Bitcoin Core 0.21.1 Released With Taproot Activation Code

Bitcoin Core version 0.21.1 is now available for download. As described in detail in the release notes, miner block
templates produced by this version of Bitcoin Core will signal readiness
to enforce taproot during the roughly three month period specified by
BIP341.

If, during that time, 90% of blocks within a 2,016 retarget period
signal readiness, taproot will be locked in and this version of Bitcoin
Core will begin enforcing the additional consensus rules specified in
BIPs 341 and 342 at block 709,632, which is expected in early or mid
November.

If miners don’t lock in taproot by the end of the three month signaling
period, a separate attempt to activate it using another mechanism is
expected to be tried. The activation mechanism has been designed so
that, by roughly mid August, it will either provide us with an assurance
that we’ll soon have taproot or immediately give us valuable information
that users and developers can use to make the next activation attempt
more likely to succeed.

Note: due to a problem with the certificate authority
that provides the code signing certificates for the Windows versions of
Bitcoin Core, users on Windows will need to click through an extra
prompt to install. It is also expected that there will be a 0.21.1.1
release with an updated certificate when the problem is fixed. If you
are planning to upgrade anyway, there’s no reason to delay using 0.21.1
because of this problem.

If have any questions, please stop by the #bitcoin IRC chatroom
(IRC, web) and we’ll do our best to help you.