> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.leather.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.leather.io/learn/taproot-address.md).

# What Are Taproot addresses?

A Taproot address starts with bc1p. What the 2021 Taproot upgrade added and how Leather uses Taproot.

A Taproot address (P2TR, pay to Taproot) starts with `bc1p`, for example `bc1pmzfrwwndsqmk5yh69yjr5lfgfg4ev8c0tsc06e`. It came with the Taproot soft fork, which activated in November 2021.

## What Taproot added

* **Schnorr signatures:** a new signature scheme. Several signers can combine their keys and signatures into one, so a multisig spend can look like a single-signature spend.
* **Script trees:** an address can commit to several spending conditions. When you spend, you reveal only the condition you use; the others stay hidden.
* **Cheaper complex spends:** spending conditions take less block space, and the common case (one key) is the cheapest.

Together, these make complex transactions more private and cheaper.

## Compared with other address types

|             | Taproot | Native SegWit | Legacy and nested SegWit |
| ----------- | ------- | ------------- | ------------------------ |
| Starts with | `bc1p`  | `bc1q`        | `1` or `3`               |
| Format      | bech32m | bech32        | Base58                   |
| Signatures  | Schnorr | ECDSA         | ECDSA                    |

All address types can send to each other. A few older services still cannot send to `bc1p` addresses.

## Taproot in Leather

Each Leather account has a Taproot address, the "Bitcoin Taproot" row under "Receive". Leather can spend BTC on it. Leather no longer supports Ordinals, inscriptions, BRC-20 tokens or Runes, which used Taproot addresses. See [Ordinals and inscriptions](/discontinued/ordinals-inscriptions.md) and [What Are the Uses of Each Address in Leather?](/learn/use-cases-bitcoin-addresses.md).