a social media sensation to a cryptocurrency asset. We'll examine its viral beginnings, community growth, market impact and what potential investors can expect from CHILLGUY in the future.

 is a viral meme illustration by artist Phillip Banks, depicting a laid-back dog in casual clothes whose easygoing attitude took social media by storm before a crypto project used the meme to launch Just a Chill Guy as a Solana-based token.

What Does Just a Chill Guy Aim to Achieve?

The CHILLGUY meme coin aims to spread a "Why worry?" philosophy into cryptocurrency markets by embracing the laid-back, stress-free attitude that made the original meme go viral. The project transforms this easygoing vibe into a community-driven token, where being low-key isn't just a catchphrase — it's a shared mindset among holders.

The CHILLGUY community brings this philosophy to life by sharing endless variations of the CHILLGUY meme across social platforms. Through market swings and viral trends, CHILLGUY keeps his iconic pose: hands in pockets, subtle smirk, perpetually relaxed.

Just a Chill Guy (CHILLGUY) operates as a Solana Program Library (SPL) token on the 

 blockchain, leveraging the network's ultrafast speeds and low costs to ensure smooth trading. The token was created using Pump.fun, a specialized platform that lets users launch Solana-based tokens without any fees, removing traditional barriers to token creation.

CHILLGUY is a community takeover (CTO), meaning it's completely owned and directed by its token holders with no central team in control. This decentralized structure ensures the project stays true to its community-driven nature, its holders collectively guiding its future while embodying the laid-back spirit of the original meme.

The CHILLGUY token launched with a maximum supply of 1 billion tokens, of which 999,965,435 are currently in circulation. This near-complete distribution of tokens to the market supports active trading and community participation.

What makes CHILLGUY's tokenomics particularly notable is its widespread distribution across more than 142,000 unique holders (as of Nov 27, 2024), achieved in just 12 days. This rapid expansion of its holder base demonstrates strong community adoption and aligns with the project's decentralized, community-driven principles.

CHILLGUY has exploded across social media, especially on TikTok, where the meme has amassed hundreds of millions of views. Its laid-back character resonates with users worldwide, inspiring countless creative adaptations.

Major brands worldwide have embraced CHILLGUY in their marketing campaigns. From Sprite Europe to NFL on CBS, the character has resonated across mainstream media, even catching the attention of global figures like El Salvador's president Nayib Bukele.

The “Chill Guy” meme’s influence spans multiple social media platforms, with a growing community of followers: 96.6K on X (

). On the other hand, the meme token itself also has a vast community, with 39.9K on X (

) and an active Telegram channel of over 15,000 members. These numbers reflect the meme's ability to engage audiences across different platforms.

The token's popularity in cryptocurrency markets matches its social media success, with CHILLGUY maintaining a substantial 24-hour trading volume of over $330.03M as of Nov 27, 2024. This high trading activity demonstrates the strong market interest in CHILLGUY beyond its meme status.

Looking to trade Just a Chill Guy tokens? Bybit now offers the CHILLGUY/USDT Spot trading pair and CHILLGUYUSDT Perpetual contract. To get started, you’ll first need to create a Bybit account, then fund it with cryptocurrency and navigate to the 

While CHILLGUY has maintained strong trading volumes and continues gaining mainstream attention through its viral social media presence, investors should carefully weigh its strengths and risk factors before making investment decisions.

With its widespread brand adoption, sustained trading activity and explosive community growth of over 142,000 holders, CHILLGUY demonstrates significant market potential. However, meme coins are inherently volatile. Potential investors should 

 and invest no more than they can afford to lose.

CHILLGUY is the latest viral sensation to harness the power of the attention economy to convert social media momentum into crypto market success. While CHILLGUY has already demonstrated its ability to capture mass appeal, its position as a leading meme token will depend upon how effectively it maintains its cultural relevance and community engagement in this fast-moving market.

Intermediate

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Just a Chill Guy (CHILLGUY): Embracing the Art of Nonchalance

Zircuit (ZRC) combines optimistic and ZK rollups with AI-driven security, offering fast, low-cost Ethereum Layer 2 solutions. 

 network has flourished, mainly due to the ongoing network congestion, high fees and poor scalability of the latter. Many of these platforms use rollup technology, whereby batches of multiple transactions processed off-chain are bundled together and posted in bulk to the underlying Layer 1. Ethereum-linked rollups mainly come in two varieties 

 (ZK). While optimistic rollups boast lower computational overhead, the ZK variety of these networks features a higher degree of security.

