Bitcoin Optech

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

Public Key

npub1hkuk45c6c6h3y0rks0z4wa0wyyud5ru0qy0rn9x4dgnjwrnfy46s5a432p

NIP-05 Address

Profile Code

nprofile1qqstmwt26vdvdtcj83mg832hwhhzzwx6p78sz83ejn2k5fe8pe5j2agpz3mhxue69uhkgetnvd5x7mmvd9hxwtn4wvq3vamnwvaz7tmxwfjkuuewdehhxarjxyhxxmmde6xvdv

Publishing to

deschooling.us

frens.nostr1.com

Author Public Key

npub1hkuk45c6c6h3y0rks0z4wa0wyyud5ru0qy0rn9x4dgnjwrnfy46s5a432p

Show more details

Last Notes

2026-07-31 13:27:32 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #416 is here:
- warns about a severe vulnerability affecting wallets generated by COLDCARD signing devices
- summarizes the disclosure of two denial-of-service vulnerabilities in Core Lightning
- describes a proof of concept for a zero-knowledge proof of reserves
- summarizes popular Q&A from Stack Exchange
- Optech Newsletter #416 Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/07/31/
If you used a COLDCARD to generate a wallet, any funds received by that wallet are at risk of theft and should be carefully moved to an unaffected wallet as soon as possible...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/07/31/#move-funds-secured-by-coldcard-generated-keys
On 30 July 2026, some Bitcoin users discovered that funds from their COLDCARD wallets had been stolen in a series of unexpected transactions on 29 July. Over the course of the day, a bug was identified in the firmware of the COLDCARD that causes wallets to be generated with insufficient entropy. As of this writing, estimated losses exceed 1,000 BTC, a figure that may continue to rise as the situation develops...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/07/31/#wallets-generated-by-coldcard-at-risk-of-theft
Chandra Pratap posted to Delving Bitcoin about two denial-of-service (DoS) vulnerabilities he found in Core Lightning...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/07/31/#disclosure-of-two-dos-vulnerabilities-in-core-lightning
fabohax posted about zkPoH (“zero-knowledge proof-of-hodl”), a proof of concept for a non-custodial proof of reserves system for Bitcoin...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/07/31/#proof-of-concept-for-a-zero-knowledge-proof-of-reserves
Selected Q&A from Bitcoin Stack Exchange
- What is Bitcoin’s objective definition of transaction neutrality?
- Why does BIP110’s decentralization benefit not outweigh its impact on transaction neutrality?
- Why does BIP110 require a 55% signaling threshold if its nodes reject non-signaling blocks?
- Why use ElligatorSwift encoding in BIP324?
- Was the OP_SUCCESSx reservation in BIP342 designed with specific opcode families in mind?
- What is the difference between the long-term feerate and the discard feerate?
- What is the quickest method for migrating a legacy wallet to a descriptor wallet on a pruned node?
- Is there historical data on orphan/stale block rates during high-fee periods?
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/07/31/#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.

2026-07-31 01:22:21 UTC

PSA: Wallets generated by Coldcard at risk!
Wallets generated by Coldcard Mk3 using a firmware version 4.0.1 (March 2021) or later, up to the latest version may be vulnerable to theft, unless used in combination with a strong passphrase or entropy was generated externally.
Please see the Coinkite security advisory (https://blog.coinkite.com/coldcard-mk3-seed-generation-warning/).
The attack is easy to reproduce with LLM assistance. There are reports that Mk2, Mk4, and Mk5 may be affected by (weaker) variants of the same vulnerability. If your wallet may be affected, please carefully move your funds to an unaffected wallet ASAP.

2026-07-28 20:12:46 UTC

Fabian Jahr, Kruw, and Mojo joined Optech to discuss Newsletter #415:
- Draft BIP for full aggregation of BIP340 signatures
- Changes to services and client software including Wasabi, Coinswap, Go secp256k1, an ASMap dashboard, Wavelength
- And more
You can listen on our website:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2026/07/28/
Fountain:
https://fountain.fm/episode/DwKaI4UBnN19MQJpcEPx
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6Dq72RsD8V9OxhdLc7UV7B
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bitcoin-optech-newsletter-415-recap/id1674626983?i=1000778755233

2026-07-24 12:35:35 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #415 is here:
- describes a draft BIP for full aggregation of BIP340 signatures
- summarizes changes to services/client software
- Optech Newsletter #415 Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/07/24/
Fabian Jahr posted to the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list about a new draft BIP for full aggregation of BIP340 schnorr signatures, a standard for the DahLIAS aggregate signature scheme...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/07/24/#draft-bip-for-full-aggregation-of-bip340-signatures
Changes to services and client software:
- Wasabi Wallet 2.8.0 released
- Coinswap v0.2.2 released
- Go secp256k1 library announced
- ASMap dashboard announced
- Wavelength alpha released
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/07/24/#changes-to-services-and-client-software
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter streaming live on X/Twitter Tuesday at 16:30 UTC.

