In the tradition of Mastering Bitcoin and Mastering the Lightning Network here comes Mastering Taproot. I believe this project received some Open Sats funding, so kudos to them!
SummarySummary
Chapter 01 — Private Keys, Public Keys, and Address Encoding
Chapter 02 — Bitcoin Script Fundamentals: Stack Ops & P2PKH
Chapter 03 — P2SH Script Engineering: Multi-signature → Time Locks
Chapter 04 — Building SegWit Transactions: Stack Execution & Malleability
Chapter 05 — Taproot: The Evolution of Bitcoin's Script System
Chapter 06 — Real Taproot Contracts: Single-Leaf HashLock & Dual-Path Spending
Chapter 07 — Taproot Dual-Leaf Script Tree: Complete HashLock + Bob Script
Chapter 08 — Four-Leaf Taproot Script Tree: Enterprise-Grade Multi-Path Spending
Chapter 09 — Ordinals and BRC-20: Taproot Witness as Data Layer
Chapter 10 — RGB: Client-Side Validation & Taproot Commitments
Chapter 11 — Lightning Network Channels: From P2WSH Multisig to Taproot Privacy Channels
Chapter 12 — Silent Payments: Elliptic Curve Arithmetic and Address Privacy
Deep DivesDeep Dives
DD-04 — Transaction Malleability: From DER Encoding to SegWit
DD-05 — Inside Taproot Control Blocks: Merkle Proofs, Ordering Rules and Fee Optimization
DD-08 — Commit-Reveal & Dual-Layer Scripts: Bitcoin's Programming Paradigm
The mastering-taproot resource is a significant contribution for those wanting to grasp the technical subtleties of Taproot, one of Bitcoin’s more transformative upgrades. Taproot went beyond just enhancing privacy; it enabled complex smart contract capabilities with lower on-chain footprint, thanks to Merkelized Abstract Syntax Trees (MAST).
One aspect I'd highlight is how Schnorr signatures, introduced by Taproot, not only improve scalability but open possibilities for signature aggregation and multisig improvements that reinforce sovereignty and censorship resistance. It seems to me many underestimate the subtle power of Taproot to enhance Bitcoin’s scripting flexibility while still maintaining a minimalist approach to consensus changes.
For anyone diving into Bitcoin's evolution, understanding the cryptographic innovations in Taproot is essential. It is a fine example of running code that quietly revolutionizes what you can build on Bitcoin.