Zircuit (ZRC) is a Layer 2 chain that adopts a hybrid approach, combining the elements of optimistic and 

. This lets the platform offer the performance benefits of optimistic technology along with the security of ZK validity proofs. To further enhance overall security, Zircuit uses a unique 

 (AI)–driven system of monitoring for malicious transactions.

 (ZRC) is a hybrid Layer 2 blockchain that combines the features of optimistic and ZK rollups, and uses AI-driven monitoring for potentially harmful transactions. 

 rollup development technology, a popular framework for building optimistic rollup networks. Additionally, it uses zero-knowledge proofs, which lets the platform offer the best of both worlds 

 the performance benefits of optimistic rollups and the security of ZK technology. Zircuit is 

The Zircuit project takes security very seriously, and has introduced a unique system of AI-based protection against malicious transactions at the sequencer node level. The use of ZK proofs and an AI-based protection system make Zircuit one of the most secure platforms in the competitive world of Ethereum Layer 2 chains.

Along with its excellent security benefits, Zircuit also boasts low costs, fast transactions, excellent scalability and 2-second block production intervals. All these features make it an ideal environment for 

 (DApps) in various niches, particularly 

 (DeFi). In fact, the leading protocols within the Zircuit ecosystem are all dedicated to the finance niche, with Zircuit Staking being the largest application by TVL.

With its heavy focus on DeFi, Zircuit aims to become a leading liquidity hub for various token types within the sector, including 

. These assets can be staked through the Zircuit staking program — supported by the platform's Liquidity Hub — to earn staking APRs, airdrop rewards and points based on the Zircuit Point program (covered further in our article).

The platform also operates a secure native bridging solution, 

, to help users transfer assets between its Layer 2 network and Ethereum Layer 1.

The company behind the project, Zircuit Ltd., was founded in 2021 in Canada by Dr. Martin Derka, Jan Gorzny and Angel Xu. Zircuit's testnet was launched in November 2023, but made headlines in April 2024 when the project reported that its 

 (TVL) had soared past $2 billion. While testnet TVLs are more a gauge of future potential for a blockchain than an indicator of its existing worth, the news attracted the attention of industry observers toward the platform. Following its highly publicized testnet success, Zircuit launched the first phase of its mainnet in August 2024. This was followed by the launch of the platform's native token, ZRC, in November 2024.

As a typical rollup, Zircuit uses an off-chain sequencer node to batch and organize Layer 2 transactions for subsequent posting to the underlying Ethereum Layer 1. The batches have ZK validity proofs attached to them to signal to Layer 1 validators that they’re free from fraudulent transactions. Zircuit's architecture also includes prover nodes, whose job is to produce these validity proofs.

However, unlike other rollups using ZK proofs (also known as validity proofs), Zircuit doesn't generate validity proofs for every block of transactions. Instead, some blocks have pre-generated template proofs, while others go through the process of having a dedicated validity proof created for them. After a few blocks featuring validity proofs, there are several more that utilize template proofs. The image below illustrates this approach.

The key reason Zircuit has adopted this form of proof design is that the process of generating ZK proofs is computationally intensive. By using template proofs for some of the blocks in a sequence, Zircuit can reduce the overall computational overhead. However, the project’s team has stated that the template proof model is temporary, and will be phased out in the future. At that stage, the platform will move to generating ZK proofs for each block.

Zircuit features a highly modular design whereby provers — responsible for generating validity proofs on the platform — can easily be plugged into or removed from the network. This modular approach is distinct from the standard ZK rollup design, in which provers are more tightly and less flexibly integrated into the overall architecture.

As noted earlier, Zircuit uses a dedicated sequencer to organize and batch transactions into blocks. The platform also applies AI-driven monitoring at the sequencer level (the Sequencer Level Security, or SLS) to spot and exclude fraudulent transactions before they’re finalized on Layer 2.

When transactions are first posted to Zircuit, they enter the 

 — a temporary area from which the sequencer picks and organizes individual transactions into blocks. The mempool is being monitored at all times, using AI algorithms to identify suspicious transactions. If a transaction in the mempool raises a flag, it's quarantined and assessed for validity before the sequencer can include it in a block. The image below shows how this process works.

