Bitcoin Optech

We provide weekly newsletters, workshops, case studies, and research for the #Bitcoin community.

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Last Notes

2026-04-03 10:58:57 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #399 is here:
- describes how wallet fingerprinting can damage payjoin privacy
- summarizes a proposal for a wallet backup metadata format
- links to post-quantum research using Isogenies
- points to the recently assigned BIPs for GSR
- examines SHRIMPS post-quantum signatures
- Optech Newsletter #399 Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/04/03/
Armin Sabouri posted to Delving Bitcoin about how differences in payjoin implementations make it possible to fingerprint payjoin transactions and can damage payjoin’s privacy...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/04/03/#wallet-fingerprinting-risks-for-payjoin-privacy
Pythcoiner posted to the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list about a new proposal for a common structure for wallet backup metadata...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/04/03/#draft-bip-for-a-wallet-backup-metadata-format
Conduition wrote on Delving Bitcoin about his research into the suitability of Isogeny-Based Cryptography (IBC) as a post-quantum cryptosystem for Bitcoin...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/04/03/#compact-isogeny-pqc-can-replace-hd-wallets-key-tweaking-silent-payments
Rusty Russell wrote on the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list that the first two BIPs of the Great Script Restoration (or Grand Script Renaissance) have been submitted for BIP numbering...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/04/03/#varops-budget-and-tapscript-leaf-0xc2-aka-script-restoration-are-bips-440-and-441
Jonas Nick writes on Delving Bitcoin about a new semi-stateful hash-based signature construction for post-quantum Bitcoin...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/04/03/#shrimps-2-5-kb-post-quantum-signatures-across-multiple-stateful-devices
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter streaming live on X/Twitter Tuesday at 16:30 UTC.

2026-03-31 19:04:24 UTC

Dusty Daemon joined Optech to discuss Newsletter #398:
- Selected Q&A from the Bitcoin Stack Exchange
- Splicing spec merged
- And more
You can listen on our website:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2026/03/31/
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/4JyRC1yZAo79CjTTlYWa8b
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bitcoin-optech-newsletter-398-recap/id1674626983?i=1000758484356

2026-03-27 10:05:08 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #398 is here:
- summarizes popular Q&A from Stack Exchange
- Bitcoin Core 28.4, Core Lightning 26.04rc1
- Optech Newsletter #398 Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/03/27/
Selected Q&A from Bitcoin Stack Exchange
- What is meant by “Bitcoin doesn’t use encryption”?
- When and why did Bitcoin Script shift to a commit–reveal structure?
- Does P2TR-MS (Taproot M-of-N multisig) leak public keys?
- Does OP_CHECKSIGFROMSTACK intentionally allow cross-UTXO signature reuse?
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/03/27/#selected-qa-from-bitcoin-stack-exchange
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter streaming live on X/Twitter Tuesday at 16:30 UTC.

2026-03-24 19:41:14 UTC

Matt Corallo, Gregory Sanders, and Sebastian van Staa joined Optech to discuss Newsletter #397:
- Changes to services and client software including items about FIBRE, L402, and others
- The Bitcoin Core 31.0rc1 testing guide
- OP_TEMPLATEHASH and Taproot-native (Re)bindable Transactions
- And more
You can listen on our website:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2026/03/24/
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5Spre9stjgP0iiSjZPrNB7
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bitcoin-optech-newsletter-397-recap/id1674626983?i=1000757113427

2026-03-20 11:46:01 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #397 is here:
- summarizes changes to services/client software including Cake, Sparrow, FIBRE, and more
- Bitcoin Core 31.0rc1
- Optech Newsletter #397 Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/03/20/
Changes to services and client software:
- Cake Wallet adds Lightning support
- Sparrow 2.4.0 and 2.4.2 released
- Blockstream Jade adds Lightning via Liquid
- Lightning Labs releases agent tools
- Tether launches MiningOS
- FIBRE network relaunched
- TUI for Bitcoin Core released
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/03/20/#changes-to-services-and-client-software
Bitcoin Core 31.0rc1 is a release candidate for the next major version of the predominant full node implementation. A testing guide is available...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/03/20/#bitcoin-core-31-0rc1
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter streaming live on X/Twitter Tuesday at 16:30 UTC.

2026-03-17 19:34:14 UTC

Jonathan Harvey-Buschel joined Optech to discuss Newsletter #396:
- Collision-resistant hash function for Bitcoin Script
- Continued discussion of Gossip Observer traffic analysis tool
- And more
You can listen on our website:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2026/03/17/
Fountain:
https://fountain.fm/episode/kr8hTL0nldH8CQ7SCt5v
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/4u9tGb93ZZxKWCsgnsa3Pb
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bitcoin-optech-newsletter-396-recap/id1674626983?i=1000755815619

2026-03-13 13:49:32 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #396 is here:
- describes a collision-resistant hash function using Bitcoin Script
- summarizes continued discussion of Lightning Network traffic analysis
- Optech Newsletter #396 Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/03/13/
Robin Linus posted to Delving Bitcoin about Binohash, a new collision-resistant hash function using Bitcoin Script…
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/03/13/#collision-resistant-hash-function-for-bitcoin-script
Jonathan Harvey-Buschel posted updates about Gossip Observer, a tool for collecting LN gossip traffic and computing metrics to evaluate replacing message flooding with a set-reconciliation-based protocol…
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/03/13/#continued-discussion-of-gossip-observer-traffic-analysis-tool
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter streaming live on X/Twitter Tuesday at 16:30 UTC.

2026-03-11 17:59:23 UTC

Jon McAlpine, Antoine Poinsot, Mike Casey, and Ethan Heilman joined Optech to discuss Newsletter #395:
- A standard for stateless VTXO verification
- Draft BIP for expanded nVersion nonce space for miners
- Extensions to standard tooling for TEMPLATEHASH-CSFS-IK support
- Hourglass V2 update
- Algorithm agility for Bitcoin
- The limitations of cryptographic agility in Bitcoin
- And more
You can listen on our website:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2026/03/10/
Fountain:
https://fountain.fm/episode/662j7DIN0bkqLa4UPCyQ
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0rTY9h9m56q19wgPAjLax1
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bitcoin-optech-newsletter-395-recap/id1674626983?i=1000754691086

2026-03-06 14:16:32 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #395 is here:
- describes a standard for verifying VTXOs across different Ark implementations
- links to a draft BIP for expanding the miner-usable nonce space in the block header’s nVersion field
- points to extensions to standard tooling for TEMPLATEHASH-CSFS-IK support
- summarizes updates to the Hourglass V2 proposal
- examines perspectives on cryptographic algorithm agility for Bitcoin
- Optech Newsletter #395 Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/03/06/
Jgmcalpine posted to Delving Bitcoin about his proposal for V-PACK, a stateless VTXO verification standard, which aims to provide a mechanism to independently verify and visualize VTXOs in the Ark ecosystem...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/03/06/#a-standard-for-stateless-vtxo-verification
Matt Corallo posted to the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list a draft BIP to increase the number of bits available in nVersion’s nonce space for miners from 16 to 24...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/03/06/#draft-bip-for-expanded-nversion-nonce-space-for-miners
Antoine Poinsot wrote on the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list about his preliminary work to integrate the taproot-native OP_TEMPLATEHASH soft fork proposal into miniscript and PSBTs...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/03/06/#extensions-to-standard-tooling-for-templatehash-csfs-ik-support
Mike Casey posted an update to the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list for the Hourglass protocol to mitigate the market impact of quantum attacks against certain lost coins...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/03/06/#hourglass-v2-update
Ethan Heilman wrote on the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list regarding the potential need for RFC7696 Cryptographic Algorithm Agility in Bitcoin...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/03/06/#algorithm-agility-for-bitcoin
Pieter Wuille wrote to the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list about the limitations of the cryptographic agility...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/03/06/#the-limitations-of-cryptographic-agility-in-bitcoin
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter streaming live on X/Twitter Tuesday at 17:30 UTC.

2026-03-03 21:18:54 UTC

Craig Raw and Fabian Jahr joined Optech to discuss Newsletter #394:
- Draft BIP for output script descriptor annotations
- ASMap in Bitcoin Core
- Bitcoin Stack Exchange questions about BIP324 and spy mining
- And more
You can listen on our website:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2026/03/03/
Fountain:
https://fountain.fm/episode/ZSsrDWgcl4JV5lFgcmGv
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3HZ8S2MzqUesdXF9MlaR3G
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bitcoin-optech-newsletter-394-recap/id1674626983?i=1000752939548

2026-02-27 11:25:05 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #394 is here:
- looks at a proposed BIP for including supplemental information with output script descriptors
- summarizes popular Q&A from Stack Exchange
- Optech Newsletter #394 Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/02/27/
Craig Raw posted to the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list about a new BIP idea to provide useful metadata in the form of annotations, expressed as key/value pairs, appended directly to the descriptor...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/02/27/#draft-bip-for-output-script-descriptor-annotations
Selected Q&A from Bitcoin Stack Exchange
- Is Bitcoin BIP324 v2 P2P transport distinguishable from random traffic?
- What if a miner just broadcasts the header and never gives the block?
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/02/27/#selected-qa-from-bitcoin-stack-exchange
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter streaming live on X/Twitter Tuesday at 17:30 UTC.

2026-02-24 20:25:53 UTC

Misha Komarov, Erik De Smedt, and arbedout joined Optech to discuss Newsletter #393:
- Recent OP_RETURN output statistics
- Bitcoin PIPEs v2
- Changes to services and client software including: hArk-based Ark software, Sigbash v2 and others
- And more
You can listen on our website:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2026/02/24/
Fountain:
https://fountain.fm/episode/F0j1y6kbC1r7M0zINYM6
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/7BT9NHtzQGFZegi2UC98OK
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bitcoin-optech-newsletter-393-recap/id1674626983?i=1000751237921

2026-02-24 17:10:40 UTC

Sebastian Falbesoner and Oleksandr Kurbatov joined Optech to discuss Newsletter #392:
- Proposal to limit the number of per-group silent payment recipients
- BLISK, Boolean circuit Logic Integrated into the Single Key
- And more
You can listen on our website:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2026/02/17/
Fountain:
https://fountain.fm/episode/cepxpUMU4sikCSbeUtDQ
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0EhHSmQZcDmBYZkTfzPdlT
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bitcoin-optech-newsletter-392-recap/id1674626983?i=1000751215295

2026-02-20 13:20:45 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #393 is here:
- summarizes a discussion about recent OP_RETURN usage
- describes a protocol to enforce covenant-like spending conditions without consensus changes
- summarizes changes to services/client software including Ark software, silent payment and submarine swap support, and more
- Optech Newsletter #393 Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/02/20/
Anthony Towns posted to Delving about the recent OP_RETURN statistics since the release of Bitcoin Core v30.0 on October 10...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/02/20/#recent-op-return-output-statistics
Misha Komarov posted to Delving Bitcoin about Bitcoin PIPEs, a protocol that allows enforcement of spending conditions without the need for consensus changes or optimistic challenge mechanisms...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/02/20/#bitcoin-pipes-v2
Changes to services and client software:
- Second releases hArk-based Ark software
- Amboss announces RailsX
- Nunchuk adds silent payment support
- Electrum adds submarine swap features
- Sigbash v2 announced
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/02/20/#changes-to-services-and-client-software
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter streaming live on X/Twitter Tuesday at 17:30 UTC.

