Bitcoin Technology Development Prospects: Three Major Updates in 2020

Bitcoin has been around for 11 years, and its underlying technology has been continuously evolving. In 2020, several significant technological updates are expected to bring new development opportunities for Bitcoin. Innovations such as MAST, Taproot, and Schnorr signatures will make Bitcoin stronger, rather than just staying at the level of short-term price fluctuations.

In recent years, there has been a decrease in high-level innovative talent focused on the development of the Bitcoin core protocol, raising some concerns within the community. However, those who closely follow the development of Bitcoin technology will find that many practical and interesting new features are being gradually introduced. Particularly in the past few years, the Bitcoin blockchain has added some exciting new characteristics, and more innovations will be launched in 2020.

For example, the Miniscript released in 2019 is an important advancement. It is a brand new Bitcoin script compiler that can significantly enhance the programmability of the Bitcoin blockchain without compromising security.

In addition, the most关注的 Bitcoin技术提案 currently include:

1. Schnorr: A brand new signature scheme
2. MAST: An innovative Merkle tree data structure
3. Taproot: A method that allows participants to reach consensus on the outcome and sign transactions.

The development of just these three technologies can significantly enhance the replaceability and privacy protection capabilities of Bitcoin. Let's take a closer look at these technological innovations.

MAST

MAST(Merkelised Abstract Syntax Trees), or Merkel Abstract Syntax Trees, allows the locking of Bitcoin using different scripts linked to the same Merkel tree.

In simple terms, if someone tries to replace a fraudulent transaction at a certain node of the Merkle tree, all nodes above that node will change, ultimately leading to a change in the root node. As a result, the hash value of the block will change, becoming an entirely new invalid block. The Merkle tree is an important component of the Bitcoin data structure, allowing different data sets to be hashed into a single hash.

MAST is essentially a Pay to Script Hash (P2SH) ( that uses Merkle tree technology. With MAST, the same set of Bitcoins can be linked to multiple scripts containing different unlocking conditions. This expands the flexibility of Bitcoin smart contracts, improves scalability, and enhances user privacy.

Taproot

Taproot provides Bitcoin network with functionality similar to smart contracts, allowing users to add custom logic in simple payment scripts.

Taproot can be used in conjunction with P2SH, allowing scripts to be split into independent sets of statements, displaying only the parts that are actually used. This provides better privacy protection while enhancing future scalability.

Taproot can ensure that the transaction details displayed on different blockchain explorers remain consistent, making it difficult to distinguish the differences between transactions, which is very helpful for enhancing Bitcoin's privacy. Taproot consolidates the multi-signature steps into a single signature, significantly improving the efficiency of Schnorr signatures. The developers of Taproot have stated that it allows MAST and Schnorr signatures to work together more effectively.

Schnorr Signature

Schnorr signatures are a new type of signature scheme invented by German cryptographer Claus-Peter Schnorr around 1980, which is very suitable for Bitcoin use. It can aggregate multiple signatures into one, greatly simplifying the signing process.

Compared to multi-signature, each signer in Schnorr signatures has their own message instead of sharing the same message. When the verifier looks at the signature key, Schnorr signatures do not leak input information, making the transaction output appear like a regular address, which can only be unlocked by the private key holder.

Compared to traditional ECDSA signatures, Schnorr signatures are easier to verify while ensuring higher correctness, flexibility, and stability.

Although the price of Bitcoin may fluctuate in the short term, its underlying technology is continuously evolving. We should focus on the long-term prospects of Bitcoin rather than the immediate short-term benefits. As the slogan says: "Anything is possible." The future of Bitcoin is full of infinite possibilities.