What impact does Bitcoin client 28.0 have on users?

Bitcoin Core 28.0: Comprehensive Enhancements in Privacy Protection, Performance Optimization, and Wallet Management.

Written by: 0XNATALIE

On October 2, the Bitcoin Core client Bitcoin Core 28.0 was officially released. This version was led by several senior developers, including Blockstream co-founder Pieter Wuille (a major contributor to SegWit and Taproot technologies), former Blockstream CTO Greg Maxwell (who participated in the development of BIP66 and BIP174), and senior Bitcoin developer Luke Dashjr.

Bitcoin Core is the most widely used Bitcoin full node client, maintained and developed by a global open-source community, ensuring the security, stability, and decentralization of the Bitcoin network. Anyone can contribute through GitHub.

For ordinary users, the automatic detection of transaction conflicts and optimized fee estimation features introduced in Bitcoin Core 28.0 effectively improve the success rate of transactions and reduce costs. Additionally, improvements in wallet functionality make address and key management more convenient, and backup and recovery processes simpler. For developers, the new version provides a more stable development environment and stronger node communication capabilities.

Main New Features and Improvements

Wallet Functionality Upgrade

The wallet in Bitcoin Core 28.0 can automatically detect conflicts with unconfirmed transactions in the memory pool, preventing users from encountering duplicate or conflicting situations when sending transactions. This increases the success rate of transactions and reduces the freezing or delays of funds due to transaction conflicts. The new version also introduces descriptor wallets, a more modern way of wallet management. With descriptors, users can define complex address generation rules, including single-signature, multi-signature, and nested addresses, to meet different usage needs. Descriptor wallets use a unified descriptor file to record all address and key information, so users only need to back up one descriptor file to fully restore all wallet functions and funds, simplifying the backup and recovery process.

To help users save costs, Bitcoin Core 28.0 optimizes transaction fee estimation. The system automatically selects the most economical fee model by default, estimating more reasonable transaction fees to help users save costs. At the same time, a "conservative mode" is retained for users who require higher fee estimations, catering to different needs.

User Interface Improvements

Bitcoin Core 28.0 adds a "migrate wallet" feature to the user interface, allowing users to easily migrate wallet data from older versions to the new version without complex operations. Additionally, the information window now includes detailed displays of memory pool capacity, including current usage. Users can use this feature to better monitor node status and optimize node configuration and performance.

Network and Privacy Optimization

Testnet4: According to BIP94, the new version introduces a new test network, Testnet4, gradually phasing out the old Testnet3. Testnet4 provides a more stable and modern testing environment, enhancing the reliability and security of the test network.
More Flexible Privacy Protection: The new version optimizes Tor connections. Tor is a privacy-protecting network tool that can hide real IP addresses and enhance online privacy. With this update, users can more easily configure Tor connections, thereby improving the anonymity and security of node communication.
UNIX Domain Socket Support: The new version adds support for UNIX domain sockets, a method for secure communication between different programs on the same computer. This provides advanced users and developers with a more secure and efficient communication method, significantly improving performance and security, especially when local applications interact with Bitcoin nodes.
Improved Remote Control Interface: The new version enhances the compatibility of the JSON-RPC interface, supporting the JSON-RPC 2.0 standard. This improvement allows third-party applications to interact with Bitcoin nodes more stably and reliably, providing developers with a more stable development environment.

Performance Enhancements

In terms of performance, Bitcoin Core 28.0 optimizes the caching mechanism of the block database, speeding up block synchronization. First-time users of Bitcoin Core can sync to the latest blockchain state in a shorter time. The new version also removes outdated components that are no longer in use, reducing software complexity and lowering potential security risks. Additionally, the external libraries and tools (compilation dependencies) required to build the software have been upgraded to the latest versions.

Review of Version 27: Important Vulnerability Fixes

In the minor versions before the release of Bitcoin Core 28.0 (27.1 and 27.2), developers fixed several issues affecting system security and stability:

RPC Security Improvements: In version 27.1, a handling issue with the setmocktime parameter was fixed. setmocktime is a parameter used to set test time. The fix addressed the erroneous handling of this parameter, preventing node failures due to incorrect time settings. Additionally, error messages were improved to better describe the source of the problem, allowing developers to more quickly identify issues during troubleshooting.
Miniscript Optimization: Miniscript is a Bitcoin scripting language used to ensure the security of transactions, such as who can spend certain funds or how many signatures are required to transfer funds. In version 27.1, developers improved the parsing method of Miniscript, allowing even very complex transaction rules to be correctly recognized and executed.
Network Communication Optimization: The node identification mechanism in the P2P network was improved to ensure more stable and efficient connections between nodes, enhancing overall network reliability.
Memory Leak Fix: A memory leak is a "resource waste" in a computer program because the program does not correctly release memory that is no longer in use. Memory leaks can lead to performance degradation and may even cause node crashes. In version 27.2, a memory leak issue was fixed.
Wallet Security Patches: Version 27.2 improved the transaction processing logic of the wallet, fixing several issues that could lead to transaction errors. For example, when a user attempts to create an unsigned transaction, the system will more accurately identify and prompt potential errors. Additionally, the issue with Proxy IP settings was fixed, improving security and stability when connecting through a proxy.

The next version, 29.0, is scheduled for release in early April 2025 and is expected to introduce more transaction optimizations, a more efficient block transfer protocol, and stronger privacy features.

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