2026-07-21 20:15:34 UTC

Keagan McClelland and Andrew Toth joined Optech to discuss Newsletter #414:
- Formal verification of the Bitcoin protocol
- Bitcoin Core 30.3, Bitcoin Core 29.4
- Parallel input fetching in Bitcoin Core
- And more
You can listen on our website:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2026/07/21/
Fountain:
https://fountain.fm/episode/CvNXTopIBoxJuLpmT8Sg
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3sUFnSFebB8Ff3takKKqVZ
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bitcoin-optech-newsletter-414-recap/id1674626983?i=1000777771807

2026-07-17 12:15:33 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #414 is here:
- describes a new project to apply formal verification to the Bitcoin protocol
- Bitcoin Core 30.3, Bitcoin Core 29.4
- Optech Newsletter #414 Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/07/17/
Keagan McClelland posted to the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list and Delving Bitcoin about his effort to formally verify the Bitcoin protocol...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/07/17/#formal-verification-of-the-bitcoin-protocol
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter streaming live on X/Twitter Tuesday at 16:30 UTC.

2026-07-14 18:58:32 UTC

Sjors Provoost joined Optech to discuss Newsletter #413:
- Using fountain codes for IBD
- Bitcoin Core's IPC Mining Interface and Stratum v2
- Bitcoin Core 31.1, LND v0.20.2-beta
- And more
You can listen on our website:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2026/07/14/
Fountain:
https://fountain.fm/episode/Mr4DojGzekgbOrxFhJWN
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/32i7t5aubUiGnu0GEOsxsa
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bitcoin-optech-newsletter-413-recap/id1674626983?i=1000776800852

2026-07-10 11:18:42 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #413 is here:
- describes research into using fountain codes to allow pruned nodes to contribute to initial block download
- Bitcoin Core 31.1, LND v0.20.2-beta
- Optech Newsletter #413 Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/07/10/
Lucas Lima posted to Delving Bitcoin about his latest research on using fountain codes to allow pruned nodes to contribute to Initial Block Download (IBD), without significantly increasing their storage requirements...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/07/10/#using-fountain-codes-for-ibd
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter streaming live on X/Twitter Tuesday at 16:30 UTC.

2026-07-08 15:29:34 UTC

Conduition and Jeremy Rubin joined Optech to discuss Newsletter #412:
- Benchmarking SLH-DSA STARK aggregation
- Bird of Prey 2 (BoP-2) non-malleable schnorr and PQ signatures
- Lattice-based signatures
- Public key recovery for P2MR EC leaves
- Aligning privacy incentives in P2MR
- Prohibit merkle internal node preimages that encode minimal 64-byte transactions
- Triggering EC disabling with a NUMS point spend or hashrate majority
- And more
You can listen on our website:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2026/07/07/
Fountain:
https://fountain.fm/episode/y6XkElTaP2wZFzmAsY8n
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3tHQacI9FTEYW3J2uLDX4d
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bitcoin-optech-newsletter-412-recap/id1674626983?i=1000775973839

