In light of the upcoming activation of Taproot technology, the infrastructure company Blockstream has begun developing a new scheme intended to improve the existing multisignature mechanism for executing Bitcoin transactions.
According to a post on Blockstream’s blog, the proposed MuSig2 scheme combines the advantages of the two main multisignature models and reduces technical complexity in constructing transactions, without sacrificing users’ privacy.
Our #BlockstreamResearch team has revealed #MuSig2, a Taproot-compatible #Bitcoin #multisig scheme that represents a significant improvement over #MuSig1. MuSig reduces transaction fees & improves privacy—now offering a much easier signing process. ⛓🔑🗝https://t.co/EgHblYVMVX pic.twitter.com/CpvDMdjRLa
— Blockstream (@Blockstream) November 4, 2020
As the authors of the proposal, Nick Jonas and Tim Raffing, note, the traditional op-code for calling multisignature “CHECKMULTISIG” requires less interaction among transaction participants, but is less private than MuSig1, which requires additional steps in the authorization process.
MuSig2 retains MuSig1’s privacy advantages but will require only two rounds of interaction among the transaction participants.
Looking ahead, the new scheme could also enhance the privacy of the Lightning Network and improve so-called threshold signatures, which are often used by exchanges and custody providers to store assets.
Blockstream plans to replace the MuSig1 standard with MuSig2 in the Schnorr signature library. The company also indicated that it may test Taproot technology on the Liquid sidechain before the upgrade is activated on the main Bitcoin network.
What is Taproot?
Recall that the proposal, including Schnorr signatures and Taproot and Tapscript technologies, implemented in the Bitcoin Core client source code in October.
The activation timing remains open, but the decision eagerly awaited by many opens up potential for new scenarios, including the use of payment pools.
Subscribe to ForkLog news on Telegram: ForkLog FEED — the full news feed, ForkLog — the most important news and polls.