Bitcoin Steady Above $64K Despite Taproot Upgrade Launch
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Bitcoin (BTC) scaled another significant milestone today, following the successful launch of the Taproot upgrade at block 709,632, 5:15 UTC today.
This upgrade is a massive leap for the Bitcoin network, considering that Taproot is the first girl upgrade since August 2017, after the Lightning Network and Segregated Witness (SegWit) upgrades.
That said, the Taproot upgrade is the most ambitious yet as it brings more than scalability improvements and fees reductions; the latest upgrade improves privacy and security for the protocol.
Taproot introduces Schnorr Signatures, which should reduce the burdens on the network while simultaneously improving simplicity, efficiency, and security. It also creates a master key-like mechanism that summarizes a set of signatures in one, making it easier and cheaper to perform multi-signature and multi-input transactions (UTXI).
Furthermore, the upgrade will improve Bitcoin’s scripting language through the implementation of the Merkelized Abstract Syntax Tree (MAST). MAST opens the doors for Smart Contract capabilities on the Bitcoin network, further improving the adoption rate of the network.
According to Taproot.watch, a dedicated website for the upgrade managed by Bitcoin developer Hampus Sjöberg, MAST “can help make smart contracts more efficient and private by only revealing the relevant parts of the contract when spending.”
Sjöberg asserted that “Taproot is a 100 years soft fork,” adding that it “will, in the long-run, yield a more fungible and robust blockchain.”
Key Bitcoin Levels to Watch — November 14
Last week’s bearish wave appears to have dissipated as BTC regains stability above $64K. That said, we could see some bullish price action in the near term as the benchmark cryptocurrency maintains its overall upward trajectory. Interestingly, the price reaction to the recently-implemented Taproot upgrade has yet to hit the market, with many speculators predicting a parabolic surge towards the $70K area.
Nonetheless, BTC needs to prevent a fall below the $63K level (5-week-long trendline) or risk entering a bearish spiral into the end of the year.
Meanwhile, my resistance levels are at $65,000, $66,000, and $67,000, and my key support levels are at $64,000, $63,000, and $62,000.
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