Bitcoin’s long-awaited Taproot upgrade, which is said to be the cryptocurrency’s biggest upgrade in four years, went  live when the blockchain reached block 709,623 at 5:15 UTC on Sunday. The upgrade brings greater transaction privacy and efficiency.

Investment firm VanEck is launching a Bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund (ETF), which is set to start trading on the Chicago-based CBOE exchange next week. The ETF, the VanEck Bitcoin Strategy Fund, will trade under the ticker symbol “XBTF.”

The largest movie theater chain in the U.S., AMC Theaters, will now accept cryptocurrency payments online, according to the firm’s CEO Adam Aron. AMC suggested it would start accepting crypto for tickets and concessions back in August.

Sponsored: Buy bitcoin and 100+ cryptocurrencies with 20+ fiat currencies. New users can enjoy 0% credit/debit card fees on all crypto purchases made in their first 30 days. Join 10 million users and download the Crypto.com App now.

Top stories in the Crypto Roundup today:

• Chart of the Week: Dog-Themed Crypto vs. Bitcoin
• AMC Theaters Starts Accepting Cryptocurrency Payments Online
• VanEck to Launch Bitcoin Futures ETF ‘XBTF’
• Bitcoin’s Long-Awaited Taproot Upgrade Goes Live
• Sponsored: Crypto.com - The World’s Fastest Growing Crypto App

Bitcoin’s Long-Awaited Taproot Upgrade Goes Live

Bitcoin’s long-awaited Taproot upgrade, which is said to be the cryptocurrency’s biggest upgrade in four years, went live when the blockchain reached block 709,623 at 5:15 UTC on Sunday. The upgrade brings greater transaction privacy and efficiency.

Taproot introduces Schnorr signatures that can make more complex transactions on Bitcoin, such as those from multi-signature wallets, look like simple transactions. In practice, this will mean greater privacy for users, as they won’t have as much exposure on the blockchain.

The upgrade also brings in smart contracts, which are self-executing agreements that live on the blockchain. Speaking to CNBC Fred Thiel, CEO of crypto mining firm Marathon Digital Holdings, said the most important thing about the upgrade are these smart contracts. Thiel added:

“It’s already the primary driver of innovation on the ethereum network. Smart contracts essentially give you the opportunity to really build applications and businesses on the blockchain.”

Taproot introduces a new script type called Pay-to-Taproot (P2TR) which unites the functionality of P2PKH and P2SH scripts. As more programmers build on top of the Bitcoin blockchain, its usability grows.

VanEck to Launch Bitcoin Futures ETF ‘XBTF’

Investment firm VanEck is launching a Bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund (ETF), which is set to start trading on the Chicago-based CBOE exchange next week. The ETF, the VanEck Bitcoin Strategy Fund, will trade under the ticker symbol “XBTF.”

The VanEck Bitcoin Strategy Fund won approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in late October, but it’s going live now, shortly after the SEC rejected VanEck’s proposal for a spot bitcoin ETF, which would invest directly in BTC rather than futures contracts.

VanEck’s bitcoin futures ETF will join a growing roster of similar products launched over the past month, following years of denials and deferrals by the SEC for a fund designed to give investors exposure to the flagship cryptocurrency.

AMC Theaters Starts Accepting Cryptocurrency Payments Online

The largest movie theater chain in the U.S., AMC Theaters, will now accept cryptocurrency payments online, according to the firm’s CEO Adam Aron. AMC suggested it would start accepting crypto for tickets and concessions back in August.

In a tweet, AMC’s CEO said that, as promised, there are “many new ways NOW to pay online at AMC. We proudly now accept: drumroll, please… Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin.” Aron said dogecoin will be added as a payment method for gift cards in partnership with BitPay in October.

AMC has 593 theaters in the U.S. and 335 international locations.

Chart of the Week: Dog-Themed Crypto vs. Bitcoin

Bitcoin and Dogecoin have exhibited some correlation over the past week while achieving significant returns compared to other “DOGE-killers,” which ended up underperforming.

These meme-inspired cryptocurrencies had larger monthly returns, however. Floki Inu (FLOKI) has seen its price rise 275%, and was followed by Shiba Inu’s 83% rise. Next came Bitcoin, with 16.6% over the same period.

Find out more about CryptoCompare’s reports and research in the link below.

Crypto.com - The World’s Fastest Growing Crypto App

Buy bitcoin and 100+ cryptocurrencies with 20+ fiat currencies. New users can enjoy 0% credit/debit card fees on all crypto purchases made in their first 30 days. Join 10 million users and download the Crypto.com App now.

Press Release

State of the Crypto by Top Tier Exchange Volume

Build your project with CoinDesk Data

Terms | Privacy

13 Charles II St, SW1Y 4QU

London, UK

This email may include advertisements by third parties. None of the advertised or promoted products and services have been verified or approved by us and this email is not any endorsement by us of the third party or of their products or services.