2026-07-03 12:28:04 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #412 is here:
- links to benchmarking around SLH-DSA STARK aggregation
- points to discussion of a paper on constructing hybrid strongly-unforgeable signature schemes
- examines lattice-based PQ signatures
- describes a proposal for public key recovery for P2MR EC leaves
- summarizes a thread on aligning privacy incentives in P2MR
- describes and alternative to banning all 64-byte transactions
- summarizes a proposal to trigger EC disabling with a NUMS point spend or hashrate majority
- Optech Newsletter #412 Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/07/03/
Remix7531 posted to the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list his benchmark results for aggregating many SPHINCS signature verifications into a single STARK proof...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/07/03/#benchmarking-slh-dsa-stark-aggregation
Pieter Wuille posted to Delving Bitcoin about a EuroCrypt 2026 paper on constructing hybrid strongly-unforgeable signature schemes from a schnorr-like scheme and an arbitrary post-quantum signature scheme...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/07/03/#bird-of-prey-2-bop-2-non-malleable-schnorr-and-pq-signatures
Nikita Karetnikov posted to Delving Bitcoin and cross-posted to the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list about a Blockstream blog post comparing post-quantum signature families, where lattice-based schemes appear favorable on size and functionality...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/07/03/#lattice-based-signatures
starius posted to Delving Bitcoin a proposal to add a recoverable elliptic curve (EC) key leaf type to BIP360 (P2MR). The idea is to recover the EC public key from the schnorr signature...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/07/03/#public-key-recovery-for-p2mr-ec-leaves
Conduition posted to the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list a proposed BIP360 (P2MR) change to require every P2MR control block to include at least one 32-byte merkle authentication path (i.e. ban depth-zero script trees)...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/07/03/#aligning-privacy-incentives-in-p2mr
Jeremy Rubin posted to the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list a draft BIP proposing an alternative to the consensus cleanup (BIP54) rule making 64-byte witness-stripped transactions consensus-invalid...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/07/03/#prohibit-merkle-internal-node-preimages-that-encode-minimal-64-byte-transactions
Pieter Wuille wrote to the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list about codifying the expected future disabling of elliptic curve (EC) spending paths within new post-quantum output types such as BIP360 (P2MR) and P2TRv2...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/07/03/#triggering-ec-disabling-with-a-nums-point-spend-or-hashrate-majority
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter streaming live on X/Twitter Tuesday at 16:30 UTC.

2026-07-01 16:49:13 UTC

Nishant Bansal and Matthew Zipkin joined Optech to discuss Newsletter #411:
- LND zero-timestamp gossip DoS disclosure
- Removal of the libevent library in Bitcoin Core
- Selected Q&A from the Bitcoin Stack Exchange
- And more
You can listen on our website:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2026/06/30/
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2A7v5pARVJ01i7gXxDxyun
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bitcoin-optech-newsletter-411-recap/id1674626983?i=1000775030980

2026-06-26 11:48:32 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #411 is here:
- describes the responsible disclosure of a denial-of-service vulnerability that affected older versions of LND
- summarizes popular Q&A from Stack Exchange
- Optech Newsletter #411 Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/06/26/
Nishant Bansal posted to Delving Bitcoin disclosing a denial-of-service vulnerability he discovered through state-machine fuzzing of LND’s gossip handling...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/06/26/#lnd-zero-timestamp-gossip-dos-disclosure
Selected Q&A from Bitcoin Stack Exchange
- Is it a bug that OP_IF is part of the tapscript opcodes?
- Why would forbidding OP_IF in tapscript be a problem?
- Does a softfork always succeed?
- How to set up Bitcoin Core to mine a valid block after the BIP110 activation in August 2026?
- Are BIP110 blocks on a branch with lower difficulty valid?
- What is the story behind Bitcoin test networks?
- Why was -datacarriersize redefined in 2022, and why was the 2023 proposal to expand it not merged?
- Are chains of 26 unconfirmed transactions prohibited by the wallet in Bitcoin Core 31.0?
- Are there changes in Bitcoin Core 29.0 that affect memory usage?
- What is Bitcoin Core’s release schedule?
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/06/26/#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.

2026-06-24 10:59:31 UTC

rkrux, Roland Bewick, and Steven Roose joined Optech to discuss Newsletter #410:
- Discussion of removing RBF signaling from wallet transactions
- Changes to services and client software including Sparrow, Alby, JoinMarket NG, Bark, Arké, Noah
- And more
You can listen on our website:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2026/06/23/
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/47quyifrpjUmeqHoZcm308
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bitcoin-optech-newsletter-410-recap/id1674626983?i=1000773932392

2026-06-19 12:15:26 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #410 is here:
- summarizes a discussion about wallets removing opt-in replace-by-fee signaling from the transactions they create
- summarizes changes to services/client software
- Optech Newsletter #410 Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/06/19/
rkrux posted to the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list proposing that wallets stop signaling opt-in RBF in the transactions they create...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/06/19/#discussion-of-removing-rbf-signaling-from-wallet-transactions
Changes to services and client software:
- Sparrow Wallet 2.5.0 adds silent payments receiving
- Bark live on Bitcoin mainnet
- Arké Ark wallet announced
- Noah Ark wallet announced
- Alby Hub v1.23.0 released
- JoinMarket NG 0.32.0 released
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/06/19/#changes-to-services-and-client-software
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter streaming live on X/Twitter Tuesday at 16:30 UTC.

