Another Bitcoin Core Update Could Roll Out in April

Key Insights

• Bitcoin Core might see its next major release around April as the first RC version (v23) is released on Github.
• Bitcoin Core is the BTC source code’s reference implementation, and all other implementations look towards it for guidance.
• The update could improve transaction privacy and allow recurring payments without a third party.

Bitcoin has undergone many upgrades and changes since it was launched in 2009. The Taproot upgrade was the most recently implemented and significant upgrade on its network in the past four years. Now, yet again, there are speculations that Bitcoin Core might see its next major release around April as the first RC version (v23) is released on Github.

Bitcoin Core Update

Details surrounding the upcoming major release remain scarce for now, aside from the Github announcement. Prominent crypto-journalist Colin Wu recently pointed out that Bitcoin Core might see its next major release around April. Some users on Twitter believed that the upgrade would ‘mainly improve transaction privacy and allow recurring payments without a third party.’

Bitcoin Core's next major upgrade will release around April, and the first RC version (v23) was released on GitHub and major upgrade from Bitcoin wallet Sparrow (v1.6.0) which focused on security and privacy, now supporting BIP-47. @ProofofRelease https://t.co/aVvXYCEm6V

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) March 4, 2022

Since Bitcoin Core is the Bitcoin source code’s reference implementation, all other implementations look to Core for guidance. In September 2021, Bitcoin Core 22.0 replaced version 0.21.0, marking the release of the 22nd version of the update. Bitcoin Core 22.0 was the first major release to support the Taproot protocol upgrade, launched in November 2021. Taproot was proposed in 2018 by Gregory Maxwell, then-CTO at Blockstream Bitcoin development studio.

The Taproot upgrade batches multiple signatures and transactions together, making it simpler and faster to verify transactions on the BTC network. While the BTC network rarely undergoes drastic changes, it shows that the network is still evolving, even if progress is steady.

Bitcoin Price Still Rangebound

With the speculations around a new BTC update scheduled for the next month, if the same happens, a decent price rebound could be expected by traders. However, at press time, BTC traded at $40,182, noting a 5.08% daily drop in price.

A recent article noted how Bitcoin’s mining difficulty saw its first negative adjustment of -1.49% this year as the price consolidated. Nonetheless, the top coin’s recent short-term pullback saw a return of retail investors to the BTC landscape. The same could aid price pumps in the short term or mid-short term.

For now, however, with the recent rally cooling off, the larger market also saw a pullback as the total crypto market cap fell under the $1.8 trillion mark.