Bitcoin Core feature freeze nears as rebase issues hit unencrypted-connection proposal

Aug. 17, 2026 at 4:30 pm GMT • 2 min read 01 The Aug. 20 freeze moves new v32 features out of the normal window; bug fixes can still be reviewed toward rc1. 02 The 17 open items span features, bugs, build work, testing, and release administration—not a blocker ranking. 03 Two open changes need a rebase; a descriptor-wallet fix targets access issues after an identifier mismatch.Bitcoin Core, the top software client for running a Bitcoin node, is scheduled to enter its v32 feature freeze on Thursday, Aug. 20. The deadline shifts the release line to bug fixes and gives new v32 features their final normal window before the project's October release target.The v32 milestone listed 17 items open and 79 closed on Aug. 17, putting the work at 82% complete. Those 17 entries span feature pull requests, bug reports, build and logging work, a private-broadcast test failure, and the release-schedule ticket itself. GitHub publishes no blocker ranking for the queue, so the raw count says more about unfinished scope than release risk.Under the proposed schedule, source-language translation strings also freeze on Thursday. Maintainers then aim to split the 32.x branch and issue v32.0rc1 on Sept. 10...