Bitcoin Core 22.0 Released with Taproot Support

The new version of the popular Bitcoin Core client (v 22.0) has been released. It includes support for the upcoming major Taproot upgrade, scheduled for November 2021.

Bitcoin Core 22.0 was released!
It is available from https://t.co/WpMuMaejz1
Release mail: https://t.co/ZvZKXZ0iLD

— Bitcoin Core Project (@bitcoincoreorg) September 13, 2021

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The work on the client lasted about eight months, with roughly 100 people contributing to the new software. Developers decided for the first time to drop the leading zero in the version name (22.0, not 0.22.0, in line with the old convention).

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Taproot support implementation

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In release Bitcoin Core 0.21.1, activation logic for Taproot had already been included. Bitcoin Core 22.0 is the first major release to support the upgrade itself, which is considered the largest since the activation of Segregated Witness in 2017.

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‘It is obvious that Bitcoin Core 22.0 will perform full validation of the new Taproot rules. Since the update’s activation in November, all Taproot transactions will be validated according to the new protocol rules,’ noted journalist Aaron van Wirdum.

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I2P support

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To conceal IP addresses when connecting nodes, Bitcoin Core users could previously use the Tor network. Now they have an alternative privacy protection solution.

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Invisible Internet Project (I2P) is a decentralized peer-to-peer network. It is overlay, resilient (a node going offline does not affect the network’s operation) and anonymous. Data transmitted between network nodes is encrypted.

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Improved support for hardware wallets

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As far back as version 0.18.0, released a few years ago, Bitcoin Core implemented hardware wallet support. However, this was via a command-line interface. Starting with version 0.20.0, a graphical user interface (GUI) became available, but users still had to perform some additional command-line steps when signing transactions.

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Bitcoin Core 22.0 is the first release of the popular client with full GUI support for hardware wallets. Users can now easily link the software with devices from Ledger, Trezor, BitBox, KeepKey and Coldcard.

Earlier, the previous Bitcoin Core release (v 0.21.0) took place in January 2021. It added support for Tor Network v3 addresses, descriptor wallets, fixed bugs and improved performance.

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