Bitcoin Core 29.4 Release: Chainstate Disk I/O Guide
Bitcoin Core 29.4 guide covering repeated chainstate rewrites, regular compaction, LevelDB seek compaction, transaction-data lifetime and wallet sizing fixes.
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This guide explains Bitcoin Core 31.1 release in plain English. It summarises the important changes, who they affect and what should be checked before an upgrade.
TL;DR
- What it is: Bitcoin Core 31.1 fixes an IP-address leak in the new private-broadcast feature: under some circumstances connections were made over clearnet instead of the enabled privacy network. It also repairs proxy handling during v2-to-v1 reconnections, prevents private-broadcast connections from modifying addrman and carries chainstate, wallet migration, MuSig2 and settings-write fixes.
- Why it matters: Bitcoin Core 31.1 closes a privacy boundary that private-broadcast users relied upon. The upgrade should combine software deployment with network-layer egress verification and careful communication about what earlier broadcasts may have exposed.
- Current position: Require a second reviewer and explicit rollback or expiry, and pause payments, signing or network-dependent services until post-change evidence is complete.
Bitcoin Core 31.1 release in simple English
Bitcoin Core 31.1 release: Private-broadcast connections no longer modify addrman. Test that ephemeral privacy peers remain isolated from durable peer inventory.
Simple example
A node operator is checking Bitcoin Core 31.1 release. Operators using privatebroadcast should prioritise evaluation because the corrected bug could expose the origin IP.
Key terms in plain English
- Bitcoin Core:
- Widely used software that validates Bitcoin and can provide wallet, network and operator tools.
- Node:
- A computer running Bitcoin software that checks data and communicates with other peers.
Privacy urgency
Operators using privatebroadcast should prioritise evaluation because the corrected bug could expose the origin IP. Do not claim historical transactions were private merely because the option was enabled.
How specialists test it
Node operators test the release on a representative non-production system. They check startup, normal operation, failure handling and restart before changing a live node. Connected wallets, monitoring and mining services should also be checked.
Address manager
Private-broadcast connections no longer modify addrman. Test that ephemeral privacy peers remain isolated from durable peer inventory.
Chainstate
As in related maintenance branches, regular compaction and disabled seek compaction address excessive chainstate database rewriting. Measure real disk behaviour.
Wallet and MuSig2
Migration checks the final Berkeley DB page LSN, input sizing uses outpoints and MuSig2 aggregate-cache construction rejects an empty public-key list.
Settings integrity
Write failures are checked before settings.json is renamed. Simulate full disk, permissions and interruption so an apparent successful update cannot replace known-good settings.
How specialists test it
Node operators test the release on a representative non-production system. They check startup, normal operation, failure handling and restart before changing a live node. Connected wallets, monitoring and mining services should also be checked.
Frequently asked questions
What is the main point of Bitcoin Core 31.1 release?
Bitcoin Core 31.1 release: Private-broadcast connections no longer modify addrman. Test that ephemeral privacy peers remain isolated from durable peer inventory.
For Bitcoin Core 31.1 release, what should a beginner know about privacy urgency?
Operators using privatebroadcast should prioritise evaluation because the corrected bug could expose the origin IP.
For Bitcoin Core 31.1 release, what should a beginner know about address manager?
Private-broadcast connections no longer modify addrman. Test that ephemeral privacy peers remain isolated from durable peer inventory.
For Bitcoin Core 31.1 release, what should a beginner know about chainstate?
As in related maintenance branches, regular compaction and disabled seek compaction address excessive chainstate database rewriting.
Conclusion
Bitcoin Core 31.1 closes a privacy boundary that private-broadcast users relied upon. The upgrade should combine software deployment with network-layer egress verification and careful communication about what earlier broadcasts may have exposed.
Primary sources
Check the current specification status and the documentation for the exact implementation you operate before moving production funds or changing a mining node.
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