Topic: Taproot Address vs Segwit Address: Clarification Needed. (Read 106 times)

As hosseinimr93 commented already, pay-to-tap-root is also segwit, but bc1q addresses are segwit version 0, while pay-to-tap-root is segwit version 1.

First
We should consider the fact that bc1q addresses are mostly supported by most wallets, only few wallets are supporting pay-to-tap-root addresses for now. Even on many wallets that support both, bc1q is the default.

Second
Transaction in virtual bytes for segwit address (bc1q addresses) for 1 input and 1 output is 109.5
Transaction in virtual bytes for segwit address (bc1p addresses) for 1 input and 1 output  is 111

Can you see how close they are.


Let us increase the output
Transaction in virtual bytes for segwit address (bc1q addresses) for 1 input and 2 outputs is 140.5
Transaction in virtual bytes for segwit address (bc1p addresses) for 1 input and 2 outputs  is 154

Can you see how increase in output is increasing the vbyte which means increase in fee that would be paid.


Let us go for 10 outputs
Transaction in virtual bytes for segwit address (bc1q addresses) for 1 input and 10 outputs is 388.5
Transaction in virtual bytes for segwit address (bc1p addresses) for 1 input and 10 outputs  is 498

Can you see how increase in output is making pay-to-tap-root transaction to be more expensive? If I am a campaign manager, paying many participants, I will prefer going for bc1q addresses (I mean segwit version 0 that you mean as segwit in your post)


Segwit version 0 has reduced output vsize
Pay-to-tap-root has reduced input vsize.
You can use this calculator to confirm that: https://bitcoinops.org/en/tools/calc-size/


Which means for more outputs, bc1q addresses have lower fee, but for more inputs, bc1p (pay-to-tap-root) has lower transaction fee. You can do that calculation yourself with my explanation using the correct formula, or you can use this tool for it:

https://jlopp.github.io/bitcoin-transaction-size-calculator/

Pay-to-tap-root would be good for input consolidation because it is of low fee if compared to bc1q addresses.

Segwit version 0 is of low fee enough, but version 1 (pay-to-tap-root) is of low fee when it comes to input consolidation and P2TR multisig transaction.

Segwit addresses starting with bc1 are much better than old format address starting with number 1 or 3, main reason is because fees are usually lower than for other address types.
Taproot addresses are very similar like segwit for regular users  so there is no much difference in fees, but they support scripts and they are even better for saving fees on multisig addresses.
Mostly used today are Segwit addresses, that is why managers are asking people to submit them instead of old formats, but you can use Taproot as well and nothing will be lost.

Take note that taproot addresses are also segwit.
Addresses that start with bc1q are segwit version 0 and addresses that start with bc1p are segwit version 1.

Using taproot addresses isn't always beneficial and that's why they are not much common.
The main purpose of taproot upgrade was improving privacy when using multi-signature addresses.
With using taproot addresses, you can also decrease the transaction fee when you spend bitcoin from multi-signature addresses or there are big number of inputs.

Take a look at the topic created by Charles-Tim. Sometimes, with using taproot addresses, not only you don't decrease the transaction fee, but you increase the transaction fee.
Pay-to-taproot (P2TR) transaction fee

Why would bitcoin be lost when you send BTC to the taproot address?
It shouldn't be lost since both segwit and taproot are supported and fully compatible.

The only problem is that older wallets may not be compatible with taproot addresses or any exchanges. Only segwit and legacy addresses are the most commonly used.

I have heard about taproot address and segwit address but it seems that segwit address is the most common type of address requested for bitcoin transaction. Why? For example when I go to the service board most of the campaign requires that applicants submit their segwit address. Why? Would bitcoin be lost if I send taproot address instead of a segwit address?