One of the distinct features of Zircuit is its hybrid architecture, which combines the properties of optimistic and ZK rollups. At the base level, Zircuit is built using Optimism's Bedrock development framework, a technology popular for optimistic rollup networks. However, the use of ZK proofs — or, to be more precise, a combination of validity proofs and template proofs — ensures that Zircuit enjoys a security level that standard optimistic rollups normally can't match.

The use of AI-based SLS provides robust security to Zircuit, complementing the already highly secure ZK proof system. Very few Layer 2 networks in the industry currently feature anything similar, making the platform a true pioneer of AI use for sequencer-level operations.

Like any rollup based on Optimism Bedrock, Zircuit enjoys EVM compatibility. This allows for smooth interoperability with the underlying Ethereum Layer 1. EVM compatibility also makes it easy for developers familiar with Ethereum’s environment to develop Zircuit-based DApps, or to port existing Ethereum applications to the platform. Developers can take advantage of technologies commonly used for Ethereum (e.g., the Solidity programming language and the Hardhat development framework) to build Zircuit applications and smart contracts.

Zircuit Bridge is a native bridging solution designed to easily transfer tokens between Ethereum and Zircuit. It boasts high security, low transaction fees and fast transfers, and allows users to move a variety of cryptocurrencies between Ethereum and Zircuit, including ETH, 

) and LRTs like Super Symbiotic LRT (weETHs). As of late November 2024, the total number of cryptos supported by the bridge is close to 30.

Zircuit has launched a reward program called Zircuit Points. Users can earn these Points by staking supported assets, and by participating in the Build to Earn initiative (more on this below). Accumulated points will be converted to ZRC tokens in the future. Points also create the opportunity to qualify for token airdrops.

The primary way for most users to earn Zircuit points is via 

. The Zircuit Staking program lets you stake LSTs, LRTs, popular stablecoins, some wrapped tokens and Ether (ETH) to earn points. Using LSTs and LRTs, you can earn yields (along with native Zircuit staking APRs and Points) from the respective staking and restaking platforms that issue these assets.

Zircuit Points earned via staking have different multipliers, depending upon the asset. For example, Ether has a multiplier of 0.5, while LSTs, LRTs and stablecoins have a multiplier of 1. Multipliers for different LST and LRT assets may be subject to change in the future.

Build to Earn is another way to qualify for Zircuit Points. The program allows developers to contribute to the Zircuit ecosystem and earn Points in a number of ways, including:

Launched in November 2024, ZRC is the platform's native cryptocurrency. It's an 

 asset deployed on both Zircuit and Ethereum Layer 1. ZRC is mainly used for reward distributions, and participation in token airdrops for ecosystem DApps. Currently, transaction fees on the network are paid in Ether. It's possible that, in the future, ZRC might be used for some transaction fee payments.

ZRC is also used for rewards under the Gas Rebate program. As users conduct transactions on the platform, they 

. Zircuit’s Gas Rebate program provides rebates to offset some of the incurred fees. The amount of ZRC earned as a rebate is proportional to the amount spent on gas in ETH; the project's documentation states that for each ETH spent on gas, the user earns 125% in ZRC. All kinds of gas fee payments qualify for the rebate, including ordinary asset transfers and transactions involving interaction with Zircuit DApps.

ZRC is a supply-capped token, with a maximum and total supply of 10 billion. The token's supply allocation shares are as follows:

The ZRC token is available on Bybit's Spot market as a swap pair with USDT (

 to grab a share of the 5 million ZRC prize pool. New users who sign up for a Bybit account and complete identity verification can earn ZRC rewards by accumulating a deposit volume of at least 2,000 ZRC, or by depositing 100 USDT and trading 100 USDT worth of ZRC via their first trade with Bybit. 

Meanwhile, existing users can qualify for ZRC rewards by trading at least 500 USDT worth of ZRC on the Bybit Spot market, with the possibility of earning up to 10,000 ZRC based on trading volume. The 

 event will run through Dec 10, 2024, 8:59AM UTC.

Zircuit is among the pioneering Layer 2 platforms to adopt a hybrid design for a rollup network. Thanks to the platform's architecture, users can take advantage of low transaction costs, fast transfers and great scalability while enjoying the benefits of high security delivered by ZK proofs and AI-driven mempool monitoring. AI-based monitoring for fraudulent transactions is a particularly notable feature of the platform and is undoubtedly among the most advanced technologies employed in the blockchain industry.

User security combined with faster and cheaper transactions for the Ethereum network — all in one package — is now feasible, thanks to Zircuit's innovative technology and unique approach!