2026-02-13 09:10:24 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #392 is here:
- summarizes discussion of improving worst-case silent payment scanning performance
- describes an idea for enabling many spending conditions in a single key
- Optech Newsletter #392 Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/02/13/
Sebastian Falbesoner posted to the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list the discovery and mitigation of a theoretical attack on silent payment recipients...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/02/13/#proposal-to-limit-the-number-of-per-group-silent-payment-recipients
Oleksandr Kurbatov posted to Delving Bitcoin about BLISK, a protocol designed to express complex authorization policies using boolean logic...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/02/13/#blisk-boolean-circuit-logic-integrated-into-the-single-key
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter streaming live on X/Twitter Tuesday at 17:30 UTC.

2026-02-12 15:37:42 UTC

Toby Sharp, Chris Hyunhum Cho, Jonas Nick, and Antoine Poinsot joined Optech to discuss Newsletter #391:
- Work on a constant-time parallelized UTXO database
- A new higher level language for writing Bitcoin Script
- An idea to mitigate dust attacks
- Changing consensus including BIP54 consensus cleanup and post-quantum signature discussions including SHRINCS, Falcon, and SLH-DSA verification performance
- And more
You can listen on our website:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2026/02/10/
Fountain:
https://fountain.fm/episode/l0uUTumdZY0kAla2qy4v
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6tEcuY5BSywl3cacrpaOpP
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bitcoin-optech-newsletter-391-recap/id1674626983?i=1000749307135

2026-02-06 11:46:04 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #391 is here:
- links to work on a constant-time parallelized UTXO database
- summarizes a new high-level language for writing Bitcoin Script
- describes an idea to mitigate dust attacks
- covers the SHRINCS 324-byte stateful post-quantum signatures with static backups paper
- highlights discussion to address remaining points on BIP54
- summarizes the Falcon post-quantum signature scheme proposal
- links to research showing SLH-DSA verification can compete with ECC
- Optech Newsletter #391 Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/02/06/
Toby Sharp posted to Delving Bitcoin about his latest project, a custom, highly parallel UTXO database, with constant-time queries, called Hornet UTXO(1)...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/02/06/#a-constant-time-parallelized-utxo-database
Hyunhum Cho wrote on Delving Bitcoin about his work on Bithoven which is an alternative to miniscript...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/02/06/#bithoven-a-formally-verified-imperative-language-for-bitcoin-script
Bubb1es posted to Delving Bitcoin about a way to dispose of dust attacks in onchain wallets...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/02/06/#discussion-of-dust-attack-mitigations
Following-up on the Hash-based Signature Schemes for Bitcoin, Jonas Nick detailed on Delving Bitcoin a specific hash-based quantum-resistant signature algorithm with potentially useful properties for use in Bitcoin...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/02/06/#shrincs-324-byte-stateful-post-quantum-signatures-with-static-backups
Antoine Poinsot wrote about the remaining points of discussion for the consensus cleanup soft fork...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/02/06/#addressing-remaining-points-on-bip54
Giulio Golinelli posted on the mailing list proposing a fork to enable Falcon signature verification to Bitcoin...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/02/06/#falcon-post-quantum-signature-scheme-proposal
Conduition wrote about his ongoing work benchmarking his post-quantum SLH-DSA verification implementation against libsecp256k1...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/02/06/#slh-dsa-verification-can-compete-with-ecc
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter streaming live on X/Twitter Tuesday at 17:30 UTC.

2026-02-04 20:06:58 UTC

Liam Eagen joined Optech to discuss Newsletter #390:
- The Argo garbled-circuits scheme
- An LN-Symmetry update
- 5 questions from the Bitcoin Stack Exchange
- And more
You can listen on our website:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2026/02/03/
Fountain:
https://fountain.fm/episode/LCVHpTWDFbYJyG789W3L
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1RoYtObqP6LEN0HF6metMH
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bitcoin-optech-newsletter-390-recap/id1674626983?i=1000748247314

2026-01-30 09:02:21 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #390 is here:
- summarizes a more efficient approach to garbled circuits
- links to an LN-Symmetry update
- summarizes popular Q&A from Stack Exchange
- Optech Newsletter #390 Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/01/30/
Robin Linus posted to Delving Bitcoin about a new paper by Liam Eagen and Ying Tong Lai describing a technique that will enable 1000 times more efficient garbled locks...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/01/30/#argo-a-garbled-circuits-scheme-with-more-efficient-off-chain-computation
Gregory Sanders posted an update to Delving Bitcoin about his previous work on LN-Symmetry...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/01/30/#ln-symmetry-update
Selected Q&A from Bitcoin Stack Exchange
- What is stored in dbcache and with what priority?
- Can one do a coinjoin in Shielded CSV?
- In Bitcoin Core, how to use Tor for broadcasting new transactions only?
- Brassard-Høyer-Tapp (BHT) algorithm and Bitcoin (BIP360)
- Why does BitHash alternate sha256 and ripmed160?
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/01/30/#selected-qa-from-bitcoin-stack-exchange
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter streaming live on X/Twitter Tuesday at 17:30 UTC.

2026-01-27 20:04:22 UTC

René Pickhardt joined Optech to discuss Newsletter #389:
- A mathematical theory of payment channel networks
- 2 updates to services and client software
- And more
You can listen on our website:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2026/01/27/
Fountain:
https://fountain.fm/episode/QO5rMIVxPbZw1bO6abkj
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5KACVM4RzIGjsBrgXJ5aAv
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bitcoin-optech-newsletter-389-recap/id1674626983?i=1000746907140

2026-01-23 11:18:18 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #389 is here:
- links to a paper on the study of payment channel networks
- summarizes changes to services/client software including an Electrum server for testing silent payments and a BDK WASM library
- Optech Newsletter #389 Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/01/23/
René Pickhardt posted to Delving Bitcoin about the publication of his new paper called “A Mathematical Theory of Payment Channel Network”...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/01/23/#a-mathematical-theory-of-payment-channel-networks
Changes to services and client software:
- Electrum server for testing silent payments
- BDK WASM library
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/01/23/#changes-to-services-and-client-software
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter on http://Riverside.fm Tuesday at 17:30 UTC. Join us to discuss or ask questions!
https://riverside.com/studio/bitcoin-optech

2026-01-21 16:08:18 UTC

- reply

More from our latest Optech Recap podcast:
https://primal.net/e/nevent1qqsy9tgwyfg3e96hd0tacsatvq7lh86t2euu363pehrnalnh2ccqxscepwx80

2026-01-21 16:06:36 UTC

Bruno Garcia explains his vision for incremental mutation testing in Bitcoin Core:
https://blossom.primal.net/353282450809ad00ba62a941fb0122ea5c1bb716ae91f33a5e5e816a077134b7.mp4

2026-01-20 21:28:34 UTC

Bruno Garcia joined Optech to discuss Newsletter #388:
- Incremental mutation testing in Bitcoin Core
- BIP process updated
- And more
You can listen on our website:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2026/01/20/
Fountain:
https://fountain.fm/episode/TsQ3V8lAG5hrYWMbmXbn
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/65vfvLBYDXG6I7scbT5cyO
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bitcoin-optech-newsletter-388-recap/id1674626983?i=1000745948643

2026-01-16 16:36:55 UTC

Craig Raw (@craigraw) on silent payments. From Optech Recap #387
https://blossom.primal.net/8dd8c81fb2873313047d71156b223730c91b5dd8a46e1c90d6d135bd5b23ffbc.mp4

2026-01-16 12:00:40 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #388 is here:
- links to a discussion of incremental mutation testing in Bitcoin Core
- announces deployment of a new BIP process
- Optech Newsletter #388 Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/01/16/
Bruno Garcia posted to Delving Bitcoin about his current work on improving mutation testing in Bitcoin Core. Mutation testing is a technique that allows developers to assess the effectiveness of their tests by intentionally adding systemic bugs, called mutants, to the codebase...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/01/16/#an-overview-of-incremental-mutation-testing-in-bitcoin-core
After more than two months of discussion on the mailing list and another round of amendments to the proposal, it became clear this week that BIP3 had achieved rough consensus...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/01/16/#bip-process-updated
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter on Riverside Tuesday at 17:30 UTC. Join us to discuss or ask questions!
https://riverside.com/studio/bitcoin-optech

2026-01-14 15:44:29 UTC

René Pickhardt and Craig Raw joined Optech to discuss Newsletter #387:
- Bitcoin Core wallet migration bug
- Using Ark as a channel factory
- Draft BIP for silent payment descriptors
- And more
You can listen on our website:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2026/01/13/
Fountain:
https://fountain.fm/episode/CxvwArgstb80HNzZWxiC
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6jn03puzikUjsuQD4Bmp21
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bitcoin-optech-newsletter-387-recap/id1674626983?i=1000745147513

2026-01-09 11:05:56 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #387 is here:
- warns of a wallet migration bug in Bitcoin Core
- summarizes a post about using the Ark protocol as an LN channel factory
- links to a draft BIP for silent payment descriptors
- Optech Newsletter #387 Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/01/09/
Bitcoin Core posted a notice of a bug in the legacy wallet migration feature in versions 30.0 and 30.1...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/01/09/#bitcoin-core-wallet-migration-bug
René Pickhardt wrote on Delving Bitcoin about his discussions and ideas around whether Ark’s best use case might be as a flexible channel factory rather than as an end-user payment solution...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/01/09/#using-ark-as-a-channel-factory
Craig Raw posted to the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list a proposal for a draft BIP, which defines a new top-level descriptor script expression sp() for silent payments...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/01/09/#draft-bip-for-silent-payment-descriptors
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter on http://Riverside.fm Tuesday at 17:30 UTC. Join us to discuss or ask questions!
https://riverside.com/studio/bitcoin-optech

