Explained | Bitcoin goes through major upgrade. Here is what it means

Bitcoin went through a major upgrade on Sunday that enables its blockchain to execute more complex transactions, potentially widening the virtual currency's use cases and making it a little more competitive with Ethereum for processing smart contracts. Noelle Acheson, head of market insights at Genesis, a digital currency prime broker, said bitcoin's potential applications have become broader with Taproot. However, at its core, the upgrade introduces a new digital signature scheme called "Schnorr" that will help bitcoin transactions become more efficient and more private. Katherine Dowling, general counsel & chief compliance officer at digital asset investment firm Bitwise, said bitcoin has historically been much more limited in processing smart contracts compared with Ethereum.