Advanced

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What Is Zircuit (ZRC): Where Performance Meets Cutting-Edge Security

Bybit is celebrating its sixth anniversary with the #Super6Bybit event, offering a $1.2 million prize pool and focusing on its bbSOL token.

Daily Top Performer — Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL)

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 fell 0.38% as tech stocks dropped and inflation data reinforced a hawkish Fed outlook. Coindesk Indices, an index measuring broader cryptocurrency market performance was down by 0.40%, with Bitcoin and Ether dropping by 1.86% and 1.79%, respectively in the past 24 hours.

Today's top performer is VIRTUAL, which surged 53.6% following the launch of the $MUSIC token by Agentstarter, featuring AI-driven music video capabilities and community-focused tokenomics.

Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL), founded in 2021, allows users to invest in and co-own AI-driven virtual assets like companions and influencers. Its model fosters community ownership, transforming AI agents into revenue-generating assets across platforms like Roblox and TikTok. The platform attracts contributors from AI and gaming to drive innovation in virtual economies. 

, using AI to create music videos and offering features like animated videos, voice mimicry, and karaoke tracks. The tokenomics allocate 60% for airdrops, 20% for liquidity, and 10% each for the development team and Virtuals Protocol.

Check Out the Latest Prices, Charts, and Data of 

Bybit is celebrating its sixth anniversary with the 

, offering a $1.2 million prize pool and focusing on its bbSOL token. Launched in September 2024, bbSOL is the first exchange-backed Liquid Staking Token on Solana, providing liquidity and staking rewards. The campaign, running from November 28, 2024, to January 6, 2025, invites participants to build, transform, and supercharge their bbSOL through tasks, leaderboards, and community milestones, increasing rewards. The event combines gaming mechanics, community engagement, and opportunities to win prizes while promoting innovation and growth in the crypto space.

Yesterday, there were no flows in BTC Spot ETFs, including GBTC and non-GBTC categories.

. Stake BNB on Lista's portal to get slisBNB, then deposit it into Astherus to earn airdrop points with multipliers (3X for Lista, 1.15X for Astherus). No lockup is required, and slisBNB is the most efficient option.

Beginner

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Bybit Celebrates 6th Anniversary with $1.2M Prize Pool and bbSOL Supercharging Campaign

Our weekly crypto derivatives analytics report delves into macro events, the current state of crypto and trading signals from spot trading volume, and futures, options and perpetual contracts.

ETH has outperformed, bolstered by SEC Chair Gary Gensler's announcement of his Jan 20, 2025 departure, and suggested by growing open interest in ETH perpetual. This positive momentum extends to several large-cap altcoins previously scrutinized by the SEC, as indicated by bullish funding rates for long positions.

Please check out the report’s highlights.

ETH Open Interest Grows While BTC’s Declines

ETH is outperforming BTC following the announcement of SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s departure, as evidenced in perpetual swap markets. BTC open interest has decreased from last week's highs, while ETH contracts have increased. Additionally, ETH trade volumes constitute a larger share of daily trading as compared to much of the past six months, despite an overall dip in trade volumes this week. The gradual decline in BTC open interest, without a surge in trading activity, indicates a strategic repositioning, rather than a wave of liquidations.

BTC Option Curve Inversion Deepens as Price Retreats

The pullback in the spot BTC price from the $100K target has led to a flat ATM volatility term structure, with short-tenor options dropping below 60%. 

This trend continues the correlation between term structure inversion and BTC spot price returns observed since the U.S. election on November 5, 2024

. The decline in front-end volatility aligns with lower realized volatility levels. While demand for short-tenor options has moderated, there hasn't been a notable change in open interest for calls or puts. Instead, their growth has stalled at the week's start.

Sentiment in ETH options markets seems moderately more bullish than in BTC's during the recent decline in momentum from the post-election rally. Call options lead in both trading volumes and open interest. 

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Bybit X Block Scholes Crypto Derivatives Analytics Report (Nov 27, 2024): Signal on ETH Outperformance Against BTC Surfaces on Long-Term Contracts

Blockchain

Crypto

The Taproot upgrade involves the changes of validity rules for any newly completed blocks in the Bitcoin network. But how will it affect Bitcoin's price? Here's what you need to know.

