Bitcoin Core v32 feature freeze scheduled for August 20

Bitcoin Core, the primary software client used for running Bitcoin nodes, is approaching a feature freeze for version 32 on August 20. Following this deadline, development will shift its focus from adding new features to addressing bug fixes in preparation for a planned October release.

As of August 17, the project reported 82% completion for the v32 milestone, with 79 items closed and 17 remaining open. These pending items include feature pull requests, bug reports, build and logging tasks, and release schedule management. Some proposed changes, such as a proposal to reject unencrypted outbound connections and a change to limit simultaneous HTTP clients, currently require rebasing.

The development timeline aims to release the first candidate, v32.0rc1, on September 10, with the final tagging of v32.0 targeted for October 10. This update schedule pertains to software distribution and does not involve changes to consensus rules.