Bitcoin Core Unveils Major Update for Testing

The Bitcoin Core project has announced the availability of a new release candidate, v26.0rc2, for the crypto community to test.

The community’s involvement in this testing phase is crucial since helps iron out any potential flaws before the update is widely released.

Recent updates to Bitcoin Core

Prior to v26.0rc2, Bitcoin Core 24.2 and 25.1 were released on Oct. 26 and Oct. 19, respectively.

These versions introduced improvements and enhancements that further solidified the robustness of the network.

The newest version, v26.0, includes experimental support for the v2 transport protocol aimed at bolstering security through encrypted peer communication, an effort stemming from the widely discussed Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 324 (BIP324).

In response to potential security concerns, the update also includes changes to protect against eclipse attacks by ensuring that nodes with multiple network paths maintain outbound connections to each network.

As with previous releases, the developers encourage testing and reporting of any issues through the project’s GitHub issue tracker.

Notable departures

The project moves forward with new releases, but it has also seen significant departures this year. Dhruvkaran Mehta, a notable contributor to the Bitcoin Core project, stepped away to explore a new Bitcoin-related startup in April. His work was instrumental in improving Bitcoin’s P2P protocol, making the network more resistant to surveillance and attacks through BIP324.

Similarly, Marco Falke, a key developer and maintainer with more than 2,000 commits to his name, announced his resignation from his role in early 2023.

Bitcoin Core continues to depend on a mix of paid volunteers and those funded by grants from various organizations and companies interested in supporting Bitcoin’s development.

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