Inside Bitcoin

125.0 Release Notes
2==================
3
4Bitcoin Core version 25.0 is now available from:
5
6  <https://bitcoincore.org/bin/bitcoin-core-25.0/>
7
8This release includes new features, various bug fixes and performance
9improvements, as well as updated translations.
10
11Please report bugs using the issue tracker at GitHub:
12
13  <https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/issues>
14
15To receive security and update notifications, please subscribe to:
16
17  <https://bitcoincore.org/en/list/announcements/join/>
18
19How to Upgrade
20==============
21
22If you are running an older version, shut it down. Wait until it has completely
23shut down (which might take a few minutes in some cases), then run the
24installer (on Windows) or just copy over `/Applications/Bitcoin-Qt` (on macOS)
25or `bitcoind`/`bitcoin-qt` (on Linux).
26
27Upgrading directly from a version of Bitcoin Core that has reached its EOL is
28possible, but it might take some time if the data directory needs to be migrated. Old
29wallet versions of Bitcoin Core are generally supported.
30
31Compatibility
32==============
33
34Bitcoin Core is supported and extensively tested on operating systems
35using the Linux kernel, macOS 10.15+, and Windows 7 and newer.  Bitcoin
36Core should also work on most other Unix-like systems but is not as
37frequently tested on them.  It is not recommended to use Bitcoin Core on
38unsupported systems.
39
40Notable changes
41===============
42
43P2P and network changes
44-----------------------
45
46- Transactions of non-witness size 65 bytes and above are now allowed by mempool
47  and relay policy. This is to better reflect the actual afforded protections
48  against CVE-2017-12842 and open up additional use-cases of smaller transaction sizes. (#26265)
49
50New RPCs
51--------
52
53- The scanblocks RPC returns the relevant blockhashes from a set of descriptors by
54  scanning all blockfilters in the given range. It can be used in combination with
55  the getblockheader and rescanblockchain RPCs to achieve fast wallet rescans. Note
56  that this functionality can only be used if a compact block filter index
57  (-blockfilterindex=1) has been constructed by the node. (#23549)
58
59Updated RPCs
60------------
61
62- All JSON-RPC methods accept a new [named
63  parameter](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/master/doc/JSON-RPC-interface.md#parameter-passing) called `args` that can
64  contain positional parameter values. This is a convenience to allow some
65  parameter values to be passed by name without having to name every value. The
66  python test framework and `bitcoin-cli` tool both take advantage of this, so
67  for example:
68
69```sh
70bitcoin-cli -named createwallet wallet_name=mywallet load_on_startup=1
71```
72
73Can now be shortened to:
74
75```sh
76bitcoin-cli -named createwallet mywallet load_on_startup=1
77```
78
79- The `verifychain` RPC will now return `false` if the checks didn't fail,
80  but couldn't be completed at the desired depth and level. This could be due
81  to missing data while pruning, due to an insufficient dbcache or due to
82  the node being shutdown before the call could finish. (#25574)
83
84- `sendrawtransaction` has a new, optional argument, `maxburnamount` with a default value of `0`.
85  Any transaction containing an unspendable output with a value greater than `maxburnamount` will
86  not be submitted. At present, the outputs deemed unspendable are those with scripts that begin
87  with an `OP_RETURN` code (known as 'datacarriers'), scripts that exceed the maximum script size,
88  and scripts that contain invalid opcodes.
89
90- The `testmempoolaccept` RPC now returns 2 additional results within the "fees" result:
91  "effective-feerate" is the feerate including fees and sizes of transactions validated together if
92  package validation was used, and also includes any modified fees from prioritisetransaction. The
93  "effective-includes" result lists the wtxids of transactions whose modified fees and sizes were used
94  in the effective-feerate (#26646).
95
96- `decodescript` may now infer a Miniscript descriptor under P2WSH context if it is not lacking
97  information. (#27037)
98
99- `finalizepsbt` is now able to finalize a transaction with inputs spending Miniscript-compatible
100  P2WSH scripts. (#24149)
101
102Changes to wallet related RPCs can be found in the Wallet section below.
103
104Build System
105------------
106
107- The `--enable-upnp-default` and `--enable-natpmp-default` options
108  have been removed. If you want to use port mapping, you can
109  configure it using a .conf file, or by passing the relevant
110  options at runtime. (#26896)
111
112Updated settings
113----------------
114
115- If the `-checkblocks` or `-checklevel` options are explicitly provided by the
116user, but the verification checks cannot be completed due to an insufficient
117dbcache, Bitcoin Core will now return an error at startup. (#25574)
118
119- Ports specified in `-port` and `-rpcport` options are now validated at startup.