2026-06-17 16:43:50 UTC

Vasil Dimov joined Optech to discuss Newsletter #409:
- Draft BIP for testnet5
- The bug in private transaction broadcast
- And more
You can listen on our website:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2026/06/16/
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1sOOad7jS2bJan4pIQXjlb
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bitcoin-optech-newsletter-409-recap/id1674626983?i=1000773137157

2026-06-12 11:58:28 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #409 is here:
- describes a draft BIP to replace the testnet4 test network with a successor
- Optech Newsletter #409 Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/06/12/
Pol Espinasa posted to the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list a draft BIP, co-authored with Fabian Jahr, to replace testnet4 with testnet5...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/06/12/#draft-bip-for-testnet5
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter streaming live on X/Twitter Tuesday at 16:30 UTC.

2026-06-10 15:28:27 UTC

Pyth and Ademan joined Optech to discuss Newsletter #408:
- Post-quantum BIP324
- QR signing payloads for miniscript wallets
- CTV-only vault proof of concept
- Post-quantum Lightning discussion
- Quantum attack game theory
- BIP54 64-byte transactions and potential legitimate uses
- And more
You can listen on our website:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2026/06/09/
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/67RadnujhmE0AIZbfBDjJ0
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bitcoin-optech-newsletter-408-recap/id1674626983?i=1000772045814

2026-06-05 11:31:43 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #408 is here:
- summarizes ideas to make BIP324 transport encryption quantum secure
- describes a proposal to standardize QR-based signing payloads for miniscript wallets
- links to a CTV-only vault proof of concept
- outlines points from a post-quantum Lightning thread
- summarizes a quantum attack game theory post
- points to discussion of 64-byte transactions and potential uses
- Optech Newsletter #408 Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/06/05/
Olaoluwa Osuntokun posted to the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list his thoughts on possible upgrades needed to make BIP324 quantum secure...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/06/05/#a-post-quantum-path-for-bip324
Pyth posted to Delving Bitcoin a proposal to standardize the data payloads exchanged between wallet coordinators and air-gapped signing devices over QR codes when using miniscript-based spending policies...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/06/05/#discussion-of-qr-signing-payloads-for-miniscript-wallets
Ademan announced on Delving Bitcoin the 0.1.0 release of his CTV (BIP119) vault project called MCCV (More Complicated CTV Vault)...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/06/05/#ctv-only-vault-proof-of-concept
Olaoluwa Osuntokun (roasbeef) posted to Delving Bitcoin a breakdown of how a post-quantum Lightning Network might look...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/06/05/#post-quantum-lightning-discussion
Jameson Lopp posted to Delving Bitcoin his blog post about the game theory of a quantum attack...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/06/05/#quantum-attack-game-theory
Jeremy Rubin wrote to the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list about potential legitimate uses for 64-byte witness-stripped transactions...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/06/05/#bip54-64-byte-transactions-and-potential-legitimate-uses
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter streaming live on X/Twitter Tuesday at 16:30 UTC.

2026-06-02 19:59:13 UTC

Chandra Pratap joined Optech to discuss Newsletter #407:
- Core Lightning assertion DoS disclosure
- Bitcoin Core developer meeting transcripts
- And more
You can listen on our website:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2026/06/02/
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3FXtYki8QCcpj3fQQP12y6
Apple:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bitcoin-optech-newsletter-407-recap/id1674626983?i=1000770819043

2026-05-29 10:57:26 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #407 is here:
- announces the responsible disclosure of a vulnerability that allowed a remote peer to crash Core Lightning nodes
- links to transcripts from a recent Bitcoin Core developer meeting
- Optech Newsletter #407 Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/05/29/
Chandra Pratap posted to Delving Bitcoin disclosing a denial-of-service vulnerability discovered during a Summer of Bitcoin 2025 internship...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/05/29/#core-lightning-assertion-dos-disclosure
Many Bitcoin Core developers met in person in May, and transcripts from the meeting have been published...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/05/29/#bitcoin-core-developer-meeting-transcripts
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter streaming live on X/Twitter Tuesday at 16:30 UTC.