2026-01-06 22:36:08 UTC

Anthony Towns and Mikhail Kudinov joined Optech to discuss Newsletter #386:
- A notice about the wallet migration bug in Bitcoin Core
- Building a vault using blinded co-signers
- BIP for Peer feature negotiation
- Year 2106 timestamp overflow
- BIP54 timestamp restriction for a timestamp overflow soft fork
- Mitigating a CTV footgun
- CTV activation meeting
- OP_CHECKCONSOLIDATION to enable cheaper consolidations
- Hash-based signatures post-quantum Bitcoin
- And more
You can listen on our website:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2026/01/06/
Fountain:
https://fountain.fm/episode/LSYvA10Nd4ToHfmuKhvX
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/21GFU6WOODEv2s9F2NvBtB
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bitcoin-optech-newsletter-386-recap/id1674626983?i=1000744026375

2026-01-02 12:04:56 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #386 is here:
- summarizes a vault-like scheme using blinded MuSig2
- describes a proposal for Bitcoin clients to announce and negotiate support for new P2P features
- links to 2106 timestamp overflow discussion and considerations around BIP54
- notes a CTV activation meeting and CTV footgun discussion
- summarizes the OP_CHECKCONSOLIDATION proposal
- links to a report of hash-based post-quantum signature schemes
- Optech Newsletter #386 Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/01/02/
Jonathan T. Halseth posted to Delving Bitcoin a prototype of a vault-like scheme using blinded co-signers. Unlike traditional setups using co-signers, this scheme uses a blinded version of MuSig2 to ensure the signers know as little as possible about the funds they are involved in signing...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/01/02/#building-a-vault-using-blinded-co-signers
Anthony Towns posted to the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list about a proposal for a new BIP to define a P2P message that would allow peers to announce and negotiate support for new features...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/01/02/#peer-feature-negotiation
Asher Haim posted to the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list asking Bitcoin developers to act promptly to prepare for a migration from uint32 to uint64 block timestamps...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/01/02/#year-2106-timestamp-overflow-uint64-migration
Josh Doman posted to the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list and Delving Bitcoin asking whether it’s might be worthwhile to modify the consensus cleanup proposal to be more permissive to odd block timestamp behavior to allow a potential soft fork solution to the 2106 block timestamp overflow issue...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/01/02/#relax-bip54-timestamp-restriction-for-2106-soft-fork
Chris Stewart posted to Delving Bitcoin a discussion of a “footgun” with OP_CHECKTEMPLATEVERIFY (CTV)...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/01/02/#understanding-and-mitigating-a-ctv-footgun
Developer 1440000bytes hosted a CTV (BIP119) activation meeting...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/01/02/#ctv-activation-meeting
billymcbip proposed an opcode specifically optimized for consolidations. OP_CHECKCONSOLIDATION (CC) would evaluate to 1 if and only if it’s executed on an input with the same scriptPubKey as an earlier input in the same transaction...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/01/02/#op-checkconsolidation-to-enable-cheaper-consolidations
Mikhail Kudinov and Jonas Nick posted to the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list about their work on evaluating hash-based signatures for use in Bitcoin...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/01/02/#hash-based-signatures-for-bitcoin-s-post-quantum-future
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter on http://Riverside.fm Tuesday at 17:30 UTC. Join us to discuss or ask questions!
https://riverside.com/studio/bitcoin-optech

2025-12-24 19:19:43 UTC

Bastien Teinturier, Rearden Code, and Pieter Wuille joined Optech to discuss Newsletter #385: 2025 Year-in-Review Special.
Catch up on Bitcoin developments in 2025.
You can listen on our website:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2025/12/23/
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5zOXBAt2NHVWEVtESfFD5P
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bitcoin-optech-newsletter-385-2025-year-in-review-special/id1674626983?i=1000742621959

2025-12-19 15:30:32 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #385: 2025 Year-in-Review Special is here:
- notes Bitcoin developments during each month of 2025
- feature: Vulnerability disclosures
- feature: Quantum
- feature: Soft fork proposals
- feature: Stratum v2
- feature: Major releases of popular infrastructure projects
- feature: Optech
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/12/19/
In 2025, Optech summarized more than a dozen vulnerability disclosures...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/12/19/#vulns
With the increased attention on the potential for a future quantum computer to weaken or break the Elliptic Curve Discrete Logarithm (ECDL) hardness assumption that Bitcoin relies on to prove the ownership of coins, several conversations and proposals were put forward throughout the year to discuss and mitigate the impact of such a development.
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/12/19/#quantum
This year saw a bevy of discussions around soft fork proposals, ranging from the tightly scoped and minimally impactful, to the broadly scoped and powerful…
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/12/19/#softforks
Stratum v2 is a mining protocol designed to replace the original Stratum protocol used between miners and mining pools. Throughout 2025, Bitcoin Core received several updates to better support Stratum v2 implementations....
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/12/19/#stratumv2
Optech covered major releases of popular infrastructure projects throughout the year...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/12/19/#releases
In Optech’s eighth year, we published:
- 50 newsletters
- over 80,000 words, a 225pg book equivalent
- over 60hrs of podcasts, with 500,000 words of transcripts w/75 guests
- 150+ non-English translations
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/12/19/#optech
A special thank you
After contributing as the primary author for 376 consecutive Bitcoin Optech newsletters, Dave Harding stepped back from contributing regularly this year. We cannot thank Harding enough for anchoring the newsletter for eight years and all of the Bitcoin education, elucidation, and understanding he brought the community. We are eternally grateful and wish him all the best.
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this special newsletter on Riverside.fm Tuesday at 17:30 UTC. Join us to discuss or ask questions!
https://riverside.fm/studio/bitcoin-optech

2025-12-16 20:37:40 UTC

Matt Morehouse and Salvatore Ingala joined Optech to discuss Newsletter #384:
- Vulnerabilities fixed in LND 0.19.0
- A virtualized secure enclave for hardware signing devices
- 7 updates to services and client software
- 3 questions from the Bitcoin Stack Exchange
- And More
You can listen on our website:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2025/12/16/
Fountain:
https://fountain.fm/episode/ISFK9esZAmFyJFGGdafW
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2nvIdmLhoJRWKNQkynBVG8
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bitcoin-optech-newsletter-384-recap/id1674626983?i=1000741577702

2025-12-12 10:46:01 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #384 is here:
- discloses vulnerabilities in LND
- describes a project for running a virtual machine in an embedded secure element
- summarizes changes to services/client software
- summarizes popular Q&A from Stack Exchange
- Optech Newsletter #384 Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/12/12/
Matt Morehouse posted to Delving Bitcoin about critical vulnerabilities fixed in LND 0.19.0...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/12/12/#critical-vulnerabilities-fixed-in-lnd-0-19-0
Salvatoshi posted to Delving Bitcoin about Vanadium, a virtualized secure enclave for hardware signing devices...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/12/12/#a-virtualized-secure-enclave-for-hardware-signing-devices
Changes to services and client software:
- Interactive transaction visualization tool
- BlueWallet v7.2.2 released
- Stratum v2 updates
- Auradine announces Stratum v2 support
- LDK Node 0.7.0 released
- BIP-329 Python Library 1.0.0 release
- Bitcoin Safe 1.6.0 released
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/12/12/#changes-to-services-and-client-software
Selected Q&A from Bitcoin Stack Exchange:
- Does a clearnet connection to my Lightning node require a TLS certificate?
- Why do different implementations produce different DER signatures for the same private key and hash?
- Why is the miniscript after value limited at 0x80000000?
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/12/12/#selected-qa-from-bitcoin-stack-exchange
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter on http://Riverside.fm Tuesday at 17:30 UTC. Join us to discuss or ask questions!
https://riverside.fm/studio/bitcoin-optech

2025-12-09 20:45:10 UTC

Moonsettler and Julian joined Optech to discuss Newsletter #383:
- A consensus bug in the NBitcoin library found with differential fuzzing
- LNHANCE soft fork proposal updates
- Benchmarking Bitcoin Script under the proposed varops budget
- Optimizations to SLH-DSA (SPHINCS) post-quantum signatures
- And More
You can listen on our website:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2025/12/09/
Fountain:
https://fountain.fm/episode/hWoSXyZivt2VIK3sD2m5
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/7xoG5U9JOs579CkQhc1G58
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bitcoin-optech-newsletter-383-recap/id1674626983?i=1000740473439

2025-12-05 13:02:31 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #383 is here:
- describes a fixed vulnerability affecting the NBitcoin library
- summarizes the LNHANCE soft fork proposal
- relays a call to action to benchmark Bitcoin script execution under GSR's varops budget
- highlights discussion of optimizations to SLH-DSA (SPHINCS) post-quantum signatures
- Optech Newsletter #383 Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/12/05/
Bruno Garcia posted to Delving Bitcoin about a theoretical consensus failure in NBitcoin that could occur when using OP_NIP...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/12/05/#consensus-bug-in-nbitcoin-library
Moonsettler proposes a soft fork for LNHANCE now that all four of its constituent opcodes have updated BIPs and reference implementations...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/12/05/#lnhance-soft-fork
Julian posted a call to action to benchmark Bitcoin script execution under the varops budget...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/12/05/#benchmarking-the-varops-budget
Continuing the discussions around hardening Bitcoin against quantum computing, conduition presented his work on optimizing the SPHINCS signing algorithm...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/12/05/#slh-dsa-sphincs-post-quantum-signature-optimizations
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter on Riverside.fm Tuesday at 17:30 UTC. Join us to discuss or ask questions!
https://riverside.fm/studio/bitcoin-optech

2025-12-03 18:49:36 UTC

Mark “Murch” Erhardt, Gustavo Flores Echaiz, and Mike Schmidt discuss Newsletter #382:
- Updated stats on compact block reconstructions
- A motion to activate BIP3 and replace the current BIP process
- 3 questions from the Bitcoin Stack Exchange
- And more
You can listen on our website:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2025/12/02/
Fountain:
https://fountain.fm/episode/93Jhx6LCQCiZDKQYppJ8
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3RlXvoyRoZW5Rw1u3GcsIM
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bitcoin-optech-newsletter-382-recap/id1674626983?i=1000739533949