120  Values that previously worked and were considered valid can now result in errors. (#22087)
121
122- Setting `-blocksonly` will now reduce the maximum mempool memory
123  to 5MB (users may still use `-maxmempool` to override). Previously,
124  the default 300MB would be used, leading to unexpected memory usage
125  for users running with `-blocksonly` expecting it to eliminate
126  mempool memory usage.
127
128  As unused mempool memory is shared with dbcache, this also reduces
129  the dbcache size for users running with `-blocksonly`, potentially
130  impacting performance.
131- Setting `-maxconnections=0` will now disable `-dnsseed`
132  and `-listen` (users may still set them to override).
133
134Changes to GUI or wallet related settings can be found in the GUI or Wallet section below.
135
136New settings
137------------
138
139- The `shutdownnotify` option is used to specify a command to execute synchronously
140before Bitcoin Core has begun its shutdown sequence. (#23395)
141
142
143Wallet
144------
145
146- The `minconf` option, which allows a user to specify the minimum number
147of confirmations a UTXO being spent has, and the `maxconf` option,
148which allows specifying the maximum number of confirmations, have been
149added to the following RPCs in #25375:
150  - `fundrawtransaction`
151  - `send`
152  - `walletcreatefundedpsbt`
153  - `sendall`
154
155- Added a new `next_index` field in the response in `listdescriptors` to
156  have the same format as `importdescriptors` (#26194)
157
158- RPC `listunspent` now has a new argument `include_immature_coinbase`
159  to include coinbase UTXOs that don't meet the minimum spendability
160  depth requirement (which before were silently skipped). (#25730)
161
162- Rescans for descriptor wallets are now significantly faster if compact
163  block filters (BIP158) are available. Since those are not constructed
164  by default, the configuration option "-blockfilterindex=1" has to be
165  provided to take advantage of the optimization. This improves the
166  performance of the RPC calls `rescanblockchain`, `importdescriptors`
167  and `restorewallet`. (#25957)
168
169- RPC `unloadwallet` now fails if a rescan is in progress. (#26618)
170
171- Wallet passphrases may now contain null characters.
172  Prior to this change, only characters up to the first
173  null character were recognized and accepted. (#27068)
174
175- Address Purposes strings are now restricted to the currently known values of "send",
176  "receive", and "refund". Wallets that have unrecognized purpose strings will have
177  loading warnings, and the `listlabels` RPC will raise an error if an unrecognized purpose
178  is requested. (#27217)
179
180- In the `createwallet`, `loadwallet`, `unloadwallet`, and `restorewallet` RPCs, the
181  "warning" string field is deprecated in favor of a "warnings" field that
182  returns a JSON array of strings to better handle multiple warning messages and
183  for consistency with other wallet RPCs. The "warning" field will be fully
184  removed from these RPCs in v26. It can be temporarily re-enabled during the
185  deprecation period by launching bitcoind with the configuration option
186  `-deprecatedrpc=walletwarningfield`. (#27279)
187
188- Descriptor wallets can now spend coins sent to P2WSH Miniscript descriptors. (#24149)
189
190GUI changes
191-----------
192
193- The "Mask values" is a persistent option now. (gui#701)
194- The "Mask values" option affects the "Transaction" view now, in addition to the
195  "Overview" one. (gui#708)
196
197REST
198----
199
200- A new `/rest/deploymentinfo` endpoint has been added for fetching various
201  state info regarding deployments of consensus changes. (#25412)
202
203Binary verification
204----
205
206- The binary verification script has been updated. In previous releases it
207  would verify that the binaries had been signed with a single "release key".
208  In this release and moving forward it will verify that the binaries are
209  signed by a _threshold of trusted keys_. For more details and
210  examples, see:
211  https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/master/contrib/verify-binaries/README.md
212  (#27358)
213
214Low-level changes
215=================
216
217RPC
218---
219
220- The JSON-RPC server now rejects requests where a parameter is specified multiple
221  times with the same name, instead of silently overwriting earlier parameter values
222  with later ones. (#26628)
223- RPC `listsinceblock` now accepts an optional `label` argument
224  to fetch incoming transactions having the specified label. (#25934)
225- Previously `setban`, `addpeeraddress`, `walletcreatefundedpsbt`, methods
226  allowed non-boolean and non-null values to be passed as boolean parameters.
227  Any string, number, array, or object value that was passed would be treated
228  as false. After this change, passing any value except `true`, `false`, or
229  `null` now triggers a JSON value is not of expected type error. (#26213)
230
231Credits
232=======
233
234Thanks to everyone who directly contributed to this release:
235
236- 0xb10c
237- 721217.xyz
238- @RandyMcMillan
239- amadeuszpawlik
240- Amiti Uttarwar
241- Andrew Chow
242- Andrew Toth
243- Anthony Towns
244- Antoine Poinsot
245- Aurèle Oulès
246- Ben Woosley
247- Bitcoin Hodler
248- brunoerg
249- Bushstar
250- Carl Dong