2026-05-26 18:57:23 UTC

Oliver Gugger and 0xB10C joined Optech to discuss Newsletter #406:
- Updates to BIP322's generic signed message format
- TCP hole punching to help Bitcoin nodes behind home routers accept inbound connections
- Changes to services and client software including Ibis Wallet, LDK Server, Mempool.space v3.3.0, and peer-observer P2P monitoring tooling
- And more
You can listen on our website:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2026/05/26/
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6dZrINmR28FeFeiyX6E6gr
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bitcoin-optech-newsletter-406-recap/id1674626983?i=1000769691092

2026-05-22 11:10:32 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #406 is here:
- links to a discussion of updates to BIP322’s generic signed message format
- describes an idea to use TCP hole punching to help Bitcoin nodes behind NATs accept inbound connections
- summarizes changes to services/client software
- Optech Newsletter #406 Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/05/22/
Oliver Gugger posted to the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list about his ideas on how to round out BIP322...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/05/22/#significant-updates-to-bip322-generic-signed-message-format
0xB10C posted to Delving Bitcoin about an idea to make more nodes behind a home router NAT accept inbound connections...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/05/22/#tcp-hole-punching-for-bitcoin-nodes-behind-nats
Changes to services and client software:
- Ibis Wallet announced
- LDK Server announced
- Mempool.space v3.3.0 released
- peer-observer P2P monitoring tooling
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/05/22/#changes-to-services-and-client-software
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter streaming live on X/Twitter Tuesday at 16:30 UTC.

2026-05-20 09:35:52 UTC

Fabian Jahr joined Optech to discuss Newsletter #405:
- Bitcoin Core script interpreter remote crash disclosure
- BIP proposal for UTXO set sharing over P2P network
- And more
You can listen on our website:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2026/05/19/
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2iFHsxvNugwC1ZRr4FbubC
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bitcoin-optech-newsletter-405-recap/id1674626983?i=1000768710633

2026-05-15 14:59:18 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #404 is here:
- announces the responsible disclosure of a vulnerability that could allow an attacker with sufficient proof-of-work to crash Bitcoin Core nodes
- describes a draft BIP proposal for sharing the UTXO set over the P2P network
- Optech Newsletter #405 Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/05/15/
Niklas Gögge posted to the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list disclosing CVE-2024-52911, a vulnerability affecting versions of Bitcoin Core after version 0.14.0 and before 29.0...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/05/15/#bitcoin-core-script-interpreter-remote-crash-disclosure
Fabian Jahr posted to the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list about a draft BIP for sharing the UTXO set over the P2P layer...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/05/15/#bip-proposal-for-utxo-set-sharing-over-p2p-network
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter streaming live on X/Twitter Tuesday at 16:30 UTC.

2026-05-01 13:45:30 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #403 is here:
- describes research around using binary fuse filters as an alternative to the GCS used in compact block filters
- links to an idea for post-quantum HD wallets with fallback SPHINCS keys
- summarizes discussion of a post-quantum output type
- examines a proposal to embed post-quantum keys in tapscript without consensus changes
- summarizes results of a BIP54 demonstration of slow blocks on signet
- links to work on post-quantum BIP86 recovery using zk-STARK proofs of BIP32 seeds
- Optech Newsletter #403 Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/05/01/
Csaba Purszki posted to Delving Bitcoin his research on finding a better alternative to Golomb-Rice Coded Sets (GCS) used for compact block filters as defined in BIP158...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/05/01/#binary-fuse-filters-as-an-alternative-to-bip158-s-gcs
In a post on the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list, Conduition described a design for post-quantum BIP32 congruent hierarchical deterministic wallets with fallback SPHINCS keys...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/05/01/#post-quantum-hd-wallets-with-fallback-sphincs-keys
Antoine Poinsot wrote to the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list defending a plain post-quantum output type (as opposed to a P2TR-like output type which allows quantum-vulnerable key spending to be disabled by a later soft fork)...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/05/01/#discussion-of-a-post-quantum-output-type
Daniel Buchner sent a proposal to the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list which describes a potential path to enabling flexible post-quantum wallet designs without fully describing the signature validation parameters...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/05/01/#proposal-to-embed-post-quantum-keys-in-tapscript-without-consensus-changes
On Delving Bitcoin, Antoine Poinsot wrote about a demonstration of the types of slow-to-validate blocks that BIP54 (consensus cleanup) prevents...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/05/01/#bip54-demonstration-of-slow-blocks-on-signet
Olaoluwa Osuntokun (roasbeef) posted on the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list his project to demonstrate zk-STARK recovery of quantum-vulnerable coins secured by keys derived using BIP32...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/05/01/#post-quantum-bip86-recovery-using-zk-stark-proofs-of-bip32-seeds
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter streaming live on X/Twitter Tuesday at 16:30 UTC.