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The nature of Bitcoin’s development ensures that upgrades come slowly. Any change to the underlying mechanics of the original blockchain requires consensus from a vast percentage of 

. Without that consensus, alterations cannot become permanent. While this creates a degree of stability, it can also have repercussions. Slow development allows smaller, more agile digital assets to thrive by making up for Bitcoin’s perceived weaknesses. Yet, Bitcoin remains the progenitor and public face of the blockchain industry. As such, the cryptocurrency sector eagerly awaits the 

 — Bitcoin’s first major change since 2017.

The last major upgrade introduced the concept of Segregated Witness, or SegWit, to the Bitcoin core protocol. This removed associated signature data, thus freeing up block space for additional transactions. Despite the relatively innocuous nature of the SegWit upgrade, a schism emerged in the community — leading to the forking of Bitcoin Cash and ultimately the later hash wars of 2018. Bitcoin and blockchain technology emerged unscathed from the schism, with Bitcoin Cash’s variants subsiding over time.

In contrast, the proposed Taproot upgrade has proven far less contentious. The Bitcoin community established a drop-dead date of August 11, after which Taproot would be forced back into development. Over 90% of Bitcoin miners signaled their support in early June 2021 during this

 — far ahead of the proposed deadline. 

Taproot is a major upgrade to Bitcoin that will fundamentally change how it processes transactions. To accomplish the proposed upgrade, a “

” is performed that changes the validity rules for any newly completed blocks.

 A block that would be considered valid before the fork — for example, one that contained signature data prior to the SegWit fork — will no longer count as valid under the new ruleset. The new upgrade only impacts mined blocks moving forward, with no retroactive impact on blocks in the chain. Furthermore, any miners still operating a node on the legacy ruleset will view the soft fork rules as valid.

, or BIP 0341 — adds several new features to Bitcoin’s blockchain that help enhance smart contract functionality. Chief among them is the concept of 

, which greatly expands both the privacy and efficiency of new transactions. Beyond the signature algorithm change, Taproot also includes the 

, a technology that obfuscates unexecuted aspects of a transaction.

The changes made during the Taproot upgrade will improve the back-end functionality of Bitcoin in a way not immediately apparent to casual users. Yet, these new aspects will increase efficiency and usability for developers working with the Bitcoin network. Second-layer solutions like the Lightning Network will benefit from the additions, helping alleviate transactional friction during high traffic periods.

How Is the Schnorr Digital Signature Scheme Integrated with Bitcoin?

Ownership and proof of identity within the Bitcoin ecosystem require a digital signature. This signature identifies the wallet and confirms that it has the necessary permissions and private key to perform the requested transaction. These digital signatures rely on an algorithm that provides a means to verify permissions while ensuring security easily. Before the Taproot upgrade, Bitcoin relied on the ECDSA model for signature algorithms.

 launched Bitcoin, Schnorr signatures were a well-known concept — but had only recently fallen out of copyright. As such, he chose Elliptical Curve Digital Signature Algorithm, or ECDSA, instead. Unlike Schnorr signatures, ECDSA was open-source, readily available, and supported by a variety of platforms. Replacing Bitcoin’s ECDSA model with Schnorr signatures eliminates several inefficiencies in the blockchain while providing several new options for transaction validation.

ECDSA is an evolution of the earlier DSA algorithm, which originated as a work-around for the Schnorr signature copyright. Schnorr signatures use a simpler algorithm than either derivative, linear in nature, thereby allowing for the use of signature-based algebra, which allows for more complex cryptographic security. The basis for multi-signature transactions relies on Schnorr’s ability to create aggregate keys.

With Bitcoin, this allows a variety of complex transactions to all appear as a single public key. Whereas with ECDSA, observers can see every potential transaction branch — even those that didn’t execute — they will now see only the single executed transaction.

This is part of the Merklized Alternative Script Tree or MAST. Merkle trees use a cascading hash to simplify verification of transactions — and Schnorr signatures allow for only the visibility of the executed transaction to appear to outside parties. Any other variables or potential means of execution remain hidden, increasing Bitcoin’s privacy considerably.

How Does Taproot Affect Bitcoin’s Price?

The Taproot upgrade represents a major leap forward in Bitcoin’s technology base. Replacing the inefficient ECDSA algorithm with Schnorr signatures allows developers to introduce various new systems that benefit end-users. While the benefit may not be immediately apparent for casual Bitcoin investors, it will still impact day-to-day operational costs.

