Knots 29.4.3 makes the 180-day lock official: upgrade before block 979,919
Luke Dashjr signed and tagged Bitcoin Knots 29.4.3 on Tuesday, Oct 27, at 03:17 UTC. It makes the 180-day rolling coinbase lock (#468) the official rule from block 979,919, about Saturday night UTC. Every XBT node and miner needs to upgrade before then. The download isn't posted yet.
What 29.4.3 changes
- The new lock. Rewards mined from block 979,919 until RDTS expires (Sept 2027) can't be spent for 25,920 blocks, about 180 days, each on its own clock. Rewards mined at or after expiry go back to 100 blocks.
- The cliff stays. Rewards from the current window (973,440 to 979,918) keep the 45-day rule, so they still become spendable under consensus at block 979,920. None of the cliff fixes (#477, #478, #483) made it in. What that means
- Spam filters, on by default. Data in dead script branches (#400), runs of dropped pushes (#319) and multisig keys no signature proves (#422) now count as data. In the release notes' words, a 1-of-14 or 2-of-15 multisig spend "now exceeds the default
-datacarriersize." BPUB-encoded files are caught too (#463). That's most of what Plumb added, now in stock Knots. - Network. Peers that don't advertise BLAKE2b support no longer get blocks above 961,631 (#425), outbound slots prefer BLAKE2b peers, and the seed nodes are regenerated for the BLAKE2b network.
- Faster setup. An assumeutxo snapshot at block 976,000 (#444).
The deadline
| Block | Estimated time | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 979,919 | Sat Oct 31, ~22:30 UTC | The 180-day rule starts. Upgrade before this. |
| 979,920 | One block later | The 45-day window's rewards become spendable under consensus |
| 980,019 | Sun Nov 1 | A 29.4.2 node may accept blocks 29.4.3 rejects |
| 986,399 | About Dec 13 | Miners still on 29.4.2 may produce blocks 29.4.3 rejects |
Times assume about 152 blocks a day, measured from block 979,267. They will drift.
From the release notes: "Nodes and miners should upgrade before block 979919." A node that upgrades late rechecks blocks from 979,919 at first start. A pruned node that upgrades late may need to re-sync from scratch, and will ask at startup.
How to upgrade
- Wait for the official download at bitcoinknots.org/files/29.x/29.4.3.knots20260508/. It wasn't posted when we checked on Oct 27. Don't run a build from anywhere else.
- Verify it. Download
SHA256SUMSandSHA256SUMS.ascwith the binary. Check the signature against Luke Dashjr's key (gpg --verify SHA256SUMS.asc SHA256SUMS), then the file (sha256sum --ignore-missing --check SHA256SUMS). - Stop your node and wait until it has fully shut down.
- Replace the binaries: the installer on Windows, Bitcoin-Qt in Applications on macOS, or
bitcoind/bitcoin-qton Linux. Your data directory and wallets stay. - Start it and check: run
bitcoin-cli getdeploymentinfoand look forlong_coinbase_maturity. Before block 979,919 it shows the 45-day rule (maturity 6480). From 979,919 it shows maturity 25920.
Running a node app (StartOS, Umbrel or similar)? Wait for the package maintainer to ship 29.4.3, then update through the app store. Check before Saturday.
Who needs to do what
- Node runners: upgrade before 979,919. An old node will happily follow a chain the rest of the network rejects.
- Miners: upgrade the node behind your DATUM Gateway. If you mine through a pool, ask when it upgrades. The release notes are blunt about pool hashing: "If you are 'mining' without running DATUM Gateway yourself, you are NOT actually mining, and are in fact attacking the network."
- Holders: nothing to do. Your coins and keys don't change. If your wallet connects to your own node, upgrade the node.
Not everyone agrees
Luke Dashjr had posted a Concept NACK on #468 on Oct 23, saying it was too short to withhold payment to Stratum hashers and "keeps us in 'emergency mode' unnecessarily." He shipped it anyway. On GitHub, #468 still shows as open, because it went into the release branch directly. Greg Tonoski and others wanted the long lock to simply expire. And melvincarvalho warned in the #468 thread that a split is possible if miners don't upgrade: installing 29.4.3 late "does not resolve" a split that has already started.
Our take
This settles the rule: the 180-day lock is what XBT's main node software will enforce from Saturday night. It doesn't settle the cliff, which is now locked in for block 979,920. The biggest risk this week isn't the unlock, it's nodes and miners still running 29.4.2. Upgrade as soon as the verified download is up, and check with your pool.
Live countdown to 979,920Knots tracker
Sources: Bitcoin Knots tag v29.4.3.knots20260508 (signed by Luke Dashjr, Oct 27, 2026, 03:17 UTC) and its release notes; Knots PR #468 thread; bitcoinknots.org/files/29.x listing checked Oct 27. Block times estimated from block 979,267. Quotes are verbatim. Not financial advice.
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