2026-04-24 15:12:51 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #402 is here:
- describes work on a declarative executable specification of consensus rules
- summarizes a discussion about onion message jamming in the Lightning Network
- summarizes popular Q&A from Stack Exchange
- Optech Newsletter #402 Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/04/24/
Toby Sharp posted to Delving Bitcoin and the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list an update on the Hornet node project...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/04/24/#hornet-node-s-declarative-executable-specification-of-bitcoin-consensus-rules
Erick Cestari posted to Delving Bitcoin about the onion message jamming problem affecting the Lightning Network...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/04/24/#onion-message-jamming-in-the-lightning-network
Selected Q&A from Bitcoin Stack Exchange
- Why did BIP342 replace CHECKMULTISIG with a new opcode, instead of just removing FindAndDelete from it?
- Does SIGHASH_ANYPREVOUT commit to the tapleaf hash or the full taproot merkle path?
- What does the BIP86 tweak guarantee in a MuSig2 Lightning channel, beyond address format?
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/04/24/#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.

2026-04-22 11:06:35 UTC

Remix7531 and Luis Schwab joined Optech to discuss Newsletter #401:
- Nested MuSig2 for k-of-n multisignature Lightning nodes
- Formal verification of secp256k1 modular scalar multiplication
- Changes to services and client software including Utreexo software and others
- And more
You can listen on our website:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2026/04/21/
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/4A7d3nR1mDvGi1zPA6pZZC
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bitcoin-optech-newsletter-401-recap/id1674626983?i=1000763037535

2026-04-17 13:33:07 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #401 is here:
- describes an idea for nested MuSig2 Lightning nodes
- summarizes a project formally verifying secp256k1’s modular scalar multiplication
- summarizes changes to services/client software
- Optech Newsletter #401 Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/04/17/
ZmnSCPxj posted to Delving Bitcoin about the idea to create k-of-n multisignature Lightning nodes by leveraging nested MuSig2...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/04/17/#discussion-of-using-nested-musig2-in-the-lightning-network
Remix7531 posted to the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list about formally verifying secp256k1’s modular scalar multiplication...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/04/17/#formal-verification-of-secp256k1-modular-scalar-multiplication
Changes to services and client software:
- Coldcard 6.5.0 adds MuSig2 and miniscript
- Frigate 1.4.0 released
- Bitcoin Backbone updates
- Utreexod 0.5 released
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/04/17/#changes-to-services-and-client-software
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter streaming live on X/Twitter Tuesday at 16:30 UTC.

2026-04-14 18:44:54 UTC

Julian Moik joined Optech to discuss Newsletter #400:
- The ‘Testing Bitcoin Core 31.0 Release Candidates’ Bitcoin Core PR Review Club
- Great Script Restoration BIPs 440, 441
- And more
You can listen on our website:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2026/04/14/
Fountain:
https://fountain.fm/episode/eyMcRT2y0bMpoufODA23
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/46ZPLlnesEjnxCZXhhi4zs
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bitcoin-optech-newsletter-400-recap/id1674626983?i=1000761362599

2026-04-10 10:36:11 UTC

Bitcoin Optech newsletter #400 is here:
- recaps the "Testing Bitcoin Core 31.0 Release Candidates" PR Review Club meeting
- Optech Newsletter #400 Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/04/10/
'Testing Bitcoin Core 31.0 Release Candidates' was a review club meeting that did not review a particular PR, but rather was a group testing effort. Before each major Bitcoin Core release, extensive testing by the community is considered essential. For this reason, a volunteer writes a testing guide for a release candidate so that as many people as possible can productively test without having to independently ascertain what’s new or changed in the release, and reinvent the various setup steps to test these features or changes...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/04/10/#bitcoin-core-pr-review-club
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter streaming live on X/Twitter Tuesday at 16:30 UTC.

2026-04-07 19:39:07 UTC

Armin Sabouri, Pyth, Conduition, and Jonas Nick joined Optech to discuss Newsletter #399:
- Wallet fingerprinting risks for payjoin privacy
- A draft BIP for a wallet backup metadata format
- Compact isogeny post-quantum cryptography
- The SHRIMPS post-quantum signature construction
- Great Script Restoration BIPs 440, 441
- And more
You can listen on our website:
https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2026/04/07/
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3iVJWrMCGVQHziN3sUpxem
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bitcoin-optech-newsletter-399-recap/id1674626983?i=1000760106835

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