palladiumcore/doc/release-notes/release-notes-2.0.0.md

2.0.0 Release Notes

Palladium Core version 2.0.0 is now available from:

https://github.com/palladium-coin/palladiumcore/releases/tag/v2.0.0

This is a major release introducing Taproot support (BIP340/341/342/350), representing the most significant protocol upgrade since Segregated Witness.

Please report bugs using the issue tracker at GitHub:

https://github.com/palladium-coin/palladiumcore/issues

To receive security and update notifications, please visit:

https://palladiumblockchain.net/

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/Palladium-Qt (on Mac) or palladiumd/palladium-qt (on Linux).

Upgrading directly from a version of Palladium 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 Palladium Core are generally supported.

Important: First startup after upgrading may take several minutes as the wallet rescans for Taproot-related transactions (if applicable).

Compatibility

Palladium Core is supported and extensively tested on operating systems using the Linux kernel, macOS 10.12+, and Windows 7 and newer. Palladium Core should also work on most other Unix-like systems but is not as frequently tested on them. It is not recommended to use Palladium Core on unsupported systems.

From Palladium Core 0.20.0 onwards, macOS versions earlier than 10.12 are no longer supported. Additionally, Palladium Core does not yet change appearance when macOS "dark mode" is activated.

Notable Changes

Taproot Support (BIP340/341/342/350)

Palladium Core 2.0.0 introduces full Taproot support, implementing Bitcoin Improvement Proposals 340, 341, 342, and 350. This represents the most significant protocol upgrade since Segregated Witness and brings substantial improvements to privacy, efficiency, and smart contract capabilities.

What is Taproot?

Taproot improves privacy, efficiency, and smart contract flexibility on the Palladium blockchain through:

• Schnorr Signatures (BIP340): More efficient signature scheme replacing ECDSA for witness v1 outputs. Schnorr signatures are 64 bytes (vs 71-72 for ECDSA) and enable future signature aggregation improvements.

• Taproot Spending Rules (BIP341): New output type (witness version 1) enabling more private and flexible scripts. Taproot outputs can be spent via key-path (single signature, most efficient) or script-path (reveal only the executed script from a Merkle tree).

• Tapscript (BIP342): Updated script validation rules with new opcodes including OP_CHECKSIGADD for efficient threshold signatures. Tapscript introduces validation weight limits and reserves OP_SUCCESS opcodes for future soft-fork upgrades.

• Bech32m Addresses (BIP350): New address format for Taproot (starting with plm1p...). Bech32m uses a different checksum constant (0x2bc830a3) specifically designed for witness version 1 and higher addresses.

Deployment Timeline

Taproot will activate via BIP9 miner signaling:

• Mainnet: BIP9 soft fork activation using bit 2

  • Signaling starts: February 14, 2026 00:00:00 UTC (block time 1771027200)
  • Signaling timeout: March 1, 2027 00:00:00 UTC (block time 1803859200)
  • Activation threshold: 540 of 720 blocks (75%) must signal readiness
  • Confirmation window: 720 blocks (vs Bitcoin's 2016)
  • Status: Once locked in, Taproot activates in the next period
  • Note: Palladium uses a 75% threshold to facilitate faster network coordination

• Testnet: Same parameters as mainnet for realistic testing

• Regtest: Always active for immediate developer testing

Checking activation status:

palladium-cli getblockchaininfo

Look for the "softforks" section and find the "taproot" deployment. Possible states:

• defined: Deployment defined but signaling hasn't started
• started: Signaling period active, miners can signal readiness
• locked_in: Activation threshold reached, grace period before activation
• active: Taproot consensus rules enforced
• failed: Timeout reached without sufficient signaling

Wallet Changes

New "bech32m" address type is now available for Taproot outputs:

GUI (palladium-qt):

• Receive tab now has a dropdown to select address type:

  • "Legacy" - Traditional P2PKH addresses (1...)
  • "P2SH-SegWit" - SegWit wrapped in P2SH (3...)
  • "Bech32" - Native SegWit v0 addresses (plm1q...)
  • "Bech32m" - Taproot addresses (plm1p...) ← NEW

• Default address type remains "bech32" for backward compatibility

• Users can switch to "bech32m" for enhanced privacy and efficiency

RPC Interface:

• getnewaddress "label" "bech32m" generates Taproot addresses
• getaddressinfo reports witness version 1 for Taproot addresses
• All existing RPCs work seamlessly with Taproot addresses

Example:

# Generate a Taproot address
$ palladium-cli getnewaddress "savings" "bech32m"
plm1p5cyxnuxmeuwuvkwfem96lqzszd02n6xdcjrs20cac6yqjjwudpxqkedrcr

