Digital asset firm Kraken is pleased to announce that their crypto trading platform now supports withdrawals to Taproot (Bech32m) Bitcoin addresses.
Taproot is “an upgrade to the Bitcoin protocol that aims to improve the privacy and efficiency of the world’s first and largest cryptocurrency.”
Taproot has “included three proposals — Schnorr, Taproot, and Tapscript — which delivered key aggregation, Merklized Alternative Script Trees (MAST), and an improved version of Bitcoin’s Script programming language respectively.”
The privacy and efficiency benefits delivered by Taproot “are ultimately two sides of the same coin.”
By committing less transaction information to the blockchain, less transaction data is “available for anyone checking Bitcoin’s publicly available ledger.”
Committing less data also creates space in each block for more transactions, “which should reduce fees and increase transaction throughput.” Taproot also “enables the development of smart contracts on the Bitcoin network, opening up new possibilities for decentralized applications (dApps).”
If you want to learn even more about Bitcoin’s Taproot upgrade, then you can check out the Kraken Learn Center’s guide on: What is Taproot? or Kraken Intelligence’s technical deep dive Taproot Primer – An Upgrade for the Ages.
As noted in the update, you can deposit Bitcoin on Kraken using the Lightning network.
While regular BTC transactions are limited by block times and can face high transaction fees, Lightning Network “enables instant settlement and zero fees when you transfer BTC to or from your Kraken account.”
Additionally, Kraken have “lowered the BTC deposit confirmations from 4 to 3.”
For more details, check here.
As covered, the team at Kraken says you can keep calm and HODL on, because recurring buys are now available on the Kraken app.
This new feature lets you “schedule your crypto purchases quickly and easily, which saves you time and can help ease the stress of timing the market.” Recurring buys also “make dollar-cost averaging a snap, so you can build your portfolio over time.”
If you are new to dollar cost averaging, you can learn more with the Kraken Learn Center blog post.
Setting up a recurring buy is simple. With a few taps in your Kraken mobile app, you’re now able to:
- Automatically buy crypto at set intervals: daily, weekly, biweekly and monthly
- Dollar-cost average your favorite assets and build your crypto portfolio over time
- Create, pause or delete recurring buy schedules for different crypto assets
- Fund recurring buys with your account balance (other payment methods coming soon)
The team at Kraken further noted:
“We also made it easy to customize how you want to purchase crypto with a recurring buy. Whether you want to spend $50 on BTC every day or receive 0.5 ETH every month, just tap the arrows next to the amount on the order screen to toggle your options.”
They added:
“No more FOMO – when you automate your crypto purchases, you get peace of mind knowing you’re in the market regardless of price movements. Open your Kraken mobile app to see how easy it is to start a recurring buy and build your portfolio over the long term.”