2025-11-28 14:17:07 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #382 is here:
- provides an update on compact block reconstruction discussions
- relays a call to activate BIP3
- summarizes popular Q&A from Stack Exchange
- Optech Newsletter #382 Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/11/28/
0xB10C posted an update to Delving Bitcoin about his statistics around compact block reconstruction...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/11/28/#stats-on-compact-block-reconstructions-updates
Murch posted to the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list a formal motion to activate BIP3...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/11/28/#motion-to-activate-bip3
Selected Q&A from Bitcoin Stack Exchange:
- Do pruned nodes store witness inscriptions?
- Increasing probability of block hash collisions when difficulty is too high
- What is the purpose of the initial 0x04 byte in all extended public and private keys?
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/11/28/#selected-qa-from-bitcoin-stack-exchange
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter on Riverside.fm Tuesday at 17:30 UTC. Join us to discuss or ask questions!
https://riverside.fm/studio/bitcoin-optech

2025-11-25 20:54:22 UTC

Antoine Poinsot and ZmnSCPxj joined Optech to discuss Newsletter #381:
- Modeling stale rates by propagation delay and mining centralization
- Private key handover for collaborative closure
- Updates to services and client software
- And more
You can listen on our website:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2025/11/25/
Fountain:
https://fountain.fm/episode/3zDWx0jj8JOTj9ukAoC6
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0BsoRU9mZZiLLlDYFtLo0W
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bitcoin-optech-newsletter-381-recap/id1674626983?i=1000738423632

2025-11-21 14:54:53 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #381 is here:
- looks at an analysis of how block propagation times may affect miner revenue
- describes a new approach for resolving protocols where multiple parties share funds
- summarizes changes to services/client software
- Optech Newsletter #381 Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/11/21/
Antoine Poinsot posted to Delving Bitcoin about modeling stale block rates and how block propagation time affects a miner’s revenue as a function of its hashrate...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/11/21/#modeling-stale-rates-by-propagation-delay-and-mining-centralization
ZmnSCPxj posted to Delving Bitcoin about private key handover, an optimization that protocols can implement when funds, previously owned by two parties, need to be refunded to a single entity...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/11/21/#private-key-handover-for-collaborative-closure
Changes to services and client software:
- Arkade launches
- Mempool monitoring mobile application
- Web-based policy and miniscript IDE
- Phoenix Wallet adds taproot channels
- Nunchuk 2.0 launches
- LN gossip traffic analysis tool announced
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/11/21/#changes-to-services-and-client-software
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter on Riverside.fm Tuesday at 16:30 UTC. Join us to discuss or ask questions!
https://riverside.fm/studio/bitcoin-optech

2025-11-19 16:19:33 UTC

TheCharlatan joined Optech to discuss Newsletter #380:
- The Bitcoin Kernel
- And more
You can listen on our website:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2025/11/18/
Fountain:
https://fountain.fm/episode/Qmqqq6fCDHTZt1SL0xxi
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5qGvgMkll7x3KQviU8Vm65
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bitcoin-optech-newsletter-380-recap/id1674626983?i=1000737307431

2025-11-12 16:12:51 UTC

Sebastian Falbesoner, PortlandHODL, Tadge Dryja, and Antoine Poinsot joined Optech to discuss Newsletter #379:
- ECDSA signature validation in OpenSSL vs. libsecp256k1
- Multiple discussions about restricting data
- Post-quantum signature aggregation
- Native STARK proof verification in Bitcoin Script
- BIP54 implementation and test vectors
- And more
You can listen on our website:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2025/11/11/
Fountain:
https://fountain.fm/episode/6cQbKPDwMKQ2qu4HA14r
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/26JrUei66sLjcgXHMzmsTU
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bitcoin-optech-newsletter-379-recap/id1674626983?i=1000736447881

2025-11-07 12:52:26 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #379 is here:
- shares an analysis comparing the historical performance of the OpenSSL and libsecp256k1 libraries
- highlights multiple discussions about restricting data
- summarizes a proposed post-quantum signature aggregation opcode
- summarizes an idea for STARK proof verification in Bitcoin Script
- updates progress on BIP54's consensus cleanup
- Optech Newsletter #379 Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/11/07/
Sebastian Falbesoner posted to Delving about comparing the performance of ECDSA signature validation between OpenSSL and libsecp256k1 over the last decade...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/11/07/#comparing-performance-of-ecdsa-signature-validation-in-openssl-vs-libsecp256k1
Multiple conversations examined ideas to change the limits of various fields in consensus...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/11/07/#multiple-discussions-about-restricting-data
Tadge Dryja posted to the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list a proposal for an OP_CHECKINPUTVERIFY (OP_CIV) opcode that enables a locking script to commit to a specific UTXO being spent in the same transaction...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/11/07/#post-quantum-signature-aggregation
Abdelhamid Bakhta posted to Delving Bitcoin a detailed proposal for a new tapscript opcode OP_STARK_VERIFY which would enable the verification of a specific variant of STARK proof in Bitcoin Script...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/11/07/#native-stark-proof-verification-in-bitcoin-script
Antoine Poinsot posted to the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list an update on his consensus cleanup work on BIP54...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/11/07/#bip54-implementation-and-test-vectors
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter on Riverside.fm Tuesday at 16:30 UTC. Join us to discuss or ask questions!
https://riverside.fm/studio/bitcoin-optech

2025-11-04 19:46:00 UTC

Mark “Murch” Erhardt and Mike Schmidt discuss Newsletter #378:
- Disclosure of four low-severity vulnerabilities in Bitcoin Core
- Q&A from Bitcoin Stack Exchange including questions on datacarriersize, OP_TEMPLATEHASH and others
- And more
You can listen on our website:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2025/11/04/
Fountain:
https://fountain.fm/episode/52iLDnzzU5I7rxb8coJT
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3gvj03rHM7qT0jTnQcMnfH
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bitcoin-optech-newsletter-378-recap/id1674626983?i=1000735256317

2025-10-31 13:53:33 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #378 is here:
- announces four vulnerabilities affecting older versions of the Bitcoin Core full node
- summarizes popular Q&A from Stack Exchange
- Optech Newsletter #378 Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/10/31/
Antoine Poinsot recently posted to the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list four Bitcoin Core security advisories for low-severity vulnerabilities that were fixed in Bitcoin Core 30.0...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/10/31/#disclosure-of-four-low-severity-vulnerabilities-in-bitcoin-core
Selected Q&A from Bitcoin Stack Exchange:
- Why was -datacarriersize redefined in 2022, and why was the 2023 proposal to expand it not merged?
- What is the smallest valid transaction that can be included in a block?
- Why does Bitcoin Core continue to give witness data a discount even when it is used for inscriptions?
- The ever-growing Bitcoin blockchain size?
- I read that OP_TEMPLATEHASH is a variant of OP_CTV. How do they differ?
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/10/31/#selected-qa-from-bitcoin-stack-exchange
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter on Riverside.fm Tuesday at 16:30 UTC. Join us to discuss or ask questions!
https://riverside.fm/studio/bitcoin-optech

2025-10-29 14:38:50 UTC

Abubakar Sadiq Ismail and Carla Kirk-Cohen joined Optech to discuss Newsletter #377:
- Detecting block template feerate increases using cluster mempool
- Channel jamming mitigation simulation results and updates
- BULL wallet launches, Sparrow 2.3.0 released
- And more
You can listen on our website:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2025/10/28/
Fountain:
https://fountain.fm/episode/8ax8Sb0R5uFGbVnvja6L
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0tCMF2SY7a0RIBj0OPaoqM
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bitcoin-optech-newsletter-377-recap/id1674626983?i=1000734046586

2025-10-28 19:38:38 UTC

Francesco Madonna and supertestnet joined Optech to discuss Newsletter #376:
- Continued discussion of block template sharing
- B-SSL a Secure Bitcoin Signing Layer
- Bitcoin Core 30.0
- And more
You can listen on our website:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2025/10/21/
Fountain:
https://fountain.fm/episode/uYvjTVDINCV7N95sriNu
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2aZv1l0GhSlUSoerkK0rgs
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bitcoin-optech-newsletter-376-recap/id1674626983?i=1000733913844

2025-10-17 14:25:56 UTC

Sindura Saraswathi, ZmnSCPxj and Eugene Siegel joined Optech to discuss Newsletter #375:
- Optimal Threshold Signatures
- Flattening certain nested threshold signatures
- Theoretical limitations on embedding data in the UTXO set
- The ‘Compact block harness’ Bitcoin Core PR Review Club
- And more
You can listen on our website:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2025/10/14/
Fountain:
https://fountain.fm/episode/chMU3zQSD9f2tyCuzW4P
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2PykH77AZa2zugekSKsTPb

2025-10-17 11:26:28 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #376 is here:
- shares an update on the proposal for nodes to share their current block template
- summarizes a paper outlining a covenant-less vault construction
- Bitcoin Core 30.0 release
- Optech Newsletter #376 Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/10/17/
Discussion continued around the proposal for full node peers to occasionally send each other their current template for the next block using compact block relay encoding...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/10/17/#continued-discussion-of-block-template-sharing
Francesco Madonna posted to Delving Bitcoin about a concept which is a covenant-less vault model using taproot, OP_CHECKSEQUENCEVERIFY, and OP_CHECKLOCKTIMEVERIFY...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/10/17/#b-ssl-a-secure-bitcoin-signing-layer
Bitcoin Core 30.0 is the latest version release of the network’s predominant full node. Its release notes describe several significant improvements...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/10/17/#bitcoin-core-30-0
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter on Riverside.fm Tuesday at 16:30 UTC. Join us to discuss or ask questions!
https://riverside.fm/studio/bitcoin-optech

2025-10-10 13:49:38 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #375 is here:
- describes research into tradeoffs between usability and security in threshold signatures
- summarizes an approach to convert nested threshold signatures into a single-layer signing group
- examines the extent to which data could be embedded in the UTXO set under a restrictive set of rules
- recaps the "Compact block harness" PR Review Meeting
- Optech Newsletter #375 Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/10/10/
Sindura Saraswathi posted research, co-authored by her and Korok Ray, to Delving Bitcoin about determining the optimal threshold for a multisignature scheme...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/10/10/#optimal-threshold-signatures
ZmnSCPxj posted to Delving Bitcoin to describe how to avoid using nested schnorr signatures in some cases that have not been proven safe...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/10/10/#flattening-certain-nested-threshold-signatures
Adam “Waxwing” Gibson started a discussion on the mailing list about the extent to which data could be embedded in the UTXO set under a restrictive set of rules for Bitcoin transactions...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/10/10/#theoretical-limitations-on-embedding-data-in-the-utxo-set
'Compact block harness' is a PR by Crypt-iQ that increases the fuzz test coverage by adding a test harness for the compact block relay logic...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/10/10/#bitcoin-core-pr-review-club
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter on Riverside.fm Tuesday at 16:30 UTC. Join us to discuss or ask questions!
https://riverside.fm/studio/bitcoin-optech