# Get information about the address
$ palladium-cli getaddressinfo "plm1p5cyxnuxmeuwuvkwfem96lqzszd02n6xdcjrs20cac6yqjjwudpxqkedrcr"
{
  "address": "plm1p5cyxnuxmeuwuvkwfem96lqzszd02n6xdcjrs20cac6yqjjwudpxqkedrcr",
  "iswitness": true,
  "witness_version": 1,
  "witness_program": "...",
  ...
}

# Send to a Taproot address (works like any other address)
$ palladium-cli sendtoaddress "plm1p5cyxnuxmeuwuvkwfem96lqzszd02n6xdcjrs20cac6yqjjwudpxqkedrcr" 1.5

Configuration: To make bech32m the default address type, add to palladium.conf:

addresstype=bech32m
changetype=bech32m

Both receiving to and spending from Taproot addresses are fully supported once the soft fork activates on mainnet.

Transaction Behavior

Sending:

• Taproot UTXOs are automatically included in coin selection
• Spending from Taproot uses key-path by default (most efficient)
• Schnorr signatures are generated automatically for Taproot inputs
• Slightly lower transaction fees due to smaller signature size

Receiving:

• Any wallet can send to your Taproot address (if they support bech32m)
• Taproot outputs are tracked and displayed in transaction history
• Balance calculations include Taproot UTXOs

Privacy:

• Key-path spends look identical to single-signature payments
• Complex scripts remain hidden unless script-path is used
• No way to distinguish multisig from single-sig on-chain (key-path)

Technical Implementation

This release backports Taproot implementation from Bitcoin Core v24.2 with appropriate adaptations for Palladium's chain parameters and consensus rules.

Key components:

1. Cryptographic Layer:

   • secp256k1 library upgraded to Bitcoin Core v24.2
   • Enabled extrakeys module for x-only public keys
   • Enabled schnorrsig module for BIP340 Schnorr signatures
   • XOnlyPubKey class for 32-byte public key representation

2. Consensus Layer:

   • Full taproot/tapscript validation in script interpreter (469 lines added)
   • Taproot signature hash computation with tagged SHA256
   • Control block parsing and Merkle proof verification
   • Validation weight tracking for tapscript execution

3. Encoding Layer:

   • Bech32m encoding/decoding with dual-constant checksum
   • Automatic format selection based on witness version
   • Palladium-specific HRP: "plm" for mainnet

4. Wallet Layer:

   • BECH32M output type for address generation
   • Schnorr signature generation for Taproot inputs
   • Internal key tracking for Taproot outputs
   • Output descriptors extended for Taproot

5. Policy Layer:

   • Script verification flags: SCRIPT_VERIFY_TAPROOT and related
   • Standardness limits for tapscript (stack size, script size, validation weight)
   • Control block size validation (33-4129 bytes)

Testing:

• Functional test: test/functional/feature_taproot.py (end-to-end P2TR lifecycle)
• Unit tests: Schnorr signature generation/verification in test/key_tests.cpp
• Bech32m encoding tests with Palladium-specific test vectors
• Integration tests for RPC interface and wallet operations

For detailed technical information, see TAPROOT.md.

For user-friendly guide, see doc/taproot-guide.md.

Upgrading to Taproot

Do I need to upgrade my addresses? No. Using Taproot is completely optional. All existing address types (legacy, P2SH, bech32) continue to work indefinitely.

When should I use Taproot?

• For enhanced privacy (key-path spending hides script complexity)
• For slightly lower fees (Schnorr signatures are smaller)
• For future-proof wallet infrastructure

Compatibility concerns?

• Ensure recipient wallets support bech32m before sending to Taproot addresses
• Most modern wallets will add support after mainnet activation
• Provide a bech32 fallback address for maximum compatibility

Migration path:

1. Upgrade to Palladium Core 2.0.0
2. Wait for Taproot activation on mainnet (March 2026 expected)
3. Start generating bech32m addresses for new payments
4. Existing funds in old addresses can be spent to Taproot addresses over time

Build System Changes

secp256k1 Library Update

The secp256k1 library has been upgraded to Bitcoin Core v24.2 tag, enabling:

• BIP340 Schnorr signature support
• X-only public key operations
• Optimized signature verification
• Precomputed tables for ecmult operations

This upgrade is essential for Taproot functionality and brings performance improvements to all signature operations.

GUI Improvements

Address Type Selection

The Receive tab now features a dropdown menu for address type selection:

• Visual indication of address type (Legacy / P2SH-SegWit / Bech32 / Bech32m)
• Tooltip explanations for each address type
• Remembers last selected type for user convenience

This makes it easy for users to generate Taproot addresses without using the command line.

