The short version: on September 21 Knots 29.4.2 locked every reward mined from block 973,440 for 45 days and said “up to 350 days” was being considered. By mid-October a one-year hold, PR #429, was the favorite. On October 20 Bitcoin Mechanic opened PR #468, a rolling 180 days, and within a day it had three tested ACKs, one of them Chris Guida’s. No release carries any of it yet.
The record, in order. Every quote is from the source linked or named.
September 10 to 11. Chris Guida opened PR #402 and #403, two drafts of a longer lock, and polled the Knots Discord on the length. 217 votes: 45 days first at 20 percent, 30 and 360 days tied at 18.
September 15 to 21. Luke Dashjr opened PR #419: rewards mined from 973,440 wait 6,480 blocks, about 45 days, and every coin in that window becomes spendable at 979,920. It merged September 21 and shipped as 29.4.2. The release notes: “the community has decided to extend the current … maturity lock time on newly mined bitcoins up to 350 days,” and “this release of Bitcoin Knots deploys only a 45-day maturity time, but nothing more.”
September 23. Guida opened PR #429: “coins generated since block 973440 stay unspendable until RDTS expires (parent MTP >= 2027-09-01 00:00 UTC) instead of until block 979920.” Its flag day is 979,920, “currently expected late Oct or early Nov.”
October 7. Luke Dashjr polled the Knots Discord: “Is there sufficient community support for extending the 45 day maturity out until RDTS expiry, as planned?” It closed October 21 at 714 votes. Yes 54 percent, No 43, I don’t know 3.
October 11. Luke Dashjr on X: “the extension is not the goal. The goal is to withhold payment to non-miners who are cheating.”
October 14. Guida on X: “The current proposal (pr 429) is a temporary freeze for one year (the simplest option since we’re already softforking again sep 1 anyway).”
October 16. Guida hosted a Space on the question and wanted to give people “at least maybe a week” before 979,920. The same day at 16:00 UTC AlphaPool closed its public DATUM endpoints; Guida called it “a huge win for decentralization of bitcoin mining.”
October 17. Luke Dashjr on #429: “29.4.2 explicitly stated the rewards are expected to be locked a year. Trying to claim only 45 days is gaslighting.” Guida on X: “it’s possible 1 year is too long; what maturity period do you suggest as a more balanced approach?”
October 19. AlphaMine, the pool’s operator, on X: “I think a 45-day rolling CBM until RDTS expiry actually makes a lot of sense,” and “approximately 90% of the XBT Network is Mining through DATUM.” He opened PR #467: keep the 45 days, rolling, until RDTS expires.
October 20, 01:11 UTC. Guida’s second Space. He opened: “maybe we don’t need to do a one-year Coinbase maturity.” He closed: “now I’m leaning towards the rolling 45 day maturity.” Bitcoin Mechanic: “one year is over egg in the pudding at this point.” Luke Dashjr, asked which way he leaned: “I don’t know.”
October 20, 17:27 UTC. Mechanic opened PR #468: “Mainnet coinbase rewards mined at height 979919 or later should mature individually over 25,920 blocks (approximately 180 days) until RDTS expires on 1 September 2027.” Rewards mined before 979,919 unlock at 979,920 as 29.4.2 says. PR #469 followed at 18:57: 280 days rolling, RDTS made permanent. At 19:25 Luke Dashjr asked on X: “What is there Bitcoin consensus on? (Future proposals like rolling 45-day aside)”.
October 21. Three tested ACKs on #468: jasonsopko at 14:16 UTC, kwsantiago at 16:49, Guida at 18:51. About twenty concept ACKs, several from people who had wanted a year; davelund110: “I’d have preferred longer … but if there’s a split in the community, even if a minor one, I’m willing to support this.” GregTonoski: “Too little time to evaluate this PR. Block height 979 919 will be in 11 days.” Mechanic: “It will not be difficult to change the start height if we remain not ready,” and rc2 of the next Knots is in the works. On voiding rewards, two views side by side: Guida, “removing the option to void rewards from the table would be a fatal mistake”; jasonsopko, “I would NACK that as a proposal of its own.” A 24-hour Discord poll by Daamir closed October 22 with 41 votes, “6 months” first at 41 percent.
Not decided, as of October 22. No tag past 29.4.2. No release date from anyone. Luke Dashjr has not commented on #468.
The two heights a miner needs
979,920, about November 1 at today’s pace. Under the rule the chain runs now, and under #468, every coin mined from 973,440 through 979,918 unlocks here. Under #429 those coins would wait until September 1, 2027.
979,919, the block before it. If #468 ships, every reward from this height on waits 25,920 blocks; the first would be spendable at 1,005,839, about mid-April 2027.
This post is dated and will go stale. The front page Status row carries what changed after it.
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