2025-10-07 18:48:28 UTC

Mark “Murch” Erhardt and Mike Schmidt are joined by Gustavo Flores Echaiz to discuss Newsletter #374:
- The script restoration BIPs
- A BDK Wallet release and release candidates from Bitcoin Core and LND
- Our weekly notable code segment
You can listen on our website:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2025/10/07/
Fountain:
https://fountain.fm/episode/bN5DD679k2z2NLqaNvHQ
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2Fpd2NSKSAFydTy02y9cUv
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bitcoin-optech-newsletter-374-recap/id1674626983?i=1000730656614

2025-10-01 17:36:28 UTC

Matt Morehouse, Daniela Brozzoni, and Gustavo Flores Echaiz joined Optech to discuss Newsletter #373:
- Eclair vulnerability
- Research into feerate settings
- 12 Bitcoin Stack Exchange questions with an OP_RETURN focus
- Bitcoin Core 30.1 release candidate and testing guide
- And more
You can listen on our website: https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2025/09/30/
Fountain: https://fountain.fm/episode/HUKeJE4y8iPGSD9WL4VS
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/55tV1tepMDPFtcONy8kHQI
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bitcoin-optech-newsletter-373-recap/id1674626983?i=1000729551630

2025-09-23 20:16:34 UTC

ZmnSCPxj and Constantine Doumanidis joined Optech to discuss Newsletter #372:
News
16:24 LSP-funded redundant overpayments
1:02 Partitioning and eclipse attacks using BGP interception
Changes to services and client software
13:49 Zero-knowledge proof of reserve tool
15:12 Alternative submarine swap protocol proof of concept
Releases and release candidates
39:14 Bitcoin Core 30.0rc1
1:16:28 BDK Chain 0.23.2
Notable code and documentation changes
1:17:19 Bitcoin Core #33268
1:18:56 Eclair #3157
1:19:52 LND #9975
1:20:21 LND #9677
1:20:41 LDK #4045
1:21:32 LDK #4049
1:22:18 BDK #1582
1:23:13 BDK #2000
1:24:17 BDK #2028
You can listen on our website: https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2025/09/23/
Fountain: https://fountain.fm/episode/roAtQyqbkVOkZxNBz4z0
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6lQx7XYXHK6o4u6iEjt1x6
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bitcoin-optech-newsletter-372-recap/id1674626983?i=1000728103838

2025-09-19 09:53:41 UTC

Bitcoin Optech Newsletter #372 is here:
- summarizes a proposal to enhance LN redundant overpayments
- links to a discussion about potential partitioning attacks against full nodes
- summarizes changes to services/client software
- Optech Newsletter #372 Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/09/19/
ZmnSCPxj posted to Delving Bitcoin a proposal to allow LSPs to provide the additional funding (liquidity) required for redundant overpayments...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/09/19/#lsp-funded-redundant-overpayments
Developer cedarctic posted to Delving Bitcoin about using flaws in the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) to prevent full nodes from being able to connect to peers...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/09/19/#partitioning-and-eclipse-attacks-using-bgp-interception
Changes to services and client software:
- Zero-knowledge proof of reserve tool
- Alternative submarine swap protocol proof of concept
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/09/19/#changes-to-services-and-client-software
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter on Riverside.fm Tuesday at 16:30 UTC. Join us to discuss or ask questions!
https://riverside.fm/studio/bitcoin-optech

2025-09-16 19:13:54 UTC

Jonas Nick and Bastien Teinturier joined Optech to discuss Newsletter #371:
News
0:48 Provable Cryptography Workbook
Releases and release candidates
10:48 Bitcoin Core 29.1
11:17 Eclair v0.13.0
25:27 Bitcoin Core 30.0rc1
Notable code and documentation changes
33:18 Bitcoin Core #30469
33:18 Eclair #3163
40:27 Eclair #2308
45:18 Eclair #3021
48:08 Eclair #3142
50:30 LDK #4053
58:12 LDK #3886
You can listen on our website: https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2025/09/16/
Fountain: https://fountain.fm/episode/FDSWN4dSOtzy7kezMw3G
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/240Htez9aCxIINL1rqCuWy
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bitcoin-optech-newsletter-371-recap/id1674626983?i=1000727098773 https://blossom.primal.net/475398338edaa3d08cad5284e9c602c62899ec01e59e3a27cc4c169dd82d12d0.mp4

2025-09-12 12:16:13 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #371 is here:
- announces the availability of a workbook dedicated to provable cryptography
- Bitcoin Core 29.1, Eclair v0.13.0, Bitcoin Core 30.0rc1
- Optech Newsletter #371 Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/09/12/
Jonas Nick posted to Delving Bitcoin to announce a short workbook he created for a four day event to “teach developers the basics of provable cryptography, […] consisting of cryptographic definitions, propositions, proofs and exercises.”
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/09/12/#provable-cryptography-workbook
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter on Riverside.fm Tuesday at 16:30 UTC. Join us to discuss or ask questions!
https://riverside.fm/studio/bitcoin-optech

2025-09-10 10:51:15 UTC

Russell O’Connor, Olaoluwa Osuntokun, and Jeremy Rubin join Optech to discuss Newsletter #370:
Changing consensus
37:56 Details about the design of Simplicity
1:52 Draft BIP for adding elliptic curve operations to tapscript
19:23 Draft BIP for OP_TWEAKADD
Releases and release candidates
59:40 Core Lightning v25.09
1:00:24 Bitcoin Core 29.1rc2
Notable code and documentation changes
1:00:55 LDK #3726
1:02:24 LDK #4019
1:03:09 LND #9455
1:04:00 LND #10103
1:05:20 HWI #795
You can listen on our website: https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2025/09/09/
Fountain: https://fountain.fm/episode/6IP69xVggsPJ4dZtShuf
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1InhHmSFSrggcAxafzymWS
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bitcoin-optech-newsletter-370-recap/id1674626983?i=1000725872238 https://blossom.primal.net/8665d77655f96257fcc4863adf6b9346baa8248261152d36a5a366f446aa0ecf.mp4

2025-09-08 21:32:03 UTC

- reply

You can listen on our website: https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2025/08/26/
Fountain: https://fountain.fm/episode/P5UDO600jU5Iva3fHFic
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0ZPLyRlgDZvh2kN9WV95pF
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bitcoin-optech-newsletter-368-recap/id1674626983?i=1000725591869

2025-09-08 21:28:22 UTC

Mark “Murch” Erhardt and Mike Schmidt discussed Newsletter #368:
News
0:30 Draft BIP for block template sharing
28:07 Trusted delegation of script evaluation
Changes to services and client software
33:07 ZEUS v0.11.3 released
33:25 Rust Utreexo resources
34:11 Peer-observer tooling and call to action
37:22 Bitcoin Core Kernel-based node announced
38:23 SimplicityHL released
39:17 LSP plugin for BTCPay Server
39:42 Proto mining hardware and software announced
40:46 Oracle resolution demo using CSFS
41:11 Relai adds taproot support
Releases and release candidates
43:09 LND v0.19.3-beta
43:29 Bitcoin Core 29.1rc1
43:55 Core Lightning v25.09rc2
Notable code and documentation changes
44:33 Bitcoin Core #32896
46:57 Bitcoin Core #33106
1:02:49 Core Lightning #8467
1:03:26 Core Lightning #8354
1:04:07 Eclair #3103
1:04:43 Eclair #3134
1:05:56 LDK #3897
https://blossom.primal.net/61d1cf39e62cf5894faf1cb8500690cc0b27b016dad243613952df79191e2d3b.mp4

2025-09-05 11:35:35 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #370 is here:
- details the design of Simplicity
- links to a draft BIP for adding elliptic curve operations to tapscript
- describes the draft BIP for OP_TWEAKADD
- Optech Newsletter #370 Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/09/05/
Russell O’Connor made three posts so far to Delving Bitcoin about “the philosophy and design of the Simplicity language”...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/09/05/#details-about-the-design-of-simplicity
Olaoluwa Osuntokun posted to the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list a link to a draft BIP for adding several opcodes to tapscript that will allow elliptic curve operations to be performed on the script evaluation stack...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/09/05/#draft-bip-for-adding-elliptic-curve-operations-to-tapscript
Jeremy Rubin posted to the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list a link a draft BIP to add OP_TWEAKADD to tapscript...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/09/05/#draft-bip-for-op-tweakadd
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter on Riverside.fm Tuesday at 16:30 UTC. Join us to discuss or ask questions!
https://riverside.fm/studio/bitcoin-optech

2025-09-02 20:22:03 UTC

Bruno Garcia and Liam Eagen joined Optech to discuss Newsletter #369:
News
24:56 Update on differential fuzzing of Bitcoin and LN implementations
0:58 Garbled locks for accountable computing contracts
Selected Q&A from Bitcoin Stack Exchange
39:45 Is it possible to recover a private key from an aggregate public key under strong assumptions?
41:24 Are all taproot addresses vulnerable to quantum computing?
45:20 Why cant we set the chainstate obfuscation key?
52:09 Is it possible to revoke a spending branch after a block height?
53:45 Configure Bitcoin Core to use onion nodes in addition to IPv4 and IPv6 nodes?
Releases and release candidates
54:22 Bitcoin Core 29.1rc2
56:45 Core Lightning v25.09rc4
Notable code and documentation changes
57:37 Bitcoin Core #31802
1:04:46 LDK #3979
1:06:19 LND #10102
1:07:04 Rust Bitcoin #4907
https://blossom.primal.net/ba21f103a0a8888fc9c809ea08682523cc0b56665eb1e014aacd9b3b262978de.mp4
You can listen on our website:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2025/09/02/
Fountain:
https://fountain.fm/episode/oGMUPbcYR5TSy63a4Zt8
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5uox6htE8nFOVXFc3Ju9Qq
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bitcoin-optech-newsletter-369-recap/id1674626983?i=1000724614662

