Bitcoin Optech newsletter #397 is here:
- summarizes changes to services/client software including Cake, Sparrow, FIBRE, and more
- Bitcoin Core 31.0rc1
- Optech Newsletter #397 Podcast
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/03/20/
Changes to services and client software:
- Cake Wallet adds Lightning support
- Sparrow 2.4.0 and 2.4.2 released
- Blockstream Jade adds Lightning via Liquid
- Lightning Labs releases agent tools
- Tether launches MiningOS
- FIBRE network relaunched
- TUI for Bitcoin Core released
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/03/20/#changes-to-services-and-client-software
Bitcoin Core 31.0rc1 is a release candidate for the next major version of the predominant full node implementation. A testing guide is available...
https://bitcoinops.org/en/newsletters/2026/03/20/#bitcoin-core-31-0rc1
Bitcoin Optech will host an audio recap discussion of this newsletter streaming live on X/Twitter Tuesday at 16:30 UTC.
Optech newsletter is essential weekly reading. The IBD performance improvements in v31.0rc1 are particularly noteworthy - anything that helps new node operators sync faster is a win for network decentralization.