Knots 29.5 is out, and 46% of XBT nodes already run it
Bitcoin Knots 29.5 came out on Nov 6. Five days later, about 46% of reachable XBT nodes already run it, and 80% of reachable nodes now enforce the 180-day coinbase lock. Here's what changed, and who actually needs to upgrade.
What's in 29.5
- Bug fixes: networking, file handling and build dependencies (SQLite, miniupnpc), per the release notes.
- Same rules as 29.4.3. It carries the coinbase maturity soft fork as extended in 29.4.3: rewards from block 979,919 on can't move for 25,920 blocks, about 180 days.
- Known issues: the notes list a virtual-size reporting bug that shows up with the
-bytespersigopand-datacarriercostpolicy settings. Translations weren't updated this release.
Who needs to upgrade
| You run | Enforces the 180-day lock? | Do this |
|---|---|---|
| Knots 29.5 | Yes | Nothing. You're current. |
| Knots 29.4.3 | Yes | Optional. Same rules, 29.5 just fixes bugs. |
| Knots 29.4.2 or older | No | Upgrade. Your node accepts blocks that spend fresh rewards early, so you're trusting other nodes to reject them. |
Not sure what you run? bitcoin-cli getnetworkinfo and look at subversion, or check your node app's version screen (Start9, Umbrel).
Where the network stands (Nov 11)
- About 46% of reachable nodes run 29.5, five days after release.
- About 80% enforce the 180-day lock (29.4.3 and newer, plus Plumb and other builds that include it). That's up from 72% on Nov 5 and 65% at the unlock.
- About 20% are still on 29.4.2, 29.4.1 or release candidates that don't enforce it.
We show percentages, not totals: crawlers disagree on how many XBT nodes exist, but the shares line up. Live version breakdown on the xbt.live homepage.
Why it matters
A soft fork is only as strong as the nodes enforcing it. Miners follow the 180-day rule because most of the network would reject blocks that break it. Every node still on 29.4.2 is one that wouldn't. Why run an XBT node
Release details from the Knots 29.5 release notes. Node shares from the public node census at block 981,521. Not financial advice.
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