2025-08-29 11:04:24 UTC

Bitcoin Optech Newsletter #369 is here:
- shares an update on differential fuzzing of Bitcoin and LN implementations
- links to a new paper about garbled locks for accountable computing contracts
- summarizes popular Q&A from Stack Exchange
- Optech Newsletter #369 Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/08/29/
Bruno Garcia posted to Delving Bitcoin to describe recent progress and accomplishments of bitcoinfuzz, a library and related data for fuzz testing Bitcoin-based software and libraries...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/08/29/#update-on-differential-fuzzing-of-bitcoin-and-ln-implementations
Liam Eagen posted to the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list about a paper he’s written about a new mechanism for creating accountable computing contracts but based on garbled circuits...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/08/29/#garbled-locks-for-accountable-computing-contracts
Selected Q&A from Bitcoin Stack Exchange:
- Is it possible to recover a private key from an aggregate public key under strong assumptions?
- Are all taproot addresses vulnerable to quantum computing?
- Why cant we set the chainstate obfuscation key?
- Is it possible to revoke a spending branch after a block height?
- Configure Bitcoin Core to use onion nodes in addition to IPv4 and IPv6 nodes?
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/08/29/#selected-qa-from-bitcoin-stack-exchange
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter on Riverside.fm Tuesday at 16:30 UTC. Join us to discuss or ask questions!
https://riverside.fm/studio/bitcoin-optech

2025-08-22 10:39:52 UTC

Bitcoin Optech Newsletter #368 is here:
- summarizes a draft BIP for block template sharing between full nodes
- announces a library that allows trusted delegation of script evaluation
- summarizes changes to services/client software
- Optech Newsletter #368 Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/08/22/
Anthony Towns posted to the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list the draft of a BIP for how nodes can communicate to their peers the transactions they would attempt to mine in their next block...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/08/22/#draft-bip-for-block-template-sharing
Josh Doman posted to Delving Bitcoin about a library he’s written that uses a trusted execution environment (TEE) that will only sign a taproot keypath spend if the transaction containing that spend satisfies a script...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/08/22/#trusted-delegation-of-script-evaluation
Changes to services and client software:
- ZEUS v0.11.3 released
- Rust Utreexo resources
- Peer-observer tooling and call to action
- Bitcoin Core Kernel-based node announced
- SimplicityHL released
- LSP plugin for BTCPay Server
- Proto mining hardware and software announced
- Oracle resolution demo using CSFS
- Relai adds taproot support
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/08/22/#changes-to-services-and-client-software
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter on Riverside.fm Tuesday at 16:30 UTC. Join us to discuss or ask questions!
https://riverside.fm/studio/bitcoin-optech

2025-08-15 10:38:53 UTC

Bitcoin Optech Newsletter #367 is here:
- LND v0.19.3-beta.rc1
- Bitcoin Core 29.1rc1
- Optech Newsletter #367 Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/08/15/
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter on Riverside.fm Tuesday at 16:30 UTC. Join us to discuss or ask questions!
https://riverside.fm/studio/bitcoin-optech

2025-08-13 17:09:17 UTC

Gloria Zhao and Mike Schmidt were joined by Tadge Dryja and Anthony Towns to discuss Newsletter #366:
- Draft BIPs proposed for Utreexo
- Continued discussion about lowering the minimum relay feerate
- Peer block template sharing to mitigate problems with divergent mempool policies
- A watch only wallet PR Review Club
- And more
You can listen on our website:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2025/08/12/
Fountain:
https://fountain.fm/episode/mb22hz065ESbbtqZvMy6
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/58sQEBHrZ5Z22iUID6x5Je
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bitcoin-optech-newsletter-366-recap/id1674626983?i=1000721833977

2025-08-06 16:28:02 UTC

David Gumberg, Lauren Shareshian, Jameson Lopp, Steven Roose, and Tim Ruffing joined Optech to discuss Newsletter #365:
- Compact block prefilling
- Mempool-based fee estimation
- Migration from quantum-vulnerable outputs
- The OP_TEMPLATEHASH proposal
- Proposal to allow longer relative timelocks
- Security against quantum computers with taproot as a commitment scheme
- And more
You can listen on our website:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2025/08/05/
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/65CJxx41a9UYQhCvHDrXWX
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bitcoin-optech-newsletter-365-recap/id1674626983?i=1000720913277

2025-07-31 15:58:17 UTC

- reply

You can listen on our website:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2025/07/29/
Fountain:
https://fountain.fm/episode/tQ7DBX3FTiiAzp6Sp0aD
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6nQ1pe8K4UAizGYslBD6HX
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bitcoin-optech-newsletter-364-recap/id1674626983?i=1000720103505

2025-07-31 15:55:42 UTC

Matt Morehouse and Jesse Posner (@jesseposner) joined Optech to discuss Newsletter #364:
News
0:53 LND gossip filter DoS vulnerability
15:16 Chain code withholding for multisig scripts
38:46 Research indicates common Bitcoin primitives are compatible with quantum-resistant signature algorithms
Selected Q&A from Bitcoin Stack Exchange
57:36 How does Bitcoin Core handle reorgs larger than 10 blocks?
1:01:29 Advantages of a signing device over an encrypted drive?
1:03:21 Spending a taproot output through the keypath and scriptpath?
Releases and release candidates
1:04:26 Libsecp256k1 v0.7.0
Notable code and documentation changes
1:05:16 Bitcoin Core #32521
1:15:00 Bitcoin Core #31829
1:19:51 LDK #3801
1:21:11 LDK #3842
1:21:57 BIPs #1890
1:23:53 BOLTs #1232 https://blossom.primal.net/4c846fc1e4ad14a94b7dea486210f63fc22c3329c5ea1219e175177cf104d6bb.mp4

2025-07-25 12:26:00 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #364 is here:
- summarizes a vulnerability affecting old versions of LND
- describes an idea for improving privacy when using co-signer services
- examines the impact of switching to quantum-resistant signature algorithms on HD wallets, scriptless multisig, and silent payments
- summarizes popular Q&A from Stack Exchange
- Optech Newsletter #364 Recap
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/07/25/
Matt Morehouse posted to Delving Bitcoin about a vulnerability affecting past versions of LND that he previously responsibly disclosed...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/07/25/#lnd-gossip-filter-dos-vulnerability
Jurvis Tan posted to Delving Bitcoin about research he performed with Jesse Posner into improving the privacy and security of multisig collaborative custody...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/07/25/#chain-code-withholding-for-multisig-scripts
Jesse Posner posted to Delving Bitcoin several links to research papers that indicate that quantum-resistant signature algorithms provide comparable primitives to those currently used in Bitcoin...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/07/25/#research-indicates-common-bitcoin-primitives-are-compatible-with-quantum-resistant-signature-algorithms
Selected Q&A from Bitcoin Stack Exchange:
- How does Bitcoin Core handle reorgs larger than 10 blocks?
- Advantages of a signing device over an encrypted drive?
- Spending a taproot output through the keypath and scriptpath?
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/07/25/#selected-qa-from-bitcoin-stack-exchange
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter on Riverside.fm Tuesday at 16:30 UTC. Join us to discuss or ask questions!
https://riverside.fm/studio/bitcoin-optech

2025-07-22 19:20:32 UTC

- reply

You can listen on our website:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2025/07/22/
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1OufUqtuvQxEXOPJBsqAwH
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bitcoin-optech-newsletter-363-recap/id1674626983?i=1000718502522

2025-07-22 19:19:02 UTC

Davidson Souza joined Optech discuss Newsletter #363:
Changes to services and client software
0:45 Floresta v0.8.0 released
20:38 RGB v0.12 announced
25:34 FROST signing device available
29:44 Gemini adds taproot support
38:14 Electrum 4.6.0 released
Releases and release candidates
38:51 LND v0.19.2-beta
Notable code and documentation changes
39:38 Bitcoin Core #32604
40:55 Bitcoin Core #32618
43:03 Bitcoin Core #31553
46:53 Core Lightning #7725
47:23 Eclair #2716
52:19 LDK #3628
53:22 LDK #3890
54:30 LND #10001
https://blossom.primal.net/c7d89fdd96adc2dc40a7ce82e38d83548a3036880b160060c34995d454c026f9.mp4

2025-07-18 14:23:24 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #363 is here:
- summarizes changes to services/client software including Floresta, RGB, Frostsnap and more
- LND v0.19.2-beta
- Optech Newsletter #363 Recap
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/07/18/
Changes to services and client software:
- Floresta v0.8.0 released
- RGB v0.12 announced
- FROST signing device available
- Gemini adds taproot support
- Electrum 4.6.0 released
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/07/18/#changes-to-services-and-client-software
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter on Riverside.fm Tuesday at 16:30 UTC. Join us to discuss or ask questions!
https://riverside.fm/studio/bitcoin-optech

2025-07-16 14:46:15 UTC

Josh Doman and Gloria Zhao joined Optech to discuss ⁠⁠Newsletter #362⁠⁠:
News
0:34 Compressed descriptors
Bitcoin Core PR Review Club
9:14 Improve TxOrphanage denial of service bounds
Releases and release candidates
46:22 LND v0.19.2-beta.rc2
Notable code and documentation changes
47:17 Core Lightning #8377
50:41 BDK #1957
51:18 BIPs #1888
https://blossom.primal.net/6326fc5b174dbe7ab4563a04806daaefdb8d259403e176c179f876604735063c.mp4

2025-07-11 09:56:35 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #362 is here:
- briefly describes a new library allowing output script descriptors to be compressed for use in QR codes
- recaps the "Improve TxOrphanage denial of service bounds" PR Review Meeting
- #362 Recap Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/07/11/
Josh Doman posted to Delving Bitcoin to announce a library he’s written that encodes output script descriptors into a binary format that reduces their size by about 40%...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/07/11/#compressed-descriptors
Improve TxOrphanage denial of service bounds is a PR by glozow that changes TxOrphanage eviction logic to guarantee each peer the resources for at least 1 maximum-size package worth of orphan resolution...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/07/11/#bitcoin-core-pr-review-club
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter on Riverside.fm Tuesday at 16:30 UTC. Join us to discuss or ask questions!
https://riverside.fm/studio/bitcoin-optech

2025-07-10 14:42:27 UTC

Sanket Kanjalkar, Jonas Nick, Tadge Dryja, Steven Roose, and Brandon Black joined Optech this week to discuss:
- A new onion message network
- CTV+CSFS and benefits to PTLCs and BitVM
- Vault descriptors
- The CTV and CSFS open letter
- Winternitz signatures using OP_CAT
- Commit/reveal function for post-quantum recovery
- OP_TXHASH variant with support for transaction sponsorship
- And more
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2025/07/08/