RPC Changes

New Features

• getnewaddress now accepts "bech32m" as address type parameter
• getaddressinfo correctly identifies Taproot addresses with witness_version: 1
• createmultisig supports "bech32m" type (with limitations)

Modified Behavior

• getblockchaininfo includes "taproot" deployment status in "softforks" section
• validateaddress validates bech32m address format
• decodescript recognizes witness v1 outputs

Deprecated Features

None in this release.

For full RPC documentation, run palladium-cli help or see JSON-RPC-interface.md.

Testing Improvements

Functional Tests

New functional test feature_taproot.py validates:

• Taproot address generation
• Sending to Taproot addresses
• Spending from Taproot addresses (key-path)
• Transaction confirmation and UTXO tracking

Test Framework Updates

• Python test framework updated with bech32m encoding support
• Segwit_addr module aligned to Palladium chain parameters
• Test vectors adapted from Bitcoin to Palladium HRP and consensus rules

Documentation

New Documentation

• doc/TAPROOT.md: Comprehensive technical specification
• doc/taproot-guide.md: User-friendly guide for wallet users
• doc/release-notes/release-notes-2.0.0.md: Detailed release notes for v2.0.0
• CHANGELOG.md: Changelog with history of all releases

Updated Documentation

• doc/bips.md: Updated with BIP340/341/342/350 implementation details
• README.md: References to Taproot support

Known Issues

Taproot Before Activation

• Taproot addresses can be generated before mainnet activation
• Funds sent to Taproot addresses before activation will be unspendable until activation
• Recommendation: Wait for activation on mainnet before using Taproot addresses for real funds

Wallet Compatibility

• Very old wallet software may not recognize bech32m addresses
• Some exchanges may not support deposits to bech32m addresses initially
• Recommendation: Verify recipient support before sending to Taproot addresses

Script-Path Spending

• Advanced script-path spending features require manual descriptor/PSBT construction
• GUI does not yet support creating complex taproot scripts
• Workaround: Use RPC/CLI for advanced Taproot features or wait for future GUI improvements

2.0.0 Change Log

Consensus

• Add BIP340 Schnorr signature validation
• Add BIP341 Taproot spending rules
• Add BIP342 Tapscript validation
• Implement BIP9 deployment for Taproot (bit 2)
• Add script verification flags for Taproot

Crypto

• Upgrade secp256k1 to Bitcoin Core v24.2
• Add XOnlyPubKey class for 32-byte public keys
• Add CKey::SignSchnorr() for BIP340 signatures
• Add CKey::SignSchnorrTaproot() for BIP341 key-path spending
• Add XOnlyPubKey::VerifySchnorr() for signature verification

Encoding

• Implement BIP350 bech32m format
• Add dual-mode bech32/bech32m encoding
• Update key_io for automatic address format selection

Script

• Add SigVersion::TAPROOT and SigVersion::TAPSCRIPT
• Implement Taproot signature hash computation
• Add control block validation
• Add validation weight tracking for tapscript
• Add OP_CHECKSIGADD support
• Add new script error codes for Taproot

Wallet

• Add OutputType::BECH32M for Taproot addresses
• Add bech32m address generation in GUI and RPC
• Add Schnorr signature creation for Taproot spending
• Add internal key tracking for Taproot outputs
• Update output descriptors for Taproot

RPC

• Add "bech32m" address type to getnewaddress
• Add Taproot deployment status to getblockchaininfo
• Update getaddressinfo for witness v1 addresses
• Extend createmultisig with bech32m support

GUI

• Add address type dropdown to Receive tab
• Add "bech32m" option for Taproot addresses
• Update tooltips and UI labels for clarity

Tests

• Add feature_taproot.py functional test
• Add Schnorr signature unit tests
• Add bech32m encoding tests
• Adapt test framework to Palladium parameters

Build

• Update secp256k1 to Bitcoin Core v24.2
• Enable extrakeys and schnorrsig modules
• Update build scripts for new dependencies

Documentation

• Add doc/TAPROOT.md technical specification
• Add doc/taproot-guide.md user guide
• Update doc/bips.md with BIP340/341/342/350
• Add doc/release-notes/release-notes-2.0.0.md (this file)
• Add CHANGELOG.md with complete release history

Credits

Thanks to the Bitcoin Core developers for the original Taproot implementation in Bitcoin Core v24.2, which formed the basis for this backport to Palladium Core.

Special thanks to everyone who directly contributed to this release:

• davide3011 (Taproot backport and implementation)

As well as to the broader Bitcoin development community whose work on Taproot made this upgrade possible.

And to everyone that helped with translations, testing, and community support.

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For user guide, see doc/taproot-guide.md. For technical details, see TAPROOT.md. For BIP specifications, see doc/bips.md.