SLP257 Matt Corallo - Bitcoin Soft Fork Activation, Taproot, and Playing Chicken

<p>Matt Corallo of Square Crypto, and long time bitcoin developer (now more focused on lightning) joins me on the show to talk about Taproot Activation, as well as review some of the history and nuance of prior soft forks in Bitcoin. We discuss:</p> <ul> <li>What is a fork</li> <li>What are the benefits of Taproot</li> <li>How the events of 2017 played out</li> <li>Dynamics of soft forks</li> <li>Taproot activation paths</li> <li>Flag day vs forced signalling UASF style</li> <li>LDK - Lightning Dev Kit</li> </ul> <p><strong>Links:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Twitter: <a href="http://twitter.com/thebluematt" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">@thebluematt</a></li> <li>Lightning Dev Kit: <a href="https://lightningdevkit.org/">LightningDevKit.org</a></li> </ul> <p><strong>Taproot links:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Article: <a href="https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/lottrue-or-lotfalse-this-is-the-last-hurdle-before-taproot-activation" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Understanding LOT=true or LOT=false</a> by Aaron van Wirdum</li> <li>Article: <a href="https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/taproot-activation-and-the-lot-debate" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Taproot Activation and the LOT Debate</a> by Ben Kaufman</li> <li>Site: <a href="https://taprootactivation.com/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">TaprootActivation.com</a> (Mining Pool consensus effort by Alejandro from Poolin)</li> <li>Mailing list post: <a href="https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2021-January/018370.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Summary of Taproot activation meeting on IRC 2/2/2021</a> by Michael Folkson</li> </ul> <p><strong>Relevant prior episodes:</strong></p> <ul> <li><a href="https://stephanlivera.com/episode/137/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">SLP137 AJ Towns – Schnorr Taproot Tapscript BIPs</a></li> <li><a href="https://stephanlivera.com/episode/222/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">SLP222 Jonas Nick and Tim Ruffing What’s