2025-07-04 12:45:27 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #361 is here:
- describes a proposal to separate the network connections and peer management used for onion message relay from those used for HTLC relay in LN
- CTV+CSFS advantages for PTLCs
- Vault output script descriptor
- Continued discussion about CTV+CSFS advantages for BitVM
- Open letter about CTV and CSFS
- OP_CAT enables Winternitz signatures
- Commit/reveal function for post-quantum recovery
- OP_TXHASH variant with support for transaction sponsorship
- Optech Newsletter #361 Recap Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/07/04/
Olaluwa Osuntokun posted to Delving Bitcoin about allowing nodes to use separate connections for relaying onion messages than they use for relaying HTLCs...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/07/04/#separating-onion-message-relay-from-htlc-relay
Developers continued a previous discussion about the benefits of OP_CHECKTEMPLATEVERIFY (CTV), OP_CHECKSIGFROMSTACK (CSFS), or both together for various deployed and imagined protocols...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/07/04/#ctv-csfs-advantages-for-ptlcs
Sjors Provoost posted to Delving Bitcoin to discuss how the recovery information for a wallet using vaults could be specified using an output script descriptor...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/07/04/#vault-output-script-descriptor
Developers continued the previous discussion about how the availability of OP_CHECKTEMPLATEVERIFY (CTV) and OP_CHECKSIGFROMSTACK (CSFS) opcodes could “reduce [BitVM] transaction sizes by approximately 10x” and allow non-interactive peg-ins...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/07/04/#continued-discussion-about-ctv-csfs-advantages-for-bitvm
James O’Beirne posted an open letter to the Bitcoin-Dev mailing signed by 66 individuals (as of this writing), many of them contributors to Bitcoin-related projects...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/07/04/#open-letter-about-ctv-and-csfs
Developer Conduition posted to the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list a prototype implementation that uses the proposed OP_CAT opcode and other Script instructions to allow quantum-resistant signatures using the Winternitz protocol to be verified by consensus logic...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/07/04/#op-cat-enables-winternitz-signatures
Tadge Dryja posted to the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list a method for allowing individuals to spend UTXOs using quantum-vulnerable signature algorithms even if fast quantum computers would otherwise allow redirecting (stealing) the output of any attempted spend...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/07/04/#commit-reveal-function-for-post-quantum-recovery
Steven Roose posted to Delving Bitcoin about a variation on OP_TXHASH called TXSIGHASH that extends 64-byte schnorr signatures with additional bytes to indicate what fields in the transaction (or related transactions) the signature commits to...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/07/04/#op-txhash-variant-with-support-for-transaction-sponsorship
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter on Riverside.fm Tuesday at 16:30 UTC. Join us to discuss or ask questions!
https://riverside.fm/studio/bitcoin-optech

2025-07-01 19:31:39 UTC

Earlier today Daniela Brozzoni and Naiyoma joined @nprofile…mzvs and @nprofile…tz3n to discuss Newsletter #360:
- Fingerprinting Bitcoin Core nodes
- Descriptors and BIP380
- Questions from the bitcoin stack exchange about blocking knots nodes, OP_CAT, compact blocks, selfish mining
- And more
Catch up:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2025/07/01/

2025-06-27 10:32:04 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #360 is here:
- summarizes research about fingerprinting full nodes using P2P protocol messages
- seeks feedback about possibly removing support for H in BIP32 paths in the BIP380 specification of descriptors
- summarizes popular Q&A from Stack Exchange
- Optech Newsletter #360 Recap Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/06/27/
Daniela Brozzoni posted to Delving Bitcoin about research she conducted with developer Naiyoma into identifying the same node on multiple networks using the addr messages it sends...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/06/27/#fingerprinting-nodes-using-addr-messages
Ava Chow posted to the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list to ask whether any software generates descriptors using uppercase-H to indicate a hardened BIP32 key derivation step...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/06/27/#does-any-software-use-h-in-descriptors
Selected Q&A from Bitcoin Stack Exchange:
- Is there any way to block Bitcoin Knots nodes as my peers?
- What does OP_CAT do with integers?
- Async Block Relaying With Compact Block Relay (BIP152)
- Why is attacker revenue in selfish mining disproportional to its hash-power?
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/06/27/#selected-qa-from-bitcoin-stack-exchange
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter on Riverside.fm Tuesday at 16:30 UTC. Join us to discuss or ask questions!
https://riverside.fm/studio/bitcoin-optech

2025-06-24 21:29:21 UTC

Earlier today, Bryan Bishop, Robin Linus, and Rene Pickhardt joined @nprofile…mzvs and @nprofile…tz3n to cover:
- Restricting access to Bitcoin Core Project discussion
- Garbled circuits and BitVM3
- Updates on Lightning channel rebalancing research
- Cove Wallet, Liana, Stratum v2 STARK proofs, Breez
- And more!
Catch up:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2025/06/24/

2025-06-17 22:22:51 UTC

Earlier today, Antoine Poinsot, Peter Todd, Josh Doman, and TheCharlatan joined us to discuss Newsletter #358:
- Selfish mining
- Transaction relay censorship resistance
- Updates to BIP390
- Encrypting descriptors
- The bitcoinkernel project
- And more
Catch up:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2025/06/17/

2025-06-13 10:44:53 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #358 is here:
- describes how the selfish mining danger threshold can be calculated
- summarizes an idea about preventing filtering of high feerate transactions
- seeks feedback about a proposed change to BIP390 musig() descriptors
- announces a new library for encrypting descriptors
- recaps the "Separate UTXO set access from validation functions" PR Review Meeting
- adds a Selfish Mining topic
- Optech Newsletter #358 Recap
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/06/13/
Antoine Poinsot posted to Delving Bitcoin an expansion of the math from the 2013 paper that gave the selfish mining attack its name...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/06/13/#calculating-the-selfish-mining-danger-threshold
Peter Todd posted to the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list about a mechanism that would allow nodes to drop peers that are filtering high-feerate transactions...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/06/13/#relay-censorship-resistance-through-top-mempool-set-reconciliation
Ava Chow posted to the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list to ask if anyone objected to updating BIP390 to allow musig() expressions in output script descriptors to contain the same participant public key more than once...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/06/13/#updating-bip390-to-allow-duplicate-participant-keys-in-musig-expressions
Josh Doman posted to Delving Bitcoin to announce a library he’s built that encrypts the sensitive parts of an output script descriptor or miniscript to the public keys contained within it...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/06/13/#descriptor-encryption-library
'Separate UTXO set access from validation functions' is a PR by TheCharlatan that allows calling validation functions by passing just the required UTXOs, instead of requiring the complete UTXO set. It is part of the bitcoinkernel project...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/06/13/#bitcoin-core-pr-review-club
Selfish mining allows a miner (or cartel of miners) controlling less than a majority of hashrate to keep more block reward per unit of work than the majority of honest miners...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/topics/selfish-mining/
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter on Riverside.fm Tuesday at 16:30 UTC. Join us to discuss or ask questions!
https://riverside.fm/studio/bitcoin-optech

2025-06-12 19:22:24 UTC

Jose SK, Clara Shikhelman, Vojtěch Strnad, Robin Linus, and Dan Gould joined @nprofile…mzvs and @nprofile…tz3n to discuss:
- Syncing full nodes without witnesses
- Quantum computing report
- Transaction weight limit with exception to prevent confiscation
- Removing outputs from the UTXO set based on value and time
- And More…
Catch up:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2025/06/10/

2025-06-06 13:01:56 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #357 is here:
- shares an analysis about syncing full nodes without old witnesses
- Changing consensus covering: a quantum computing report, transaction weight limits, removing outputs from the UTXO set based on value and time
- Optech Newsletter #357 Recap
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/06/06/
Jose SK posted to Delving Bitcoin a summary of an analysis he performed about the security tradeoffs of allowing newly started full nodes with a particular configuration to avoid downloading some historic blockchain data...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/06/06/#syncing-full-nodes-without-witnesses
Clara Shikhelman posted to Delving Bitcoin the summary of a report she co-authored with Anthony Milton about the risks to Bitcoin users of fast quantum computers, an overview of several pathways to quantum resistance, and an analysis of tradeoffs involved in upgrading the Bitcoin protocol...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/06/06/#quantum-computing-report
Vojtěch Strnad posted to Delving Bitcoin to propose the idea for a consensus change to limit the maximum weight of most transactions in a block...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/06/06/#transaction-weight-limit-with-exception-to-prevent-confiscation
Robin Linus posted to Delving Bitcoin to propose a soft fork for removing low-value outputs from the UTXO set after some time...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/06/06/#removing-outputs-from-the-utxo-set-based-on-value-and-time
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter on Riverside.fm Tuesday at 16:30 UTC. Join us to discuss or ask questions!
https://riverside.fm/studio/bitcoin-optech

2025-06-03 22:40:37 UTC

Earlier today, @nprofile…mzvs and @nprofile…tz3n were joined by Carla Kirk-Cohen, Joost Jager, and Elias Rohrer to discuss #356:
- Attributable failures and LN privacy
- Several P2P and policy questions from the Bitcoin Stack Exchange
- And more!
Catch up:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2025/06/03/

2025-06-02 17:35:58 UTC

Last week Dave Harding was joined by Alex Myers and Rodolfo Novak to discuss Newsletter #355:
- Cake Wallet, Sparrow, Safe Wallet, COLDCARD, tx batching using payjoin, JoinMarket fidelity bonds, Bitcoin opcode documentation, Bitkey open sourced
- LND and CLN releases
- Bitcoin Core, CLN and LND PRs
Catch up:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2025/05/27/

2025-05-30 12:29:53 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #356 is here:
- summarizes a discussion about the possible effects of attributable failures on LN privacy
- summarizes popular Q&A from Stack Exchange
- adds an attributable failures topic
- Optech Newsletter #356 Recap Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/05/30/
Carla Kirk-Cohen posted to Delving Bitcoin an analysis of the possible consequences for the privacy of LN spenders and receivers if the network adopts attributable failures, particularly telling the spender the amount of time it took to forward a payment at each hop...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/05/30/#do-attributable-failures-reduce-ln-privacy
Selected Q&A from Bitcoin Stack Exchange:
- Which transactions get into blockreconstructionextratxn?
- Why would anyone use OP_RETURN over inscriptions, aside from fees?
- Why is my Bitcoin node not receiving incoming connections?
- How do I configure my node to filter out transactions larger than 400 bytes?
- What does “not publicly routable” node in Bitcoin Core P2P mean?
- Why would a node would ever relay a transaction?
- Is selfish mining still an option with compact blocks and FIBRE?
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/05/30/#selected-qa-from-bitcoin-stack-exchange
Attributable failures are LN payment forwarding failures or delays that can be attributed to a pair of nodes, allowing spenders to avoid using slow or failure-prone nodes for future payments...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/topics/attributable-failures/
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter on Riverside.fm Tuesday at 16:30 UTC. Join us to discuss or ask questions!
https://riverside.fm/studio/bitcoin-optech

