The recent launch of Bitcoin Core version 26.1 offers multiple enhancements including wallet functionality, RPC fixes, and P2P improvements, ensuring a better user experience. Available for download from the Bitcoin Core website or via BitTorrent, this update is compatible with previous versions, though it advises a proper shutdown of older versions before installation. The software’s compatibility spans across various operating systems including Linux kernel-based systems, macOS 11.0 and newer, and Windows 7 and above, highlighting its extensive testing and reliability in diverse environments.
Constellation introduces an innovative L3 protocol aimed at resolving UX challenges in the blockchain's initial layers by ensuring a 1:1 backing with L2 channels. Through its federated security model and a ROAST-wrapped FROST protocol, it enables efficient consensus, high throughput, and near-instant confirmation times within its unique UTXO-based ledger system. This approach not only facilitates seamless cross-operator transactions and liquidity management but also offers a developer-friendly platform for building L3 wallets, enhancing offline transaction capabilities and light client protocol support.
Discussions on 0-conf offchain operations highlight the significance of conditions for accepting transactions without confirmation, focusing on swaps with the same party to establish immediate trust. The comparison between swap-in-potentiam (SIP) and payjoin-in-potentiam (PIP) protocols emphasizes SIP’s user convenience for mobile wallets and PIP's advantages in privacy, transaction efficiency, and fee savings. This conversation underscores the importance of balancing innovation with reliability and security in transaction protocols.
Fee rate estimate analyses indicate discrepancies mainly during network congestion, with a detailed review of block 832478
confirming the 50th percentile estimate accuracy at 150 sat/vB
. The discussions suggest that higher fees do not necessarily ensure faster block inclusion, prompting a reconsideration of estimation mechanisms. Proposed adjustments aim to enhance fee rate estimate visualizations using both linear and logarithmic scales, improving the understanding of fee rate distributions and addressing the issue of transaction exclusion due to lower fee rates.