Eliminating unnecessary data within simple transactions reduces their space requirement — thereby allowing more transactions in each completed block. This increases the speed of complex Bitcoin transactions processing but also results in lower transaction costs.

Beyond direct economics, Taproot also introduces the potential for new blockchain technology. Multi-signature transactions, or multi-sig, allow for more complex systems built around Bitcoin. Several projects are already underway that will make use of this feature. The ability to perform complex math requiring multiple signatures as variables opens the door for developers to create new and innovative systems, bringing greater value to the platform.

Taproot also includes benefits for the second-layer Lightning Network. Conceptualized as a result of severe traffic congestion at the end of 2017, the Lightning Network is an off-chain solution that reduces strain on Bitcoin itself. It previously depended on the concept of HTLCs or hashed timelock contracts, which rely on hash images. Schnorr signatures pave the way for Lightning Network to move to PTLC or point time-locked contracts, relying on public keys instead. This increases security and privacy for the Lightning Network without increasing computational workload.

 will drive greater engagement for Bitcoin and the second-layer solution. As more users move from direct spending Bitcoin transactions to second-layer solutions, it will further reduce congestion on the blockchain, increasing speed and resulting in a less expensive Lightning Network. Lower fees and increased usability built in this way buoy the overall value of Bitcoin.

Most of Taproot’s benefits are derivative of the addition of Schnorr signatures. However, there are several applications accounted explicitly for within the related upgrade.

MAST allows users to determine a variety of conditions that lead to a Bitcoin transaction. While this was possible before the Taproot upgrade, all branches involved would be publicly viewable. With MAST and Schnorr signature integration, only the executed extension of the MAST is visible after the transaction is completed.

This allows for a greater degree of privacy, as the process does not expose other potential participants. It also reduces the burden on the Bitcoin blockchain since it removes the full scripting of unexecuted branches and reduces the contract’s overall size — and thus the fee imposed on the enacting entity.

The fact that Schnorr signatures are linear allows their resulting digital signatures to function algebraically. As such, multiple signatures can be combined to create a single resultant signature. As discussed previously, this powers the concept of multi-sig transactions. Before the upgrade, users wishing to perform more complex transactions would need to include all associated signatures, drastically increasing the size requirement of the function.

Aggregate keys remain the same size, regardless of the number of participants. In essence, this creates a discrete log contract via smart contracts. As with MAST, the availability of these new Schnorr-derived functions allows for several new methods of resolving transactions.

Improving upon the Bitcoin Script programming language, Tapscript allows the blockchain to implement features introduced in Taproot. It does so through the introduction of several new opcodes focused on Schnorr signatures. Without this new functionality, Bitcoin Script would not be able to integrate Schnorr signatures properly and would lose most of the introduced efficiency of Taproot.

Tapscript also introduces new opcodes for future upgrades. These opcodes do not yet serve a function but provide the framework for later applications. Alongside these changes, Tapscript removes a size limitation that prevented more complex Script, paving the way for more enhanced applications, a factor common to many of Taproot’s features.

Bitcoin previously featured a small, somewhat exploitable mechanic called signature malleability. In theory, a malicious actor could modify transactions before confirmation to invalidate them. In practice, this method of attack rarely succeeded. However, this malleability could also be leveraged to create a tremendous amount of “junk” transactions, bogging down the blockchain with useless data.

The Taproot upgrade completely removes this bug, eliminating the signature malleability that had originally allowed for it.

Upgrades to the Bitcoin blockchain are rare and of a highly technical nature. While the last major upgrade proved contentious, the same is not true of Bitcoin’s Taproot upgrade— with a near-unanimous vote for implementation. Given the speed of innovation in the cryptocurrency industry, Bitcoin must continue to adapt to remain competitive in the long term, which Taproot will help ensure. The introduction of Schnorr signatures solves one of the original inefficiencies that has plagued the Bitcoin community, providing a slew of new use cases.

Bitcoin remains the dominant force in the cryptocurrency industry, partially due to its status as the original blockchain. 

Yet, an upgrade to Bitcoin like Taproot that increases usability and efficiency ensures that it remains a viable platform for development and not simply a dinosaur waiting for another project to supplant it. Furthermore, the forward-thinking inclusion of features that will make upgrades easier ensures that Bitcoin will remain competitive for years to come. The etymology of Taproot itself suggests not a standalone upgrade — but the basis for future upgrades that will build upon this new success.

What Is Taproot and How Will the Upgrade Impact Bitcoin?

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