2025-05-23 11:36:28 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #355 is here:
- summarizes changes to services/client software
- LND 0.19.0-beta, Core Lightning 25.05rc1 releases
- Optech Newsletter #355 Recap Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/05/23/
Changes to services and client software:
- Cake Wallet added payjoin v2 support
- Sparrow adds pay-to-anchor features
- Safe Wallet 1.3.0 released
- COLDCARD Q v1.3.2 released
- Transaction batching using payjoin
- JoinMarket Fidelity Bond Simulator
- Bitcoin opcodes documented
- Bitkey code open sourced
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/05/23/#changes-to-services-and-client-software
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter on Riverside.fm Tuesday at 16:30 UTC. Join us to discuss or ask questions!
https://riverside.fm/studio/bitcoin-optech

2025-05-21 17:12:38 UTC

Yesterday @nprofile…mzvs @nprofile…tz3n spoke with Eugene Siegel, Chris Stewart, Bram Cohen, and Robin Linus:
- A disclosed Bitcoin Core vulnerability
- 64 bit arithmetic draft BIP
- A new approach to recursive covenants
- BitVM benefits from CTV and CSFS
- And more
Catch up:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2025/05/20/

2025-05-16 11:01:26 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #354 is here:
- describes a fixed vulnerability affecting old versions of Bitcoin Core
- Changing consensus covering: 64-bit arithmetic in Script, Proposed opcodes for enabling recursive covenants through quines, benefits to BitVM from OP_CTV and OP_CSFS
- Optech Newsletter #354 Recap Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/05/16/
Antoine Poinsot posted to the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list to announce a vulnerability affecting Bitcoin Core versions before 29.0...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/05/16/#vulnerability-disclosure-affecting-old-versions-of-bitcoin-core
Chris Stewart posted a draft BIP to the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list that proposes upgrading Bitcoin’s existing opcodes to operate on 64-bit numeric values...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/05/16/#proposed-bip-for-64-bit-arithmetic-in-script
Bram Cohen posted to Delving Bitcoin to suggest a set of simple opcodes that would enable the creation of recursive covenants through self-reproducing scripts (quines)...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/05/16/#proposed-opcodes-for-enabling-recursive-covenants-through-quines
Robin Linus posted to Delving Bitcoin about several of the improvements to BitVM that would become possible if the proposed OP_CTV and OP_CSFS opcodes were added to Bitcoin in a soft fork...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/05/16/#description-of-benefits-to-bitvm-from-op-ctv-and-op-csfs
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter on Riverside.fm Tuesday at 16:30 UTC. Join us to discuss or ask questions!
https://riverside.fm/studio/bitcoin-optech

2025-05-15 14:42:53 UTC

Earlier this week @nprofile…mzvs and @nprofile…tz3n discussed Newsletter #353 with Ruben Somsen, Salvatore Ingala, and Stéphan Vuylsteke:
- BIP30 consensus failure vulnerability
- Avoiding BIP32 path reuse
- Bitcoin Core’s multiprocess project
- And more…
Catch up:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2025/05/13/

2025-05-09 19:28:48 UTC

Earlier this week @nprofile…d0r5 and @nprofile…t75r discussed Newsletter #352:
- Cluster linearization techniques for cluster mempool
- Increasing or removing Bitcoin Core’s OP_RETURN size limit
- Bitcoin Core removing legacy wallets
- And more...
Catch up:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2025/05/06/

2025-05-09 10:45:03 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #353 is here:
- describes a recently discovered theoretical consensus failure vulnerability
- links to a proposal to avoid reuse of BIP32 wallet paths
- recaps the "Add bitcoin wrapper executable" PR Review Meeting
- Optech Newsletter #353 Recap
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/05/09/
Ruben Somsen posted to the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list about a theoretical consensus failure that could occur now that checkpoints have been removed from Bitcoin Core...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/05/09/#bip30-consensus-failure-vulnerability
Kevin Loaec posted to Delving Bitcoin to discuss options for preventing the same BIP32 wallet path from being used with different wallets, which could lead to a loss of privacy due to output linking and a theoretical loss of security...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/05/09/#avoiding-bip32-path-reuse
"Add bitcoin wrapper executable" is a PR by ryanofsky that introduces a new bitcoin binary which can be used to discover and launch the various Bitcoin Core binaries...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/05/09/#bitcoin-core-pr-review-club
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter on Riverside.fm Tuesday at 16:30 UTC. Join us to discuss or ask questions!
https://riverside.fm/studio/bitcoin-optech

2025-05-02 20:00:38 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #352 is here:
- links to comparisons between different cluster linearization techniques
- briefly summarizes discussion about increasing or removing Bitcoin Core’s OP_RETURN size limit
- Optech Newsletter #352 Recap
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/05/02/
Pieter Wuille posted to Delving Bitcoin about some of the fundamental tradeoffs between three different cluster linearization techniques, following up with benchmarks of implementations of each...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/05/02/#comparison-of-cluster-linearization-techniques
In a thread on Bitcoin-Dev, several developers discussed changing or removing Bitcoin Core’s default limit for OP_RETURN data carrier outputs. A subsequent Bitcoin Core pull request saw additional discussion...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/05/02/#increasing-or-removing-bitcoin-core-s-op-return-size-limit
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter on Riverside.fm Tuesday at 16:30 UTC. Join us to discuss or ask questions!
https://riverside.fm/studio/bitcoin-optech

2025-04-30 17:58:41 UTC

Yesterday @nprofile…d0r5 and @nprofile…tz3n had on Jonas Nick and Salvatore Ingala to cover Newsletter #351:
- The DahLIAS Interactive aggregate signatures compatible with secp256k1
- Standardized backup for wallet descriptors
- Stack Exchange questions including: half-aggregated schnorr signatures, OP_RETURN, reorg statistics, and more
Catch up:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2025/04/29/

2025-04-25 11:04:32 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #351 is here:
- announces a new aggregate signature protocol
compatible with secp256k1
- describes a standardized backup scheme for
wallet descriptors
- summarizes popular Q&A from Stack Exchange
- Optech Newsletter #351 Recap
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/04/25/
Jonas Nick, Tim Ruffing, Yannick Seurin posted to the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list to announce a paper they’ve written about creating 64-byte aggregate signatures compatible with the cryptographic primitives already used by Bitcoin...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/04/25/#interactive-aggregate-signatures-compatible-with-secp256k1
Salvatore Ingala posted to Delving Bitcoin a summary of various tradeoffs related to backing up wallet descriptors and a proposed scheme that should be useful for many different types of wallets, including those using complex scripts...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/04/25/#standardized-backup-for-wallet-descriptors
Selected Q&A from Bitcoin Stack Exchange:
- Practicality of half-aggregated schnorr signatures?
- What’s the largest size OP_RETURN payload ever created?
- Non-LN explanation of pay-to-anchor?
- Up-to-date statistics about chain reorganizations?
- Are Lightning channels always P2WSH?
- Child-pays-for-parent as a defense against a double spend?
- What values does CHECKTEMPLATEVERIFY hash?
- Why can’t Lightning nodes opt to reveal channel balances for better routing efficiency?
- Does post-quantum require hard fork or soft fork?
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/04/25/#selected-qa-from-bitcoin-stack-exchange
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter on Riverside.fm Tuesday at 15:30 UTC. Join us to discuss or ask questions!
https://riverside.fm/studio/bitcoin-optech

2025-04-22 17:57:55 UTC

Earlier today @nprofile…d0r5 and @nprofile…tz3n spoke with Niklas Gögge about Newsletter #350:
- Fuzz testing tool for Bitcoin nodes
- Message signing
- PSBTv2 explorer
- MPC Library
- Bitcoin Core 29.0
- And more!
Catch up:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2025/04/22/

2025-04-22 15:29:01 UTC

Last week @nprofile…d0r5 and @nprofile…cvw0 spoke with Sebastian Falbesoner, Ruben Somsen, and Abubakar Sadiq Ismail about Newsletter #349:
- IBD using SwiftSync
- Bitcoin Core fee estimation
- And more!
Catch up:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2025/04/15/

2025-04-21 15:08:13 UTC

In Podcast #348 we had on Jonas Nick, Jameson Lopp, Steven Roose, Gregory Sanders, and Salvatore Ingala:
- secp256k1lab
- discussions about quantum computer theft and resistance
- discussions about a CTV+CSFS soft fork
- OP_CHECKCONTRACTVERIFY
- Consensus cleanup draft BIP
- And more!
Catch up:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2025/04/08/

2025-04-18 12:06:15 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #350 is here:
- summarizes changes to services/client software
- Bitcoin Core 29.0
- issues a correction to some details from our story last week about SwiftSync
- Optech Newsletter #350 Recap
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/04/18/
Changes to services and client software:
- Bitcoin Knots version 28.1.knots20250305 released
- PSBTv2 explorer announced
- LNbits v1.0.0 released
- The Mempool Open Source Project® v3.2.0 released
- Coinbase MPC library released
- Lightning Network liquidity tool released
- Versioned Storage Service announced
- Fuzz testing tool for Bitcoin nodes
- Bitcoin Control Board components open-sourced
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/04/18/#changes-to-services-and-client-software
Bitcoin Core 29.0 is the latest major version of the network’s predominate full node. Its release notes describe several significant improvements...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/04/18/#bitcoin-core-29-0
Correction
Last week’s newsletter story about SwiftSync contained several errors and confusing statements...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/04/18/#correction
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter on Riverside.fm Tuesday at 15:30 UTC. Join us to discuss or ask questions!
https://riverside.fm/studio/bitcoin-optech

2025-04-11 12:32:31 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #349 is here:
- describes a proposal for speeding up Bitcoin Core initial block download, with a proof-of-concept implementation that shows a roughly 5x speed up compared to Bitcoin Core’s defaults
- recaps the "Stricter internal handling of invalid blocks " PR Review Meeting
- Optech Newsletter #349 Recap on Riverside
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/04/11/
Sebastian Falbesoner posted to Delving Bitcoin a sample implementation and performance results for SwiftSync, an idea proposed by Ruben Somsen during a recent Bitcoin Core developers meeting and later posted to the mailing list...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/04/11/#swiftsync-speedup-for-initial-block-download
'Add Fee rate Forecaster Manager' is a PR by ismaelsadeeq that upgrades the transaction fee forecasting (fee estimation) logic...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2025/04/11/#bitcoin-core-pr-review-club
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter on Riverside.fm Tuesday at 15:30 UTC. Join us to discuss or ask questions!
https://riverside.fm/studio/bitcoin-optech