bitcoin/doc/release-notes.md

Bitcoin Core version 29.4rc1 is now available from:

https://bitcoincore.org/bin/bitcoin-core-29.4/test.rc1/

This release includes various bug fixes and performance improvements, as well as updated translations.

Please report bugs using the issue tracker at GitHub:

https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/issues

To receive security and update notifications, please subscribe to:

https://bitcoincore.org/en/list/announcements/join/

How to Upgrade

If you are running an older version, shut it down. Wait until it has completely shut down (which might take a few minutes in some cases), then run the installer (on Windows) or just copy over /Applications/Bitcoin-Qt (on macOS) or bitcoind/bitcoin-qt (on Linux).

Upgrading directly from a version of Bitcoin Core that has reached its EOL is possible, but it might take some time if the data directory needs to be migrated. Old wallet versions of Bitcoin Core are generally supported.

Compatibility

Bitcoin Core is supported and tested on operating systems using the Linux Kernel 3.17+, macOS 13+, and Windows 10+. Bitcoin Core should also work on most other Unix-like systems but is not as frequently tested on them. It is not recommended to use Bitcoin Core on unsupported systems.

Notable changes

This release fixes an issue where the chainstate database would repeatedly rewrite large portions of itself, causing excessive disk reads and writes during normal operation.

Validation

• #35209 validation: correct lifetime of precomputed tx data
• #35465 coins: compact chainstate regularly

Leveldb

• #61(bitcoin-core/leveldb): Disable seek compaction

Net

• #34093 netif: fix compilation warning in QueryDefaultGatewayImpl()

Wallet

• #35228 wallet: use outpoint when estimating input size

Build

• #34228 depends: Unset SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH in gen_id script
• #34848 cmake: Migrate away from deprecated SQLite3 target

Test

• #34918 fuzz: [refactor] Remove unused g_setup pointers

Doc

• #34510 doc: fix broken bpftrace installation link
• #34561 wallet: rpc: manpage: fix example missing fee_rate argument
• #34671 doc: Update Guix install for Debian/Ubuntu
• #35283 doc: mention -DWITH_ZMQ=ON in BSD build guides

CI

• #35202 ci: restore sockets in i686, no IPC job
• #35378 ci: switch runners from cirrus to warpbuild
• #35408 ci: 35378 followups

Misc

• #35175 multi_index: fix compilation failure with boost >= 1.91

Credits

Thanks to everyone who directly contributed to this release:

• andrewtoth
• Cory Fields
• Daniel Pfeifer
• darosior
• fanquake
• Hennadii Stepanov
• jayvaliya
• junbyjun1238
• Lőrinc
• MarcoFalke
• SomberNight
• ToRyVand
• willcl-ark

As well as to everyone that helped with translations on Transifex.